The Section Council and the Phoenix Phenomenon

Abstract

The Section Council of the American Medical Association is one of the oldest of the ophthalmology specialty groups. The engraved names on the chairman's gavel (now housed in the Philadelphia College of Physicians' Mutter Museum) include a list of names of the most illustrious Americans of the last 100 years in our discipline. Furthermore, there has been a galaxy of industrious secretaries in the more recent decades, beginning with the greatest of all, the late Parker Heath, who personally arranged the Knapp Fund, which supports the scientific activities of the section. Heath was followed by such stalwarts as Gundersen, Scheie, Newell, Straatsma, Breinin, and, most recently, Weinstein. All of these secretaries have left their mark. Therefore, it was with considerable regret that the optical community learned of the demise of the traditional and venerable Section Council. It is now my pleasant duty to inform those who are concerned that, although