Anna Karls, an associate professor in the department of microbiology, has been elected chair of the Genetics and Molecular Biology Division of the American Society for Microbiology. This division includes more than 4,000 members of ASM, which has a total membership of 44,000. The division chair serves for one year and then becomes the division adviser for a one-year term. The primary responsibility of the chair is to organize multiple symposia and poster sessions for the annual ASM general meeting, which will be held this year in Toronto May 21-25.