Treasurer’s Report - 2026
From a fiscal standpoint, 2025 was a strong year for The Society of Rheology (SOR). The Society closed the year with net income of $221,418, including unrealized investment gains. Excluding unrealized investment gains, SOR’s net operating income was still a healthy $165,082. This positive result was achieved even with one-time expenses associated with the development and launch of the new SOR website and updated branding.
This report provides an overview of the Society’s financial activities and how they are managed across various accounts, including those held at the American Institute of Physics (AIP), AIP Publishing (AIPP), Charles Schwab, and QuickBooks Online. Each section of this report is organized around the major activities that support the Society’s mission.
Assets of The Society of Rheology
The AIP account holds funds derived primarily from membership dues and revenue from the Journal of Rheology (JOR). The Society’s publishing partnership with AIP Publishing includes a guaranteed annual payment of $120,000, as well as a share of additional revenue from JOR publishing and advertising. These funds are sufficient to support the Society’s annual operations.
The Schwab reserve account is intended for emergency expenditures and is invested primarily in low-risk, fixed-income assets such as certificates of deposit (CDs). In 2025, this account achieved a cumulative return of ~4%, which is reported as interest income on the balance sheet.
In 2018, SOR established a separate Schwab investment account for long-term equity investments to further support the Society’s mission. An initial investment of $225,000 in a Schwab index fund has grown to $402,397 by the end of 2025. The remainder of the investment account is held in CDs with yields ranging from approximately 3% to 5%, contributing to a total 2025 return of 8%.
Prepaid expenses are categorized as assets and reflect funds already committed to future activities, including the annual meeting.
Figure 1. The Society of Rheology Assets from 2015-2026.
A balance sheet summarizing the total liabilities and net assets is shown in Table 1.
Table 1. Balance Sheet for SOR from 2021-2025.
Summary of Revenue versus Expenses
For fiscal year 2025, SOR closed with net revenue of $221,418. This total includes $56,336 in unrealized gains from changes in the value of the Schwab investment accounts. Excluding these unrealized gains, SOR’s net income was $165,082, a strong result relative to the approved 2025 budget, which projected a net deficit of $68,000.
This positive outcome reflects strong revenue from the JOR, continued investment income from the Schwab accounts, and careful management of expenses, even with significant one-time costs associated with the new SOR website and branding.
Table 2. Summary of SOR 2025 Net Revenue and Expenses.
Revenues of The Society of Rheology
Realized revenue sources for SOR are summarized in Figure 2. The majority of SOR’s income continues to be derived from publication of JOR, which benefited from strong advertising revenue over the past year. Due to favorable interest rates, interest income also remained significantly higher than in previous years. Membership dues continue to provide a revenue stream, although dues revenue has declined significantly relative to prior years.
AIP provided a Venture Fund support for educational activities related to rheology. These are flow-through funds that are supplemented by SOR funds to support mission-driven programs and activities.
Annual meeting activity was historically reported within the revenue section. Beginning with this report, the annual meeting income and expenses are presented together in the expenses section to more clearly reflect the net financial impact of the meeting, which has resulted in a net cost to SOR in recent years.
Figure 2. Revenue sources for SOR from 2015-2025.
Journal of Rheology
The Society’s publishing partnership with AIP Publishing (AIPP) has contributed to increased revenues through broader consortium marketing and reduced production costs, thereby improving net income from JOR. Under the terms of the revised agreement signed in 2024, SOR receives a guaranteed minimum revenue of $120,000 annually, with any additional net income, after expenses, shared equally between SOR and AIPP.
As shown in Figure 3, JOR revenue remains steady and typically supports SOR’s routine operations. The bar chart illustrates SOR’s net operating margin, defined as revenues minus expenses and excluding unrealized investment gains. This comparison highlights the critical financial role that JOR continues to play in supporting the Society’s activities and mission. In 2025, SOR’s share of JOR net revenue exceeded the guaranteed minimum, providing an important source of operating support for the Society.
Figure 3. Bar chart shows SOR’s net operating revenue (excluding unrealized investment gains); line plot shows annual JOR profit.
Expenses of The Society of Rheology
Total 2025 disbursements were $178,558, excluding AIP membership fees and JOR publishing expenses, as summarized in Figure 4. Several major mission-driven activities came in below budget, including the Annual Meeting and the Rheology Venture Fund, which had a later-than-anticipated start. Even with the additional one-time costs associated with the new website migration and rebranding, 2025 expenses were below the approved budget of $313,500.
Major expenditures in 2025 included support for mission-driven initiatives such as the Rheology Research Symposium (RRS) and Outreach Activities. The Outreach Activities category includes JOR conference sponsorships and international activities. SOR’s Rheology Bulletin expenses increased slightly due to higher postage costs. Operating expenses, including professional services such as accounting, legal support, and insurance, were comparable to the previous year.
Figure 4. Expenses for The Society of Rheology from 2015-2025.
The 2025 Annual Meeting in Santa Fe essentially broke even, with a modest net surplus of $2,248. The Society gratefully acknowledges generous sponsorship support from Anton Paar, TA Instruments, Dow Chemical, Sandia National Laboratory, and AIP. It is useful to compare the costs and revenues of the 2025 Annual Meeting with those of the previous year in Austin, as shown in Table 3. Registration revenue was comparable between the two meetings, although short-course revenue was lower in 2025. In addition, costs for the venue, catering, and audiovisual services were lower than in the prior year.The Annual Meeting continues to support the Society’s mission through student and postdoctoral recognition and community-outreach activities.
As part of SOR’s commitment to supporting the rheology community, meeting outreach activities included Student Pottery Night, Children’s Museum Outreach, and awards for outstanding student and postdoctoral oral and poster presentations. The Society also covered travel expenses for plenary speakers.
Table 3. Summary of 2025 Annual Meeting Operations.
Budget for 2026
At the October 2025 business meeting, the membership voted to adopt the proposed 2026 budget, shown in Table 4. The 2026 budget includes continued support for the Boston Annual Meeting ($100,000), which is expected to have costs similar to those of the 2024 Annual Meeting in Austin. The Conference Discretionary Fund for the JOR Editor was also increased to $4,000 to support sponsorships of other rheology-related conferences.
As in the previous year, the 2026 budget projects a net deficit; however, expected gains from investment returns are anticipated to offset this shortfall, maintaining the Society’s overall financial strength.
Table 4. Detailed list of receipts and expenses from 2021-2025 and approved 2026 Budget voted on at the Oct 2025 business meeting by the membership.