An Exciting Time to be APS President By Linda Samuelson John A. Williams Collegiate Professor of Gastrointestinal Physiology
I
t is a great honor to have been elected as the 93rd president of the American Physiological Society (APS). Currently, as President-elect, I am part of the executive
leadership team with the President and the Past-President. I transition to my term as President at the APS annual meeting at Experimental Biology in April 2020. It is especially meaningful for me to be following in the footsteps of my mentor and colleague John A. Williams, who was the 76th APS president. Michigan Physiology has had a remarkable impact on the APS since its inception in 1887. I will be the 11th member of our department to serve as APS President. Two of these people, W.H. Howell and Warren P Lombard, were founding members of the APS. I am honored to be joining this distinguished group of Michigan Physiologists: •
W. H. Howell, Chair and Professor of Physiology
(1889-1892), and APS President (1905-1910).
new initiatives include a revamp of our brand and logo, cre-
•
ating a new APS postdoctoral fellowship program, launching a
Warren P. Lombard, Chair and Professor of Physiolo-
gy (1892-1932), and APS President (1919-1920).
new journal, and completely overhauling the annual meeting.
•
Thus, there are many new things to work on.
Carl J. Wiggers, Instructor of Physiology (1906-
1911), and APS President in 1949. •
Ralph W. Gerard, Professor of Physiology (1955-
The new journal Function will provide an open-access, multi-
1969), and APS President in 1951
disciplinary home for high-profile publication in the physio-
•
logical sciences. Work is underway to launch the journal in
Horace W. Davenport, Chair and Professor of Physiol-
ogy (1956-1979), and APS President in 1961.
2020. I hope that you will consider sending your best work to
•
this journal, which is designed to promote major insights into
John M. Brookhart, Graduate Student in Physiology
(1935-1940), and APS President in 1965. •
biological function and disease.
David F. Bohr, Professor of Physiology (1948-1985),
and APS President in 1978.
Perhaps the most exciting but daunting task ahead for the
•
APS is the creation of a new annual meeting. We will part
Harvey Sparks, Professor of Physiology (1967-1978),
and APS President in 1987.
ways with Experimental Biology and put on our own meeting
•
in 2023. The APS staff, leadership team and key members
James A. Schafer, Graduate Student in Physiology
(1963-1968), and APS President in 1996
are currently working to design a new, world-class meeting.
•
The vision is to build an innovative platform that will attract
John A. Williams, Chair (1987-2008) and Professor of
Physiology (1987-present). APS President in 2003.
a broad group of scientists to present their new discoveries. This is clearly the initiative where my work as APS President
This is a time of great change in the APS. I am deeply hum-
will have the greatest impact.
bled by the task ahead as the APS undergoes a major redesign aimed to position our members and the discipline of
I am excited to be APS President with the Society embarking
physiology at the forefront of scientific discovery. It has been
on so many new things. My term will be filled with new ideas
an exciting time to build from our past and reshape a soci-
and initiatives to build on the past to continue the impact of
ety that has been in operation for 132 years! Some of the
the APS into the future.
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Physiology Matters
