Southern Neurosurgical Society Endowment
Fund Purpose: Advancing the practice of neurosurgery in the Southern United States via research, education and other efforts.
Advancing the practice of neurosurgery in the Southern United States via research, education and other efforts.
In 1949, under the stimulus of Dr. R. Eustace Semmes, invitations were sent to some fifty neurosurgeons to meet in Memphis to discuss the formation of the group. On November 29, 1949, twenty-three of the founding group met in Memphis for the first organizational scientific meeting.
At this meeting, the idea of a true sectional society was first considered, and the name, “Southern Neurosurgical Society” was officially adopted. Dr. Semmes was elected as the first president of the Society, and a committee was appointed to draft a constitution. At the second meeting, held in Atlanta in May of 1950, the constitution was formally accepted.
At the 1968 meeting, the name of the Southern Neurosurgical Society was changed to Southern Neurosurgical Society, Incorporated, and the Society was legally incorporated in the state of Missouri as a non-profit corporation.
The Membership has steadily grown. At present, there are 142 Active, 22 Candidate, 45 Resident Candidate, and 183 Lifetime members in the Society.
Since 1968, a highlight of the annual meeting has been the R. Eustace Semmes lecture, which honors both Dr. Semmes and an outstanding neurosurgeon or neuroscientist who delivers the lecture.
The William Henry Hudson lecture was added in 1976, and The Edward F. Downing Memorial lecture was added in 2007 and features a topic of general interest to those living and working in the South.
To view a list of all donors to this fund, click here.