Carl H. Hauber, JD, CAE, will retire May 1, 1996, after 19 years as Executive Director of The American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS). Mr. Hauber opened the AANS National office in 1977 with one part-time secretary and an annual budget of less than $500,000. In succeeding years, he oversaw and guided the development of a wide array of programs and activities as well as a twenty-fold increase in annual budget, reflecting nearly two decades of devotion to building a central service facility for the neurosurgical specialty as a whole.
Complementing the progress achieved by neurosurgery in the period 1977-1996, the AANS has also been at the “cutting edge” in the association management field under Mr. Hauber’s staff leadership. During his tenure as Executive Director, the AANS received a number of awards for organizational excellence, including the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) Award of Excellence for Educational Programming in both 1983 and 1994, the ASAE Award of Excellence for Finance and Administration in 1994, the American Medical Association’s National Congress on Adolescent Health Award in 1989 and the Professional Convention Management Association’s Award for Excellence in Meeting Management in 1994.
Mr. Hauber came to the AANS with an established reputation as a “thinker” and “doer” in association management. A quarter century ago, he developed and espoused the concept of a “Fourth Generation of Association Management” which accurately predicted the present philosophy of indirect management and facilitation by staff to complement strong volunteer leadership. The concept was not understood by some at the time when most dynamic associations were essentially lead by very visible Staff who were often referred to as “hired guns.” His frequent lectures on this subject in the association community are still recalled as initiating the staff-volunteer relationships that are so critical for dealing with demands placed upon associations today.
Prior to joining the AANS, Mr. Hauber was Executive Director of the American Dental Hygienists’ Association (1971-1977) and of the American Oil Chemists’ Society (1962-1971). He entered the association management field while attending law school in 1958, managing the national affairs of the then new Underwater Society of America. He received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Illinois in 1961.
Throughout the years Mr. Hauber maintained a “second career” as an active member of the U.S. Air Force Reserve. He retired in 1986 with the rank of Colonel, having compiled a total of 30 years active and inactive duty for training. His final assignment was as Deputy Chief of Staff/Air Transport (IMA), Military Airlift Command, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois. His decorations include the Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal and Air Force Commendation Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster.
While serving as Chief Staff Executive for AANS, Mr. Hauber also discharged volunteer leadership obligations to his association management colleagues. He served as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the ASAE in 1984-1985 and was a member of the ASAE Board 1981-1985. He received ASAE’s highest award, the Key Award, in 1978 and received its counterpart, the Samuel B. Shapiro Award, from the Chicago Society of Association Executives in 1984. An avid skindiver, Mr. Hauber received the coveted NOGI Award for Distinguished Service from the Academy of Underwater Arts and Sciences.
In retirement Mr. Hauber will continue to serve as a volunteer leader in association management and will continue to make the case for effective staff-volunteer relations.
Carl H. Hauber, JD, CAE
Highlights of Tenure at The American Association of Neurological Surgeons
- Established the AANS National Office and Staff.
- Established a system within the AANS to offer services to other neurosurgical organizations on a cost-recovery basis. As a result, staff services have been provided to the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, the American Association of Neuroscience Nurses, regional societies and Joint and AANS Sections, having an important synergistic impact on the AANS National Office.
- Convinced the Board of Directors to establish a permanent headquarters, coordinated the search for and ultimate purchase in 1983 of the AANS National Office Building in Park Ridge, Illinois, resulting in savings in rental costs over the first decade that exceeded the cost of the building. In later years, encouraged the purchase of the AANS Annex Building, thereby ensuring that the National Office Building will remain adequate to serve the Association past the turn of the century.
- Developed the proposal which resulted in Board of Directors approval for establishing the AANS Professional Development Program and instituted this continuing medical education program that presently serves as many members per year as attend the AANS Annual Meeting. In the five years following its establishment, the Program has added nearly a half-million dollars in net revenue to the Association while providing educational programs at prices consistently below those from other sources.
- Gained Board of Directors approval to establish the AANS Publications Program; organized and staffed this program which has earned over $400,000 in net revenue for the Association and has made the AANS the largest U.S. publisher of neurosurgically-related books in the five years following its inception.
- Convinced AANS leadership that establishment of a poster paper program in connection with the AANS Annual Meeting would substantially increase and improve the communication of significant original scientific information to the neurosurgical community, resulting in the combined acceptance (for oral and poster presentation) of more than 600 papers per year, as opposed to fewer than 100 before this program was established.
- Convinced the Board of Directors that the marketing of the Annual Meeting Exhibit Program should be placed in the hands of the Staff and not an outside sales organization, resulting in expansion of the Exhibit Program into the largest scientific exhibit servicing the neurosurgical community worldwide, and substantially reducing the related costs.
- Prepared the proposal that convinced the Board of Directors to discontinue the AANS Newsletter in favor of the AANS Bulletin, which has become the keystone of the AANS Member Communications Program and has been published at costs comparable to publishing the same amount of information in the Newsletter format because the inclusion of substantial advertising nearly offset the additional production costs of the new format.
- Instituted the Comprehensive Neurosurgical Practice Survey, the single most comprehensive source of demographic data on the neurosurgical specialty in the United States.
- Established the AANS in-house printing facility which has continued to temper the rising costs of the Association’s written communications to neurosurgeons.
- Working with IBM and an independent programmer, developed the first association application for the System 32 mini-computer, which became a popular prototype for future mini-computer applications among small associations in the 1970s and early 1980s.
- Convinced the Board of Directors to establish a historical archive to preserve documents and memorabilia of historical significance to neurosurgery and initiated the Leaders in Neuroscience video-taped oral history series, preserving significant personal commentary of many surgeons who contributed notably to the development of the specialty. The neurosurgical memorabilia collection resulting from donations to this program is presently valued at over $700,000.
- Co-published a definitive article in Neurosurgery entitled The Evolution of Organized Neurosurgery in the United States (citation).
- Created the policy base and the rules for the maintenance of an Expert Witness Testimony File, a concept that has been the subject of study throughout the medical association community and has served as a prototype for other organizations seeking to establish similar programs.