International Society for the History of the Neurosciences (ISHN)

Château d'Ouchy, Lausanne, Switzerland
16 September 1999
22.00 - 22.45h

Attendance:

Paul Eling

Ed Fine

Stan Finger

Sam Greenblatt

Hansruedi Isler

Russell Johnson

Peter Koehler

Larry Kruger

Boleslav Lichtermann

Claudio Luzzatti

J.B. Lyons

Robert Rieber

Chris Smith

Ragnar Stien

Harry Whitaker

George York

1. Welcome (Chris Smith, President)
   
   
2. Apologies

   Apologies for absence were received from Duane Haines, Malcolm Macmillan, and Louise Marshall.

   
   
3. Feedback on ISHN/ECHN/EAHP meeting, September 1999 (Chris Smith)

   Stan Finger noted that there was discussion among the ISHN board about considering for future meetings papers which are longer than 15 to 20 minutes, perhaps including symposia with discussions afterward. Peter Koehler countered that some people will complain if some were asked to speak for 30 minutes while others had 20. Chris Smith deferred discussion of this to agenda item #8. Stan Finger observed that it would be up to the Program Committee to make wise decisions.

   
   
4. Arrangements for ISHN 5th annual meeting, June 2000 (Sam Greenblatt, President-elect)

   Sam Greenblatt reported on preparations for the ISHN 5th annual meeting, to be held Sunday 11 June through Wednesday 14 June, 2000 in Providence, Rhode Island. ISHN has reserved 32 rooms at ca. US$119 at the Biltmore Hotel, a 1920s-era building, recently refurbished, located downtown. Brown University, 20 minutes away, will have dorm rooms available for students. He anticipated holding the opening reception Sunday night (June 11) on the top floor of the hotel, having the banquet on Tuesday night (June 13 ) at the Old Stone Bank Building (built 1852 and now belonging to brown University), and running the meeting through mid-day on Wednesday (June 14). Ed Fine will investigate organizing a visit to the Countway Library or Warren Museum in Boston on Wednesday afternoon; other excursion suggestions include Newport, Rhode Island and the Whaling Museum in Bedford, Massachusetts. The Providence airport is served by Southwest Airlines as well as American, United, Delta, and Northwest; there is a direct bus from Logan Airport in Boston to Kennedy Plaza, where our hotel is; the train station is nearby and convenient by taxicab. Sam presented a travelogue on Providence, complete with slides and anecdotes about the "Fire-Water" river spectacle which he said might be scheduled as part of the meeting's entertainment on Tuesday night.

   The program will consist of plenary sessions and posters; the posters will be on view throughout the meeting, with a session scheduled for the authors to be present. Student members of the society are especially encouraged to come to this meeting.

   
   
5. Treasurer's Report (George York, Treasurer)

   George York observed that the ISHN was formally incorporated in 7 July 1995 but that the statement of incorporation and bylaws contain no mention of the society's fiscal year. Such a declaration is important in case the society should ever be audited. He asked for a motion [made by Larry Kruger] to adopt the calendar year as our fiscal year, retroactive to 7 July 1995. Sam Greenblatt [the former Treasurer] added that this is how we have operated all along.

   Motion was made to the membership to adopt the calendar year as the ISHN fiscal year, retroactive to 7 July 1995. Motion passed unanimously.

   ISHN now has 179 paid members; finances are healthy and the society has been in the black since its incorporation. The Treasurer concluded by noting that the society's accounts are visible and he offered copies of statements to anyone who would like them, at the end of the meeting. There were no questions from the floor.

   
   
6. Nominations and Balloting for President-elect (President 2000-2001); Venue for 6th Annual Meeting in 2001 (Chris Smith)

   Chris Smith presented two nominations from the Board of Directors and asked the nominees to introduce themselves with brief biographical sketches: Paul Eling (Nijmegen, The Netherlands) and Jack Lyons (Dublin, Ireland). Nominations were opened to the floor, with no addition names put forth. Jack Lyons stated that he appreciated the honor, but could not accept the nomination for personal reasons.

   Larry Kruger called for a vote of acclamation to elect Paul Eling as ISHN President-elect; motion passed unanimously.

   Paul Eling announced that he and Axel Karenburg will begin to organize the ISHN 6th Annual Meeting in Köln, Germany, for 2001.

   
   
7. Annual Awards in Journal of the History of the Neurosciences (Stan Finger, Co-Editor-in-Chief)

   Stan Finger described a proposal from the editors of Journal of the History of the Neurosciences (JHN) to create annual awards for the Best Book in the history of neuroscience, broadly defined, from the previous year and the Best Article Published in JHN during the previous year. He has asked Frank Rose to chair and Paul Eling, Régis Olry, and George Joseph [JHN Book Review Editor] to comprise the committee that would make the nominations for these awards.

   The proposal was sent through the JHN editorial board, which concluded it did not have the 7 or 8 weeks it needed to gather and consider nominees to make awards this year, so the award process will commence next year. At the editorial board meeting, a proposal was made and accepted to create an additional award for lifetime achievement or contributions to the history of the neurosciences, broadly defined, including neurology. The JHN board decided that on even numbered years [i.e., at the ISHN meeting held in North America] it would give awards for best book and best JHN journal article published during the previous two years, and on odd numbered years [i.e., at the meeting held elsewhere] it would present the award for lifetime contributions.

   The question arose at the JHN board meeting whether these would be cash awards or not. At first, these honors do not need to be accompanied by a cash award. The editors will see to it that the award winners are announced in the journal, with an article about the awards and the winner's photographs, as well as the presentation of a plaque or certificate at the meeting. If sponsors or benefactors are found, then consideration can be given to naming the awards and including a cash component to the award as well.

   The journal board would like the people receiving the awards to be present at the annual meeting. This will be done not only by notifying them in advance but, if it proves financially difficult for some (especially junior) awardees to travel, by coming forth with some money from ISHN to help the person offset some travel expenses. Stan Finger asked the gathered members if these proposals were acceptable and met with no disagreement.

   
   
8. Named Lecture for the ISHN Meeting (Chris Smith)

   Chris Smith described a proposal which he first raised to the ISHN Board of Directors after he saw the number of named lectures on this year's program: attracting a prominent person to give a named lecture--such as the Cajal Lecture or the Sherrington lecture--and perhaps finding some funding. Paul Eling asked if the name of the lecture would return from year to year, which is the manner in which Chris Smith envisioned it. Smith's call for other suggestions from the floor resulted in the names Edwin Clarke and Mary Brazier (from Russell Johnson) and Jules Soury (from Paul Eling). Eling wondered whether there might be two lectures, one emphasizing the history of clinical and the other the history of laboratory neuroscience; Larry Kruger seconded this by suggesting Soury and Karl Sudhoff as examples.

   After more discussion on the suggested names, Stan Finger recommended that a decision not be reached immediately, but rather that a committee be established, to survey ISHN members and other societies such as the ECHN and WFN and report with something more concrete at the next meeting. Chris Smith agreed and stated that he will work on this during the coming nine months, before the next annual meeting.

   
   
9. FENS, Brighton, 24-28 June 2000 (Chris Smith)

   Chris Smith originally placed this item on the agenda because the dates of the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies congress in June 2000, which several ECHN members would want to attend, might conflict if the ISHN and ECHN held a joint meeting next year. There is no date conflict, according to item #4 above, so this item was removed from the agenda.

   
   
10. Other Business (Chris Smith)

    Russell Johnson reported on the HISTNEUR-L listserv. Membership in the discussion list has increased from 187 to 247 members. Statistics reported last year still hold: only 1/4 of ISHN members are subscribed to HISTNEUR-L (it will be important to encourage all members to subscribe, since ISHN has no printed newsletter and so depends on the listserv to convey timely announcements); likewise, only 1/4 of HISTNEUR-L subscribers are members of ISHN (thus a semi-annual message from the ISHN President might recruit more members).

    Sam Greenblatt stated it is very clear that we have to expect to plan for two years' notice to set up an annual meeting. In the past, we voted on the coming year's meeting site at the annual meeting, which he noted obviously would have been impossible to plan a meeting for next June. He encouraged the society to continue the practice of deciding on the meeting site two years hence with the selection of the President-elect.

    In conclusion and with the applause of all present, Chris Smith thanked Hansruedi Isler for an outstanding job in organizing this meeting in Zurich and Lausanne; Sam Greenblatt likewise thanked Chris Smith; and Hansruedi Isler thanked Eliane Lehmann, Caroline Jagella, and Puspa Agarwalla for their local arrangement assistance.

    
    
11. Meeting Adjourned at 22.45h
    
    

Minutes recorded by Russell Johnson for Duane Haines

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