ORGANIZATION NEWS—AAPM&R

Strax Assumes AAPM&RPresidency

In November 2001, Thomas Strax, MD,assumed the presidency of the AmericanAcademy of Physical Medicine and Reha-bilitation (AAPM&R). Dr. Strax is profes-sor and chairman of the department ofphysical medicine and rehabilitation atUMDNJ�Robert Wood Johnson MedicalSchool. He is medical director of JFKJohnson Rehabilitation Institute in Edison,New Jersey. Dr. Strax will serve a 1-yearterm as president, which ends at the 2002Annual Assembly.

2002 AAPM&R andPASSOR Election Results

AAPM&R Election ResultsDue to the cancellation of the Acad-

emy’s 2001 Annual Assembly, this year’selections could not be held at the AnnualBusiness Meeting. Instead, they were heldby mail ballot. Over 4700 ballots weremailed to Academy Fellows in good stand-ing and were due back on November 1.

Academy voters elected the slate sub-mitted by the AAPM&R NominatingCommittee. Those elected were:

Vice President: Claire V. Wolfe, MDTreasurer: Steve M. Gnatz, MD, MHAMember-at-Large: Maury Ellenberg, MDMember-at-Large: Bruce M. Gans, MDMember-at-Large: David X. Cifu, MDMember – Awards Committee: Heidi

Prather, DONominating Committee for 2002:Gail L. Gamble, MD, Chair (automatic

appointment)Patrick M. Foye, MD (repeat appoint-

ment)Alicia M. Abels, MDJane Dorval, MDMargaret A. Turk, MDPMR-ERF Endowment Subcommittee:Robert J. Weber, MD

PASSOR Election ResultsPASSOR elections were also held by

mail ballot this year due to the cancellationof the PASSOR Business Meeting. Theresults are listed below.

2001�2002 PASSOR Board ofGovernors

President: William F. Micheo, MDPast President: Gerard A. Malanga, MDVice President: Bruce E. Becker, MDSecretary/Treasurer: Michael B. Fur-

man, MD

Member-at-Large: David F. Bagnall,MD

Member-at-Large: Lawrence W. Frank,MD

Member-at-Large: Stuart M. Weinstein,MD

2002 PASSOR Nominating CommitteeGerard A. Malanga, MD,ChairVenu Akuthota, MDBradly S. Goodman, MDGregory J. Mulford, MDJoel M. Press, MD

2002 PASSOR Awards Committee

Bruce E. Becker, MD,ChairMichael Fredericson, MDJoseph D. Fortin, DOKevin J. Pauza, MDRobert E. Windsor, MD

2001 Annual AssemblyCancellation

AAPM&R’s 63rd Annual Assemblywas scheduled to take place September13–16, 2001, in New Orleans—2 days af-ter the terrorist attacks of September 11.

When this tragedy occurred, the Acad-emy had to make some quick decisionsabout the meeting. On September 11, theAcademy’s 2 preconference courses, “Pre-paring Yourself for Physiatric Practice”and “PASSOR’s Spinal Injection Work-shop,” were already under way. About halfof the Academy’s staff was already on siteat the Hilton New Orleans Riverside pre-paring for the Assembly.

The decision to postpone the meetingwas difficult. Compounding the situation,the Academy national office, like otherhigh-rise buildings in Chicago, was evac-uated for the day. The Academy Board ofGovernors and staff directors held anemergency conference call on September11 and decided to “indefinitely postpone”the Annual Assembly. Staff notified asmany participants as possible. Callers tothe Academy office or the Hilton NewOrleans Riverside meeting site heard amessage announcing the meeting post-ponement. The Academy website was up-dated as information became available.Members with updated e-mail addressesand fax numbers with the Academy re-ceived blast e-mail and broadcast fax mes-sages. All nonmember faculty, exhibitors,Job Fair participants, and sponsors werecalled the evening of September 11 tonotify them of the cancellation. Staff com-municated with thousands of peoplequickly.

All individuals who paid registrationfees for the Annual Assembly received arefund by the first week of November.Reports to the membership normally pre-sented at the Annual Business Meeting arenow available on the Academy’s websiteor available by fax from the Academy’snational office. These include the Mem-bership Report, the Nominating Commit-tee Report, and the Treasurer’s Report.Other reports, such as the Audit Report,Report of Deceased Members, and 25Year Members are also available.

The 2001 Annual Report to the Mem-bership appears in the Member Physicianssection of the Web site and recounts theincredible array of programs, services, andactivities supported by your Academy inthe past year. ThePASSOR 2001 Report tothe Membership is likewise posted on thePASSOR webpage.

2001 Meeting Not Rescheduled

After lengthy discussions and research,it was decided that the Academy could notfind appropriate hotel rooms and meetingspace, ensure availability of over 300speakers, or effectively market the meet-ing to the membership. The cancellationmarks only the second time in the Acade-my’s history that the Annual Assemblyhas been cancelled. The other time was in1945 at the request of the National WarCommittee on Conventions.

The 2002 Assembly will be held asscheduled from November 21�24, 2002,in Orlando, FL. The Academy Board ofGovernors has determined that rather thanattempt to conduct an interim meetingearly in 2002, the Academy should focusits energies on the highest quality AnnualAssembly possible. Presenters scheduledfor the 2001 meeting will be invited tohave their courses or presentations recon-sidered for the 2002 scientific program.Academy staff will contact individualswho submitted proposals for 2001 andwork with them on 2002 proposals.

Elections Held By Mail

Annual elections are normally held atthe Annual Assembly. The bylaws foreach entity do not include a provision thataddresses complete cancellation of the An-nual Assembly.

After extensive research, consultationwith legal counsel, and exploring all avail-able options, the Board of Governors de-termined that a mail ballot was the mosteffective way to conduct this year’s elec-tions. Members eligible to vote in the var-ious elections received their appropriate

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Arch Phys Med Rehabil Vol 83, January 2002