Through this historical timeline, we invite you to reflect on the foundation, some of the key moments and people who made the International Anesthesia Research Society and Anesthesia & Analgesia what it is today.

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1970

May:

Laurette McMechan died May 22, 1970, at the age of 92 in the Santa Monica Convalescent Center. She was buried in the Lakewood Cemetery, Rocky River, Ohio, next to her husband, Dr. Francis Hoeffer McMechan. Several board members served as pallbearers, as she requested. The IARS also paid for her funeral. Only 2 brief tributes appeared in the journal to which she had dedicated her life.

1971

The early history of the Journal and the Society was documented by Dr. T. H. Seldon on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Journal, then titled Anesthesia and Analgesia. . .Current Researches.

1975

Dr. Harry Seldon recognized that his advancing age and, by then, 5 years of retirement from clinical practice, might interfere increasingly with his editorial functions, and decided to retire.

Dr. Kenneth Keown, the Chair of the Board of Trustees, appointed Dr. Seldon to a committee to identify his successor as editor.

1976

Dr. Seldon resigned at age 71, completing an energetic 22-year tenure as Editor.

Dr. Nicholas M. Greene (1976-1990) was appointed as the fourth Editor-in-Chief of the Journal. During his 14-year tenure, he improved scientific content, expanded circulation, and increased profitability, enabling the IARS research awards program.

Dr. Greene served on the Board of Anesthesiology from 1965 to 1972 and then as its Editor-in-Chief from 1973 to 1976. He had served for 18 years as the Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology at Yale University, and had just completed a term as Editor-in-Chief of Anesthesiology. Greene offered a wealth of knowledge, experience and credibility as an editor and academician.

The Editorial Board was expanded, with most Editors not simultaneously acting as Trustees of the IARS Board. 

The IARS contributed funds to support research, giving a $10,000 donation to the ASA.

1977

March:

Dr. Nicholas Greene accepted the position of Editor-in-Chief of Anesthesia and Analgesia…Current Researches.

The Editorial Board members were designated Editors, and most were not simultaneously members of the Board of Trustees.

In a further step toward editorial independence for the Journal, unlike two of three prior editors (McMechan and Seldon), Nicholas Greene, appointed as the fourth Editor-in-Chief of Anesthesia & Analgesia in 1977, declined to serve on the IARS Board of Trustees.

1979

The Journal underwent a complete cover-to-cover redesign and was renamed Anesthesia & Analgesia.

1980

The journal attracted an increasing number of excellent manuscripts that necessitated its appearing monthly rather than bimonthly. Anesthesia & Analgesia became a monthly publication. 

1983

IARS established the T.H. Seldon Memorial Lecture in honor of Dr. Harry Seldon. This keynote lecture opens the IARS Annual Meeting and brings renowned experts to spark important conversations on anesthesiology and beyond.

H. Jeremy C. Swan gave the first T.H. Seldon Memorial Lecture with a presentation titled, “Hemodynamic monitoring of the cardiovascular system.”

Responsibility for publication of Anesthesia & Analgesia was assumed by Elsevier Science Publishing (New York, NY), replacing the geographically separate activities that had been used traditionally for its production and distribution. Improved management, plus Greene’s highly positive influence on the scientific content of Anesthesia & Analgesia, led to expanded circulation and increased profitability. From the added revenue came funds used to develop and expand an IARS research awards program for the specialty.

The IARS gifted a $5,000 donation to the Canadian Anesthesiologists’ Society in recognition of the many years of service of Canadian Trustees on the Board of the IARS.

The IARS began its systematic support of research, establishing the BB Sankey Anesthesia Advancement Award ($25,000) in recognition of Sankey’s long service to the IARS as Executive Secretary (1965 – 1983). The IARS Board of Trustees served as the review committee for these applications and subsequent awards – with one exception. Applicants had to be IARS members and to submit formal research proposals. The IARS granted 45 Sankey awards through 1993, totaling $1,078,495.   

From 1983 to the present, the IARS provided more than $13,800,000 to support research.

More recent IARS support for WFSA programs included the provision of 100 copies of the printed annual IARS Review Course book, from 1983 to 2007 (the last print edition).

1984

Edmond I Eger (II) presented the T.H. Seldon Memorial Lecture on “Nitrous oxide -a drug of the past.”