Presidential Address: Nothing Succeeds Like Excess

Abstract

To the members of the American Society of Parasitologists, I offer my appreciation for the opportunity to serve as your president. When I was notified of my successful election as an officer, it brought to mind that famous remark by Adlai Stevenson who said, America, anybody can be president. That's one of the risks you take. So, what I initially perceived as somewhat of a risky venture, proved to be a more valuable and interesting experience than I anticipated. Let's hope that my presidential address has a similar outcome. Before preparing my presentation, I spent time reading many ASP presidential addresses, and I'll be borrowing ideas of past presidents for my talk. Although I could try to pass off my review of these addresses under the guise of research, I must make a couple of confessions, which just reflects my Catholic upbringing. First, I haven't always attended presidential addresses. For example, when John Oaks was delivering his presidential address at the Hawaii meeting in Kona, I was immersed in the warm waters of Kealakekua Bay, snorkeling on the coral reef. In any case, having recently read John's address made me appreciate the wisdom of publishing them in the Journal. And, second, I confess that I was uncertain about what direction I should take with this talk. And my library research did very little to clarify matters. Presidential addresses in our Society have run the gamut of topics. Some have been detailed scientific presentations akin to a rather long symposium talk (e.g., Norman Stoll's 1946 address entitled This Wormy World). Ruminations on the current status of our society have been the primary focus of others, and these often include a kind of call to arms, challenging the membership to meet our anticipated needs (e.g., John Oaks' aforementioned 1998 address entitled What Does the Millennium Have in Store for the American