September, 1989
Congratulations on becoming an AAOB Founder! We are delighted with your support and membership. We know that you share our concerns for the problems that dental education faces today, and our enthusiasm for the role that AAOB can play to raise the level of oral biology research and education for the benefit of science, society, and the profession of dentistry and medicine. We want to share with you some of the momentum achieved by the Association since our meeting in San Francisco in March, 1989.
First, as directed by you at the San Francisco business meeting, we endorsed the concept of applying for an Oral Biology Group of the IADR. As you may remember, the IADR first proffered an oral invitation to us (by Dr. Roy Page) at our business meeting in Montreal in 1988. this was confirmed in writing by (then) IADR President Dr. William McHugh before our meeting in San Francisco this year. We voted to encourage this course of action by IADR/AADR members as an independent activity, i.e., independent of the business and activities of the AAOB.
In relation to the latter, some of our AADR members volunteered to pursue the invitation of IADR to form an Oral Biology Group. These individuals will develop a petition for Group and Group Chapter status in the IADR according to the IADR/AADR Constitution and Bylaws. They will develop an Oral Biology Group Bylaws document according to IADR guidelines and circulate it to you and other IADR members for feedback or approval.
We want to emphasize that this initiative is a separate (though related issue) as far as AAOB goals and activities. The great majority of AAOB members are IADR members. As we have discussed in our meetings, we are very grateful for the support that the IADR and AADR have given to our efforts to organize the AAOB (and have stated this to the IADR/AADR leadership in private and for the record).
We, and (apparently) IADR/AADR leaders, feel that the goals of the two organizations are complementary, synergistic, and if you extrapolate from this, an asset to dentistry. So, expect to hear from a leadership group of IADR/AADR members regarding formation of an IADR Group in the near future. We encourage your support of this initiative to form an Oral Biology Group of the IADR.
Another matter discussed in San Francisco was the development of the first scientific program of the Association. Of course, all of us feel that this program will be perhaps the single most important event in the establishment of AAOB as a scientific society. At our San Francisco business meeting we were thinking in terms of a 1990 program. It was obvious to us soon after the San Francisco meeting that this date was unrealistic.
First, the Pro-Tem Governing Committee wanted to be assured that our first scientific program would be outstanding from any perspective. As those of you who attended our meeting know, we had offers from individuals who enjoy a reputation in the American scientific community that is commensurate with this goal, however, it has become apparent that the lead time for such an event, especially considering that we are really just in the launch phase of this Association, was simply inadequate for the 1990 meeting. Therefore, the Pro-Tem Governing Committee decided to postpone the first scientific program of the Association to 1991. At our business meeting in Cincinnati you will hear a report from the Co-Chairs of this historic program which is now being planned.
As you have seen, CRC Press has begun to publicize their new journal "Critical Reviews in Oral Biology and Medicine", edited by Dr. Olav Alvares. The articles in press are exciting, and as you may have noticed, CRC Press has advertised the Journal as "the official publication of the American Association of Oral Biologists". Of course, we are delighted to have this new journal in our camp.
As you may recall, at our meeting in San Francisco, the consensus of those present was that AAOB would be receptive to a designation by CRC Press as an official publication of the Association - provided the Journal be willing to publish the Annual Proceedings of the Association. Our correspondence with the editor verifies this understanding.
You may also recall that we had a verbal offer from one of the editors of "Archives of Oral Biology" for a similar designation and status from this established and prestigious journal. The AAOB Committee assigned to sort our these offers is still in contact with Archives staff and will report at our meeting.
Parenthetically, we wish to inform you that CRC Press's announcement did not meet with our approval (i.e., "... the (emphasis added) official publication... etc"). We informed the editor that, henceforth, any press releases or journal inclusions should state: "... an official publication...etc.". As was brought out in the discussion of this issue at the San Francisco meeting, members were almost unanimous in their belief that an association with both of these journals would benefit the Association; further, that the objectives of each journal were not competitive and therefore complementary to the goals of the Association. Thus, the Committee is very hopeful that we can develop a similar complementary relationship with Archives. The AAOB Ad Hoc Committee charged with pursuing these relationships will report at our Cincinnati meeting.
Finally, the nominating committee which has been charged, according to our Bylaws, to offer us a slate of candidates for the very first elected officers of the Association, will offer its report to the members present and voting at the Cincinnati meeting. To your Pro-Tem leadership this seems virtually anticlimactic considering the momentum that the Association is developing. But certainly our first election is not a very important, but vital step to the establishment of AAOB in U.S. science and dentistry. We are pleased that our list of Founders includes about 200 individuals qualified for the first slate of officers.
