Tribute to Our Founders
As AcademyHealth celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Annual Research Meeting, we acknowledge the very special contribution of the 15 members of the original Association for Health Services Research (AHSR) Board. These leaders had the commitment and vision to create the first health services research organization and organize what has become the premier forum for health services research.
The five founders and their affiliations at the time were:
- Clif Gaus, Georgetown University
- Stuart Altman, Brandeis University
- Ed Hughes, Northwestern University
- Phil Lee, University of California, San Francisco
- Bill Pierskalla, University of Pennsylvania
The original board included the five founders as officers and the following members:
- Ron Andersen, University of Chicago
- Gerry Bisbee, Hospital Research and Education Trust
- Robert Brook, RAND Corporation
- Gordon DeFriese, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
- Mitch Greenlick, Kaiser Permanente
- Larry Lewin, Lewin and Associates
- Barbara McNeil, Harvard University
- Sam Shapiro, Johns Hopkins University
- Stephen Shortell, Northwestern University
- John Thompson, Yale University (deceased)
When AHSR was formed in April of 1981 by this small group of academically based
health services researchers, their mission for the organization was to:
- Educate consumers and policymakers on the need for and importance of health services research
- Encourage the education and training of new researchers
- Disseminate information and data on health services research
- Build the knowledge base for the field
- Serve as a spokesperson for the entire field
- Aid in securing research funds for all types and aspects of health services research, not just for the issues that policymakers are interested in
- Develop a long range strategy for the field of health services research; develop a model for the future of the field
- Facilitate meetings with other groups and organizations that conduct health services research
Just three years later in 1984, the first AHSR annual meeting was held in Chicago, with 350 attendees. |
