A Chronology of the AACC Era, 1948-98

In July 2023, we changed our name from AACC (short for the American Association for Clinical Chemistry) to the Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine (ADLM). The following page was written prior to this rebranding and contains mentions of the association’s old name.

By Samuel Meites

1948

• First organizational meeting; 9 founding/charter members, NYC, Mt. Sinai Hospital, December 15th
• Metro NY Section formed
• Bio-Science Labs opened
• Victor C. Myers (1883-1948), pioneer, teacher

1949

• First President, Max M. Friedman (Secretary, 1950-59); Louis B. Dotti, (Treasurer, 1949-59)
• Organization named American Association of Clinical Chemists at second meeting, Mt. Sinai Hospital, January 11 (Attendance: 21)
• Boston Section formed
• Philadelphia Section formed
• the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) became incorporated, April 12th
• Constitution adopted
• Governance: officers, 3 elected members, 1 representative from each Section
• First annual meeting (with ACS), Atlantic City, NJ
• F.W. Sunderman founded Proficiency Testing Service
• Membership, 169

1950

• President 1950-51, Harry Sobotka
• Second annual meeting (with ACS), Philadelphia, PA
• Southern California Section formed
• Chicago Section formed
• Samuel Natelson published on ultramicro analyses for the clinical laboratory
• Membership, 309

1951

• President 1951-52, John G. Reinhold
• Washington-Baltimore-Richmond Section (Capital) formed
• Third annual meeting (with ACS), Boston, MA
• Membership, 402

1952

• President 1952-53, Albert E. Sobel
• Bylaws adopted
• Ernst Bischoff award established
• ABCC incorporated
• Fourth annual meeting (with ACS), Milwaukee, WI
• Membership, 455

1953

• Code of Ethics adopted
• President 1953-54, Hugh J. McDonald
• Fifth annual meeting (with ACS), Chicago, IL
• AACC joined ABCC
• Miriam Reiner edited vol 1, Standard Methods of Clinical Chemistry
• Membership, 556

1954

• President 1954-55, Monroe E. Freeman
• Texas Section formed
• Midwest Section formed
• Sixth annual meeting (with ACS), NYC
• Membership, 624

1955

• President 1955-56, Otto Schales
• Clinical Chemistry, a bi-monthly journal launched, Harold D. Appleton, ed (1955-69)
• Florida Section formed
• Seventh annual meeting (with AAAS), Atlanta, GA
• John P. Peters (1887-1955), pioneer, educator
• Membership, 660

1956

• President 1956-57, Robert M. Hill
• Cleveland Section (NE Ohio) formed
• AACC sponsored International Congress on Clinical Chemistry, NYC
• Membership, 698¹

1957

• President 1957-58, Joseph I. Routh
• Connecticut Section (CT Valley) formed
• Michigan Section formed
• NY Upstate Section formed
• Ninth annual meeting (with ACS), NYC
• Technicon Instruments introduced the Leonard T. Skeggs-invented AutoAnalyzer
• Membership, 751

1958

• President 1958-59, Oliver H. Gaebler
• AACC held first independent annual (10th) meeting, Iowa City, IA
• Membership, 829

1959

• President 1959-60, Ferrin B. Moreland
• 11th annual meeting, Cleveland, OH
• Hsien Wu, pioneer (1893-1959)
• Membership, 850

1960

• President 1960-61, Arnold G. Ware
• Joint meeting, AACC/CSCC, Montreal, Canada
• Philip A. Shaffer, pioneer (1881-1960)
• Membership, 891

1961

• President 1961-62, David Seligson
• Puget Sound Section (Pacific Northwest) formed
• Ohio Valley Section formed
• Pittsburgh Section formed
• 13th annual meeting, NYC
• Membership, 985

1962

• President 1962-63, Miriam Reiner
• Northern California Section formed
• 14th annual meeting, Santa Monica, CA
• Membership, 1038

1963

• President 1963-64, Richard J. Henry
• AACC/CSCC sponsored 5th International Congress on Clinical Chemistry, Detroit, MI

1964

• President 1964-65, Julius Sendroy, Jr
• North Carolina Section formed
• 16th annual meeting, Boston, MA
• Membership, 1047

1965

• President 1965-66, Wendell T. Caraway
• 17th annual meeting, Chicago, IL

1966

• President 1966-67, Robert L. Dryer
• 18th annual meeting, Miami Beach, FL (48 exhibitor booths)
• Walter R. Bloor, pioneer (1877-1966)
• Membership, 1490

1967

• President 1967-68, William B. Mason
• Southeast Section formed
• 19th annual meeting, Philadelphia, PA
• NIST reference materials (cholesterol) for clinical chemistry inaugurated
• NRCC founded
• First Oak Ridge Conference
• Joseph H. Roe, pioneer, educator (1892-1967)
• Nathan Radin published "What is a standard?"
• CLIA '67
• Membership, 1589

1968

• President 1968-69, George T. Lewis
• D.A.H. Roethel appointed first Executive Director (part time), 1968-70, office at ACS
• AACC governance became bicameral with Council (House of Delegates) and Board of Directors; rules of committee tenure established
• Joint meeting, AACC/CSCC, Washington, DC
• NCCLS chartered
• DuPont's aca^R Discrete Clinical Analyzer introduced
• Membership, 1666

1969

• President 1969-70, Robert S. Melville
• 21st annual meeting, Denver, CO
• Membership, 1672

1970

• President, Robert S. Melville²
• New Jersey Section formed
• 22nd annual meeting, Buffalo, NY
• Membership, 1959

1971

• President, Alex Kaplan
• Joint meeting, AACC/CSCC, Seattle, WA
• Donald D. Van Slyke, pioneer (1883-1971)
• Michael Somogyi, pioneer (1883-1971)
• J. Stanton King, Executive Director (part time, 1971-74); editor, Clinical Chemistry (1971-89)
• Membership, 2110

1972

• President, Joseph H. Boutwell, Jr.
• Rocky Mountain Section formed
• 24th annual meeting, Cincinnati, OH
• Effects of Drugs on Clinical Laboratory Tests, 1st ed, Donald S. Young and coworkers
• Membership, 2394

1973

• President, Ralph E. Thiers
• 25th annual meeting, NYC
• Membership, 2811

1974

• President, George N. Bowers
• William J. Campbell appointed full time Executive Director (1974-81)
• AACC office established in Washington, DC
• 26th annual meeting, Las Vegas, NV
• Membership, 3121

1975

• President, Morton K. Schwartz
• AACC/CSCC sponsored 9th International Congress on Clinical Chemistry, Toronto, Canada
• Clinical Chemistry News (later, Clinical Laboratory News) inaugurated
• First Pine Mountain Conference (forerunner of Beckman Conference)
• Membership, 3668

1976

• President, Royden N. Rand
• 28th annual meeting, Houston, TX (196 exhibitor booths)
• ACCENT Program inaugurated
• AACC published first book, Clinical Radioassay Procedures (Paige K. Besch, ed)
• Charles Edward Hanke, pioneer (1898-1976)
• Membership, 3857

1977

• President, Norbert W. Tietz
• 19th annual meeting, Chicago, IL (335 exhibitor booths)
• AACC published 1st ed, Pediatric Clinical Chemistry (S. Meites, ed)
• Max M. Friedman, founder (1907-1977)
• First Beckman Conference
• Membership, 4147

1978

• President, Nathan Gochman
• 30th annual meeting, San Francisco, CA (335 exhibitor booths)
• Membership, 4685

1979

• President, Albert A. Dietz
• 31st annual meeting, New Orleans, LA (352 exhibitor booths)
• Endowment Fund for Research in Clinical Chemistry initiated (superseded by Van Slyke Society in 1988)
• Membership, 5148

1980

• President, Donald S. Young
• Joint meeting, AACC/CSCC, Boston, MA (384 exhibitor booths)
• Kodak Ektachem 400 Analyzer introduced
• Membership, 5589

1981

• President, Paige K. Besch
• Ronald E. Whorton, Executive Vice President (1981-90)
• 33rd annual meeting, Kansas City, MO (463 exhibitor booths)
• Membership, 5599

1982

• President, Jocelyn M. Hicks
• 34th annual meeting, Anaheim, CA (499 exhibitor booths)
• Julius Sendroy, pioneer, past-president (1900-82)
• Membership, 5809

1983

• President, Gary A. Zimmerman
• Animal Clinical Chemistry Division formed
• Nutrition Division formed
• Pediatric Clinical Chemistry Division formed
• 35th annual meeting, NYC (549 exhibitor booths)
• San Diego Section formed
• Membership, 6213

1984

• President, Gerald R. Cooper
• Laboratory Information Systems Division formed
• 36th annual meeting, Washington, DC (590 exhibitor booths)
• Membership, 6390

1985

• President, Kurt M. Dubowski
• 37th annual meeting, Atlanta, GA (613 exhibitor booths)
• Membership, 6475

1986

• President, Jack H. Ladenson
• Electrolyte/Blood Gas Division formed
• Clinical and Diagnostic Immunology Division formed
• TDM/Toxicology Division formed
• Joint meeting, AACC/CSCC, Chicago, IL (678 exhibitor booths)
• First San Diego Conference
• Council's Long Range Plan introduced
• Membership, 7560

1987

• President, Robert L. Habig
• Lipids and Lipoproteins Division formed
• 39th annual meeting, San Francisco, CA (788 exhibitor booths)
• Membership, 8672

1988

• President, Theodore Peters, Jr.
• 40th annual meeting, New Orleans, LA (818 exhibitor booths)
• Van Slyke Society created for support of research and education
• CLIA '88
• Membership, 9196

1989

• President, Carl A. Burtis
• 41st annual meeting, Atlanta, GA (952 exhibitor booths)
• David Bruns, current editor (part time) Clinical Chemistry
• Membership, 9660

1990

• President, Helen M. Free
• AACC/CSCC sponsored 14th International Congress of Clinical Chemistry, San Francisco, CA (1047 exhibitor booths)
• Membership, 9493

1991

• President, Karen L. Nickel
• Molecular Pathology Division formed
• 43rd annual meeting, Washington, DC (1031 exhibitor booths)
• Richard E. Flaherty, current Executive Vice President
• Membership, 10257

1992

• President, Basil T. Doumas
• History of Clinical Chemistry Division formed
• 44th annual meeting, Chicago, IL (1113 exhibitor booths)
• Membership, 10404

1993

• President, Lemuel J. Bowie
• Management Sciences Division formed
• 45th annual meeting, NYC (1184 exhibitor booths)
• Membership, 10780

1994

• President, Lawrence M. Killingsworth
• 46th annual meeting, New Orleans, LA (1165 exhibitor booths)
• Membership, 11481

1995

• President, Peter Wilding
• 47th annual meeting, Anaheim, CA (1260 exhibitor booths)
• Membership, 11540

1996

• President, Mary F. Burritt
• Joint meeting, AACC/CSCC, Chicago, IL (1238 exhibitor booths)
• Membership, 8822

1997

• President, Laurence M. Demers
• Blood Substitutes Division formed
• 49th annual meeting, Atlanta, GA (1300 exhibitor booths)
• Membership, 8838³

1998

• President, Stephen E. Kahn
• Point-of-Care Testing Division formed
• Industry Division formed
• 50th annual meeting, Chicago, IL

Abbreviations used:

AAAS = American Association for the Advancement of Science
AACC =American Association for Clinical Chemistry
ABCC = American Board of Clinical Chemistry
ACCENT = Advance in Clinical Chemistry Education and New Technology
ACS = American Chemical Society
CLIA = Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act
CSCC = Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists
NCCLS = National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards
NIST = National Institute of Standards and Technology
NRCC = National Registry in Clinical Chemistry

¹Numbers from 1956 on are derived from AACC membership directories. The "cutoff" month of the directory varied from the calendar year (used for the most part) to other months of the following year up to June 1st . Numbers listed before 1956 are based on minutes of the AACC executive committee and other reports in The Clinical Chemist - the AACC newsletter (and journal). Some directories are unavailable.

²AACC fiscal years and terms of office moved from midyear (July 1) to calendar year - so that Melville and others served 1½ years. IRS classified AACC as Section 501 C3 organization.

³Includes 442 emeritus members (5.0%) and non-US membership of 2661 (30.1%).

Copyright © 1998 AACC - All Rights Reserved.