American Neurological Association

The ANA family of journals also includes the Annals of the Child Neurology Society.

• Name — American Neurological Association • Abbreviation — ANA • Founded — 1875 • Type — Professional association • Purpose — Academic neurology and neuroscience • Headquarters — Mount Laurel, New Jersey, U.S. • Leader Title — President • Leader Name — Dimitri Krainc, MD, PhD, FANA (2025–2027) • Leader Title2 — President-Elect • Leader Name2 — S. Thomas Carmichael, MD, PhD, FANA (2025–2027) • Leader Title3 — CEO • Leader Name3 — Brenda Orffer, CAE • Website — https: myana.org

The ANA was founded in 1875 as the first national society devoted to the study of diseases of the nervous system in the United States. Its creation reflected the recognition of neurology as a distinct medical discipline separate from general medicine and psychiatry. Early members included William A. Hammond, James S. Jewell, Edward C. Séguin, Charles K. Mills, and James J. Putnam, who were influential in establishing the academic foundations of neurology in North America. In 1884, the association elected Sarah J. McNutt as its first woman member, a milestone that reflected the gradual entry of women into mainstream American medicine. During the 20th century, the ANA became a leading forum for the presentation of neurological research and contributed to the development of training programs for neurologists in U.S. medical schools. Its membership and programming have since expanded to reflect advances in neuroscience and the globalization of academic medicine.

The ANA supports a variety of programs aimed at fostering the careers of academic neurologists and neuroscientists. These include: • Career Development Programs – mentorship, networking, and training opportunities for early-career members. • Academic Excellence Initiatives – efforts to broaden representation in academic neurology. • Policy and Advocacy – advancing funding priorities and public awareness of the value of academic neurology.

The ANA hosts an annual scientific meeting, considered one of the premier venues for presenting advances in academic neurology. The meeting includes plenary sessions, symposia, workshops, and poster presentations, as well as professional development opportunities for early-career and trainee neurologists. Named lectures and awards are presented annually, including the George W. Jacoby, the Derek Denny-Brown Young Neurological Scholar, the Raymond D. Adams, and the Audrey S. Penn awards, which recognize significant contributions to the field.

The ANA is governed by an Executive Committee, which includes elected officers such as the President, President-Elect, Secretary, and Treasurer. The presidency rotates bi-annually, with past presidents including leaders in both academic and clinical neuroscience. The current ANA President (2025–2027) is Dr. Dimitri Krainc. Committees oversee areas such as education, membership, diversity and inclusion, and scientific programming. The association is headquartered in Mount Laurel, New Jersey.

Early figures associated with the American Neurological Association included William A. Hammond, widely credited as a principal organizer of the society’s founding, and Edward C. Séguin, who served as recording secretary and treasurer at the first ANA meeting in June 1875. These physicians, along with contemporaries such as James S. Jewell and Silas Weir Mitchell, were part of a cohort that helped consolidate neurology as a distinct academic discipline in the United States during the late nineteenth century. Hammond is also noted for advancing the professionalization of neurology in America; his Treatise on Diseases of the Nervous System (1871) is often described as the first comprehensive American neurology textbook, and later historical analyses emphasize his influence on the field. The ANA’s role in the maturation of American neurology is documented in historical analyses that describe the society as a premier venue for presenting neurological research and, by some accounts, the first national neurology society formed worldwide.

Since its founding in 1875, the American Neurological Association has been led by a succession of presidents representing leading figures in American academic neurology. Below is a complete list of individuals who have served as President of the ANA (year — name): • 2025–2027 — Dimitri Krainc, MD, PhD • 2023–2025 — M. Elizabeth Ross, MD, PhD • 2022–2023 — Frances E. Jensen, MD • 2020–2021 — Justin C. McArthur, MBBS, MPH • 2018–2019 — David M. Holtzman, MD • 2016–2017 — Barbara Vickrey, MD, MPH • 2014–2015 — Robert H. Brown Jr., DPhil, MD • 2012–2013 — Eva Feldman, MD, PhD • 2010–2011 — Robert L. Macdonald, MD, PhD • 2008–2009 — Timothy Pedley, MD • 2006–2007 — Stephen L. Hauser, MD • 2004–2005 — John W. Griffin, MD • 2002–2003 — Anne B. Young, MD, PhD • 2000–2001 — Richard J. Baringer, MD • 1998–1999 — Jerome B. Posner, MD • 1997 — John N. Whitaker, MD • 1995 — David A. Drachman, MD • 1994 — Audrey S. Penn, MD • 1993 — Peter J. Dyck, MD • 1992 — Guy M. McKhann, MD • 1991 — Robert B. Daroff, MD • 1990 — Joseph B. Martin, MD, PhD • 1989 — Sid Gilman, MD • 1988 — Robert J. Joynt, MD, PhD • 1987 — Richard T. Johnson, MD • 1986 — Robert Katzman, MD • 1985 — James F. Toole, MD • 1984 — Robert A. Fishman, MD • 1983 — Arthur K. Asbury, MD • 1982 — Jack P. Whisnant • 1981 — Lewis P. Rowland • 1980 — Peritz Scheinberg • 1979 — Sidney Carter • 1978 — William M. Landau • 1977 — Fred Plum • 1976 — Samuel A. Trufant • 1975 — Joseph M. Foley • 1974 — Clark H. Millikan • 1973 — M. B. Bender • 1972 — Paul C. Bucy • 1971 — Abe B. Baker • 1970 — Melvin D. Yahr • 1969 — Augustus S. Rose • 1968 — Adolph L. Sahs • 1967 — Raymond D. Adams • 1966 — Earl A. Walker • 1965 — Russell DeJong • 1964 — Richard B. Richter • 1963 — Charles D. Aring • 1962 — James L. O’Leary • 1961 — Harold G. Wolff • 1960 — Derek E. Denny-Brown • 1959 — Bernard J. Alpers • 1958 — Israel S. Wechsler • 1957 — Houston H. Merritt • 1956 — Johannes M. Nielson • 1955 — Percival Bailer • 1954 — Roland P. Mackay • 1953 — Hans H. Reese • 1952 — Bernard S. Wortis • 1951 — Wilder Penfield • 1950 — Henry W. Woltman • 1949 — Stanley Cobb • 1948 — George Wilson • 1947 — Henry Alsop Riley • 1945–1946 — Walter F. Schaller • 1944 — Edwin G. Zabriskie • 1943 — Ernest Sachs • 1942 — Lewis J. Pollock • 1941 — Harry Solomon • 1940 — Foster Kennedy (Douglas H. Singer died in office) • 1939 — William B. Cadwalader • 1938 — Charles A. Elsberg • 1937 — Henry H. Donaldson • 1936 — Albert M. Barrett • 1935 — Colin Russell • 1934 — Israel Strauss • 1933 — Daniel J. McCarthy • 1932 — Bernard Sachs • 1931 — James B. Ayer • 1930 — Smith Ely Jelliffe • 1929 — Charles H. Frazier • 1928 — Charles L. Dana • 1927 — Peter Bassoe • 1926 — Frederick Tilney • 1925 — Frederick Peterson • 1924 — Charles Mills • 1923 — Harvey Cushing • 1922 — Adolf Meyer • 1921 — Sidney I. Schwab • 1920 — Ramsey J. Hunt • 1919 — James McBride • 1918 — Theodore H. Weisenburg • 1917 — Edward W. Taylor • 1916 — Lewellys F. Barker • 1915 — George W. Jacoby • 1914 — Henry Hun • 1913 — Pearce Bailey • 1912 — William N. Bullard • 1911 — H. M. Thomas • 1910 — Morton Prince • 1909 — S. Weir Mitchell • 1908 — Charles W. Burr • 1907 — Hugh T. Patrick • 1906 — Henry R. Stedman • 1905 — William G. Spiller • 1904 — Frank R. Fry • 1903 — J. W. Putnam • 1902 — Joseph Collins • 1901 — George L. Walton • 1900 — E. D. Fisher • 1899 — James Hendrie Lloyd • 1898 — G. M. Hammond • 1897 — M. A. Starr • 1896 — Francis X. Dercum • 1895 — Philip C. Knapp • 1894 — Bernard Sachs • 1893 — Henry M. Lyman • 1892 — Charles L. Dana • 1891 — Wharton Sinkler • 1890 — E. C. Spitzka • 1889 — Edward C. Séguin • 1888 — James J. Putnam • 1887 — Landon C. Gray • 1886 — Charles K. Mills • 1885 — Burt G. Wilder • 1884 — Isaac Ott • 1883 — R. T. Edes • 1882 — William A. Hammond • 1881 — Robert Bartholow • 1880 — Frank T. Miles • 1875–1879 — James S. Jewell • 1875 — S. Weir Mitchell (President-elect)