2023 American Academy of Neurology Abstract Website

Objective:

To highlight women who participated in the development of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) during its early years.

Background:

The AAN was established in 1948. The role that women neurologists played in the Academy around its inception is unclear.

Design/Methods:

We evaluated the historical archives of the AAN, University of Minnesota, University of Wisconsin, and available online resources. We collected the names of the women who were involved in the scientific development of the AAN and reviewed their backgrounds.

Results:

A few notable women were involved in the early biannual meetings of the AAN. Dr. Mabel Garden Masten (1898-1971) from the University of Wisconsin was the only woman who was a member of a committee (Committee on Public Relations) in the first biannual meeting in 1949. She became a fellow member of the Academy and a member of the Editorial Board in the first interim meeting in 1950. Drs. Kate Constable and Alexandra Adler were the only women who had presentations at the First Biannual Meeting of the Academy, on parkinsonism and visual agnosia, respectively. Dr. Margaret Thaler had a presentation on encephalitis in the first interim meeting. Other woman neurologists who attended the first interim meeting of the Academy were Drs. Estelle P. Boynton, Marry E. Margulies, Ruth F. Krauss, and Fae Tichy. In 1951, Margaret M. Kane was the first managing editor of Neurology, the official journal of the AAN. Dr. Fae Tichy (1919-2004) from the University of Minnesota became a member of the Committee on Special Courses and Chairman of the Neuropathology Course at the 1953 meeting.

Conclusions:

Since its inception, women neurologists and scientists have been included in the AAN and were involved in the early scientific meetings.