Stuart Bechman Elected President of AAI
Written by Atheist Alliance International   
Wednesday, 05 November 2008 22:31
Stuart Bechman, president of Atheists United of Los Angeles, California, was unanimously elected as the next president of the Atheist Alliance International at the annual board meeting held on Friday, September 26, 2008 in Long Beach, California. His term begins immediately. Stuart takes the reins from former AAI president, Margaret Downey. He will be succeeded as president of Atheists United by Bobbie Kirkhart, also a former president of AAI, who was voted in by unanimous affirmation at the October general meeting of Atheists United. Stuart will remain an at-large member of the AU board of directors.

Stuart has been involved as an active member of the US freethought community since 1995. In 1997, he moved to Los Angeles, joined Atheists United, and was elected to its board in 1998. In 1999 he became recording secretary and served as Atheists United's newsletter editor from 2000 to 2001. Stuart became one of Atheists United's co-presidents in 2002 and president in 2005.
Stuart was active in the initial efforts to form the Coalition for the Community of Reason, which ultimately led to the creation of the Secular Coalition for America. In 2007, Stuart became vice-president of Atheist Alliance International and led a number of initiatives and projects for the organization.

Stuart has been a prominent activist for church-state separation in his community and elsewhere and has served on the boards of the local ACLU and Americans United for Separation of Church and State chapters in his area. In 2004, Stuart ran for a seat in the US House of Representatives. He has also participated in several church-state rallies in Washington, DC as representative for several West Coast organizations and groups.

Stuart holds graduate degrees in Management Information Systems and in Sociology, and has also served as a college lecturer. Among the freethought community, he has made numerous presentations on a variety of topics, written dozens of articles and papers, and has prepared and led several programs and courses on secular history and ethics.

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