Dear colleagues:

    I hope all is well with you.  As we begin the 2016-2018 term, allow me to offer again my congratulations to you on your election to the LNC, and to provide some information for you.  I hope you find the information helpful.

1)  As I mentioned on Monday, each member must provide the secretary with information concerning potential conflicts of interest.  I have enclosed below my potential conflicts of interests for your consideration.    Incidentally, Section 2.01.02 of the LNC Policy Manual provides information about this requirement.

2)  Section 2.01.04 ("Harassment and Offensive Behavior Prohibition") of the Policy Manual contains the following paragraph:

Toward ensuring that all LNC Members are thoroughly familiar not only with this policy but also the ramifications of it, they must participate in a standard program of exposure to the issues raised by these concerns. The Chair is responsible to select the content of this training program, in consultation with Counsel, and participation should be arranged at the earliest practicable opportunity after the person becomes an LNC Member.

    Although I suspect Mr. Sarwark has already directed (or will soon direct) the staff to provide the training program material to us, I mention this item in case he and the staff remain swamped in the aftermath of the convention.

3)  If you have not already done so, you may wish to prepare a "Libertarian biography" that provides information about your involvement in the liberty movement, as well as basic biographical information.  I have found such a document to be very helpful in my outreach efforts.  You may also wish to prepare a bullet-point list of the biographical items you consider most important.  (I usually bring such a list with me when I appear on TV and radio programs, give invited addresses, etc.  The list makes life easier for those who are interviewing/introducing me; it also conveys a sense of professionalism.)

    Once you prepare such a bio, I hope you will share it with the LNC; unfortunately, the Monday meeting didn't allow much time for members to introduce themselves and share biographical info.  I have enclosed below my "Libertarian bio" for your consideration.  (Since I frequently receive invitations to speak at academic institutions, I include rather more about my academic background and work than is necessary for most members.)

4)  As you may know, I have been involved in building libertarian campus organizations for several years.  I hope to work with the presidential campaign on youth outreach, particularly on college and high school campuses.  This work will be part of a more general effort to improve our youth outreach.  I anticipate that much of this effort will be spearheaded by Trent Somes, the Region 5 alternate.  I also anticipate that Mr. Somes and I will work closely with Arvin Vohra as part of this effort.

    If I may request of my fellow regional reps and alternates, please inform/remind your state affiliates that I am happy to assist their efforts to build college and high school organizations, as well as other youth outreach efforts.  All things being equal, I prefer that they contact me at my jwlark@lp.org e-mail address.

5)  If you have not already done so, you may wish to place the following dates on your calendar:

Sept. 26:  Presidential debate, Wright State University (Dayton, Ohio)

Oct. 4:  Vice Presidential debate, Longwood University (Farmville, Virginia)

Oct. 9:  Presidential debate, Washington University in St. Louis (St. Louis, Missouri)

Oct. 19:  Presidential debate, University of Nevada, Las Vegas (Las Vegas, Nevada)

    I mention these dates because at this time we should investigate ways in which each of us can promote the LP and our presidential ticket via the debates regardless of whether Gov. Johnson and Gov. Weld are invited to participate.  For example, I plan to submit a proposal soon to my Libertarian Party of Virginia colleagues regarding an outreach effort that uses the vice presidential debate as a hook.  In addition, I shall endeavor to keep my schedule open on and about those dates so that I am available for interviews, speaking opportunities, etc.

    Thanks for your work for liberty.  I look forward to working with you this term, and to seeing you in Las Vegas next month.  Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of assistance to you.

    Take care,
    Jim

    James W. Lark, III
    Dept. of Systems and Information Engineering
    Applied Mathematics Program, Dept. of Engineering and Society
    University of Virginia

    Advisor, The Liberty Coalition
    University of Virginia

    Region 5 Representative, Libertarian National Committee
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POTENTIAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST:  Jim Lark

*  Chair, Board of Directors, Advocates for Self-Government
*  Secretary, Board of Directors, International Society for Individual Liberty (now known as Liberty International)
*  Board of Advisors, Students For Liberty
*  Board of Advisors, Freedom and Entrepreneurship Foundation (Fundacja Wolnosci I Przedsiebiorczosci) in Poland
*  Secretary, Jefferson Area Libertarians
*  Member, Faculty Network, Foundation for Economic Education

Note:  I anticipate that I shall soon join the Board of Directors of the Libertarian Youth Caucus.
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LIBERTARIAN BIOGRAPHY:    JAMES W. LARK, III

 

     James W. Lark, III currently serves as a professor/lecturer in the Department of Systems and Information Engineering and the Applied Mathematics Program of the Department of Engineering and Society at the University of Virginia.   Prior to the 2003-2004 academic year he served as assistant professor in the Department of Systems and Information Engineering and as adjunct professor in the McIntire School of Commerce at U.Va.  From 2003-2009 he served as Assistant to the Athletics Director for Special Projects at U.Va.  During the 2012-2013 academic year he served as a professor in the Department of Statistics at U.Va. in addition to his position in the Department of Systems and Information Engineering.   He received a B.S. in Mathematics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Va. Tech) and a Ph.D. in Systems Engineering from the University of Virginia. 

 

     Dr. Lark has served as visiting scholar at the Center for the Study of Public Choice at Virginia Tech.  He was an Earhart Foundation Visiting Fellow at the Center for Research in Government Policy and Business in the Graduate School of Management at the University of Rochester.  He has also served as a visiting scholar in the Department of Mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Department of Mathematics at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.  He is the author of publications in mathematics, operations research, and artificial intelligence.  His solution procedure for finite-horizon partially observed Markov decision processes is known in the research literature as the “Lark algorithm” (or “Lark filtering algorithm”).

 

     He has been a member of the Libertarian Party since 1983.  He currently serves as the Region 5 representative on the Libertarian National Committee.  He is a member of the LNC’s Executive Committee, and serves as the LNC’s representative to the International Alliance of Libertarian Parties.  He also serves as chair of the Employment Policy and Compensation Committee.

 

     He served as chairman of the Libertarian Party during the 2000-2002 term, and as secretary pro tem during part of the 2012-2014 term.  He served as an at-large member of the LNC during the 1998-2000 term, and as a regional representative during the 2004-2006, 2006-2008, 2008-2010, 2010-2012, 2012-2014, and 2014-2016 terms.  He was a member of the Libertarian Party’s Platform Committee in 1991, 1998, 2010, and 2012, and a member of the Bylaws Committee in 2000.  He was a founding member of the Board of Directors of the Libertarian National Congressional Committee. 

 

    Dr. Lark is the recipient of the 2008 Thomas Jefferson award (the Party’s highest honor), given at national LP conventions for lifetime achievement.  He is also the recipient of the 2004 Samuel Adams award (given at national LP conventions for outstanding activism) and the 2012 Thomas Paine award (given at national LP conventions for outstanding communication of Libertarian ideas).  He is the only person to win each of these awards. 

 

     He serves as the Local Affiliate Parties Committee chairman and the campus coordinator for the Libertarian Party of Virginia.  He has served as vice chairman and as secretary of the LPVA.  He is the secretary of the Jefferson Area Libertarians (Charlottesville, Virginia).  

 

     He currently serves as advisor to The Liberty Coalition and its constituent organizations at the University of Virginia. He founded several of the Coalition organizations while a graduate student at the University of Virginia. He also serves as national campus coordinator for the Libertarian Party, and advises college and high school libertarians throughout the country on promoting libertarian ideas on campus. He has conducted several campus organizing tours on behalf of the LP. He has lectured and conducted workshops on campus organizing at many state Libertarian Party conventions, and at the Libertarian Party national conventions in 1987, 1989, 1991, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2014.  He served as a member of the Libertarian Leadership School faculty, and as a member of the Libertarian Party’s “Success ‘97” and “Success ‘99” Leadership Seminar faculty.  

 

     Dr. Lark is the chairman of the Board of Directors of the Advocates for Self-Government.    He is the secretary of the Board of Directors of Liberty International (previously known as the International Society for Individual Liberty), and serves as a member of the Board of Advisors of Students For Liberty.  He serves as a member of the Board of Advisors of the Freedom and Entrepreneurship Foundation (Fundacja Wolnosci I Przedsiebiorczosci) in Poland.  He is a member of the Foundation for Economic Education's Faculty Network.