Annual Business Meeting: 2009-2010 AANS Officers Elected
The AANS officers for 2009-2010 were elected at the annual business meeting on May 4 in San Diego and took office at the conclusion of the 2009 AANS Annual Meeting. Officers comprising the Executive Committee are: Troy M. Tippett, MD, president; James T. Rutka, MD, president-elect; Christopher M. Loftus, MD, vice president; William T. Couldwell, MD, secretary; Paul C. McCormick, MD, treasurer; and James R. Bean, MD, past president. While brief biographical information follows, more extensive information is available in the Library on the AANS Web site. The entire Board of Directors is listed here.
Troy M. Tippett, MD
President
Troy M. Tippett, MD, FACS, a member of the AANS since 1979, just completed his term as president-elect. He previously served a one-year term as vice president and a three-year term as chair of the AANS/CNS Washington Committee. He is a member of the AANS Bylaws, Executive, Finance, and Strategic Planning committees and the Neurosurgery Research and Education Foundation Executive Council. He serves on the NeurosurgeryPAC Board of Directors and was chair of its predecessor, AANSPAC. Dr. Tippett received the Distinguished Service Award from the AANS in 2003 and from the Congress of Neurological Surgeons in 2008. Since 1976 he has been in private practice and a member of the Neurosurgical Group in Pensacola, Fla., and he has served as medical director of this practice since 1988. He completed his undergraduate work at the University of Missouri, Columbia, and received his medical degree in 1969 from the University of Tennessee Center for the Health Sciences in Memphis. He completed his internship at City of Memphis Hospitals and his neurosurgical residency at the University of Tennessee Center for the Health Sciences in Memphis. He was president of the Florida Medical Association from 2005 to 2006.
James T. Rutka, MD
President-Elect
James T. Rutka, MD, PhD, FRCS, a member of the AANS since 1983, has served on the AANS Board of Directors since 2003. He just completed a three-year term as secretary of the AANS. He served as chair of the 2006 AANS Annual Meeting and chair of the Scientific Program Committee in 2005. He is a member of the AANS Executive, Finance, and Nominating committees, the Neurosurgery Research and Education Foundation Executive Council and the NeurosurgeryPAC Board of Directors, as well as chair of the Strategic Planning Committee. Dr. Rutka is director of the Arthur and Sonia Labatt Brain Tumour Research Centre in Toronto. In 1999 he was appointed chair of the Division of Neurosurgery at the University of Toronto and became the Dan Family Chair. He received his medical degree from Queen’s University Medical School in 1981. He earned his doctorate from the Graduate School of Experimental Pathology at the University of California at San Francisco in 1987 before returning to the University of Toronto to complete his neurosurgical residency.
Christopher M. Loftus, MD
Vice President
Christopher M. Loftus, MD, FACS, a member of the AANS since 1988, is vice president for a one-year term. He is a chair of the International Outreach Committee and a member of the Bylaws, Executive, Finance, and Strategic Planning committees as well as the NeurosurgeryPAC Board of Directors. He was a director-at-large from 2004 to 2007. He is professor and chair of the Department of Neurosurgery, Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia, where he also is assistant dean for International Affiliations. Previously he was chair of the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City, Okla. Dr. Loftus received his medical degree from SUNY-Downstate Medical Center in 1979. He completed his residency in neurosurgery at The Neurological Institute of New York, Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in 1984. Dr. Loftus is second vice president (North America) of the World Federation of Neurological Societies and serves on the editorial boards of several peer-reviewed journals.
William T. Couldwell, MD
Secretary
William T. Couldwell, MD, PhD, is beginning the first year of a three-year term as secretary. A member of the AANS since 1995, he has served on the AANS Board of Directors since 2006 as a director-at-large. He is chair of both the AANS Neurosurgeon Editorial Board and the Development Committee. He is a member of the Executive, Finance and Strategic Planning committees, the NeurosurgeryPAC Board of Directors and the Neurosurgery Research and Education Foundation Executive Council. He is professor and Joseph J. Yager Chair of the Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of Utah School of Medicine in Salt Lake City. Dr. Couldwell received his medical degree in 1984 from McGill University in Montreal and completed his doctorate in neuroimmunology/molecular biology at McGill in 1991. He is chair of the Oral Examinations Committee of the American Board of Neurological Surgery and vice president of the Society of Neurological Surgeons. He serves on the editorial boards of several peer-reviewed journals and was chair of the Journal of Neurosurgery editorial board from 2007 to 2008.
Paul C. McCormick, MD
Treasurer
Paul C. McCormick, MD, a member of the AANS since 1992, is serving the last year of a three-year term as treasurer. He is chair of the Finance Committee as well as a member of the Development, Executive, Information Technology, Maintenance of Certification and Strategic Planning committees and the NeurosurgeryPAC Board of Directors. He was chair of the 2001 AANS Annual Meeting, chair of the Scientific Program Committee in 2000, and chair of the AANS/CNS Section on Disorders of the Spine and Peripheral Nerves from 2000 to 2001. Dr. McCormick has been on the staff at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center since 1990. In July 2006, he was appointed the Herbert and Linda Gallen Professor of Clinical Neurological Surgery at Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons. He received his undergraduate degree from Columbia University College in 1978 and his medical degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1982. He completed his neurosurgical residency at the Neurological Institute of New York in 1989. He serves on the editorial boards of five peer-reviewed journals.
James R. Bean, MD
Past President
James R. Bean, MD, a member of the AANS since 1988, served for three years as AANS treasurer before becoming president-elect and then president. He was editor of the AANS Bulletin (now the AANS Neurosurgeon) from 2003 to 2005. He has served as chair of the AANS/CNS Council of State Neurosurgical Societies (1997-1999), the AANS/CNS Coding and Reimbursement Committee (2000-2002), and the AANS/CNS Washington Committee (2002-2004). He is a member of the Executive, Finance, and Strategic Planning committees, the Neurosurgery Research and Education Foundation Executive Council and the NeurosurgeryPAC Board of Directors, and he is chair of the Nominating Committee. Dr. Bean completed his undergraduate work at the University of Virginia in 1970 and received his medical degree from the Tulane University School of Medicine in 1973. He completed his neurosurgical residency
Two Members Censured
Two members of the AANS lost their appeals to the membership at the AANS business meeting. Censure had been recommended in both cases by the Professional Conduct Committee and had been approved by the Board of Directors; the censures are now final.
Harold D. Segal, MD, of San Luis Obispo, Calif., was censured for failing to represent the full range of the neurosurgical standard of care and for representing his own personal opinions and preferences as being the accepted neurosurgical standard of care during a medical malpractice lawsuit deposition.
George R. Cybulski, MD, of Chicago, Ill., was censured for failing to represent the full range of the neurosurgical standard of care, for failing to review all of the relevant medical records and imaging studies, and for testifying as an advocate for one side rather than as an impartial educator to the court during deposition and during trial in a medical malpractice lawsuit.
For Further Information
- AANS Officer Press Releases,
https://www.neurosurgerytoday.org/media/pressReleases.aspx?TopicId=59&Year=2009
- AANS Bylaws, https://www.aans.org/about/membership/aans_bylaws072707.pdf
- Rules for Neurosurgical Medical/Legal Expert Opinion Services,
https://www.aans.org/about/membership/Rulesfor_LegalExpertOpinionServices.pdf