Past AAPM President: 2004

I received a PhD in low-energy nuclear spectroscopy at the University of South Carolina in 1970. I was immediately hired by the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), as they needed a second medical physicist. My total lack of knowledge was not much of a hindrance in 1971 since medical physics was pretty simple then. For example, we did radiotherapy with a solder wire outline of the patient and plastic overlays. Things began to change quite quickly with the introduction of linear accelerators, and computerized treatment. I moved full-time to diagnostic radiology in 1975 and participated in the explosion of diagnostic techniques (CT, Digital radiography, MRI, PACS, etc.) It was certainly a fun and interesting time to be a medical physicist. By the time I was elected AAPM president, I was a professor of radiology and head of a small medical physics section. In the AAPM, I served as chair of the Continuing Professional Development Committee. I am to blame for the idea of subcommittees because we split CPD into four subcommittees (Summer School, RSNA, Annual Meeting and On-line) After that I chaired the Education Council until I was elected president-elect. I was on the finance committee during the difficult times when the AAPM moved from New York to Washington. I also served on several other committees and Task Groups. I was also very active in the ACR mammography program and started my service to the ABR. Finally, I served a term as president of CAMPEP. I was elected to the presidential chain in 2002 and began my preparation as president-elect-elect at the Montreal annual meeting. Over the previous decade, the organization had dealt with several vexing issues. For many years we had used office space in the AIP building in New York. In the early nineties, the AIP announced it was moving to College Park, MD. The AAPM, after some intense discussion, decided to move with them. That led to several threats to the organization. None of the current staff wanted to move to the new headquarters so an entire new staff needed to be recruited. We were lucky to find Sal Trofi as executive director. He was able to find four additional staff to work in the new office. The costs of the move pointed out the poor shape of the AAPM finances. The treasurer at that time, Dr. Jim Smathers, worked with the Finance Committee and the board to put the finances on a more stable and rational basis. As I became president-elect Sal Trofi chose to retire and Angela Keyser was named the new executive director. I spent most of the year visiting every AAPM committee and subcommittee and talking with each chair. This was of great help in arranging the committee structure for 2004. There was considerable tension between the AAPM and the NCRP on the new report on diagnostic X-ray shielding. Everyone agreed that the report was of great importance and the techniques developed were revolutionary. The rub was due to conflict about the value for the acceptable value for design of non-controlled spaces. After lengthy tense discussion, the AAPM point of view prevailed. As I became president, there were several important issues that had to be dealt with. The biggest of the year was the size of the board. This was a hotly debated issue, but the zeitgeist of the time favored much smaller boards. This had come up at least twice previously and the smaller board was rejected. The most recent Task Group also recommended a much smaller board. The con argument was that the large board allowed many different voices to be heard. The chapter representatives were an important issue. There were also concerns about a power grab by a smaller board. This was fought out during much of my presidential year and finally settled when I was board chairman. At a special meeting, the board voted overwhelming to reduce the size of the board. The proposal was rejected by the membership. It did lead to many smaller tweaks of the organization that strengthened the board and the organization. I had a good year working closely with the board, EXCOM and the new executive director. I was lucky to avoid any major crisis and the minor ones were dispatched quickly with the help of EXCOM and the executive director. The annual meeting was held in Pittsburg. The presidential symposium was devoted to the future of medical physics. Dr. Clifton Ling won the Coolidge Award. We had a lovely night out at the Carnegie Science Center. My time on EXCOM did a lot for me. I gained experience working with a group dedicated to the aims of the AAPM – Science, Education and Professionalism. After the AAPM I returned to my clinical duties at the Medical University of South Carolina. The experience also led to many delightful experiences with CAMPEP, the IOMP, and IAEA. I also increased my activities with the ACR. As look back from almost 20 years I am proud of my time as president. The AAPM was and is of unbelievable importance to the profession and I remain honored to have served her.

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