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The IRS: ‘...to create a central
international organization...’CONTENTS
Preface
Rhinology - from a subordinate in the ORL-triad towards a flourishing specialty
The Conception of the IRS
The Founding Fathers
The Founding Societies
The Foundation Meeting at Kyoto, October 19-20, 1965
40 years of IRS congresses, 1965-2005
The Official Organs of the IRS- ‘Rhinology’ and the ‘American Journal of Rhinology’
The IRS Today
The Future

Egbert H. Huizing

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Preface
Some time ago, the Secretary-general of our International Rhinologic Society Prof. MetinÖnerci from Ankara asked me to write a brief history of the society in a similar way as I had
done when the European Rhinologic Society celebrated its 40-years anniversary with a magnificent congress in Istanbul in 2004.1 He knew that I am one of the very few still alive who havewitnessed the foundation of the IRS in Kyoto and attended its first congresses.
It was not an easy task. I must confess that my archives of the IRS are not of the same quality
as those of the ERS. Nonetheless, with the help of others I managed to bring together for
future generations some of the most important facts of the past 40 years of the IRS.
I thereby acknowledge the great help that I received from some of my colleagues and friends.
More in particular our former General Secretary Prof. Peter Clement of Brussels, the IRS who
did awake the society from a period of relative sleep in the 1980s, Prof. Makoto Hasegawa(Tokyo), our present General Secretary Prof. Metin Önerci (Ankara), Prof Ewine Van Dishoeck(Leiden), and Prof. Valerie Lund (London), editor-in-chief of our journal ‘Rhinology’.
Egbert H. Huizing, Laren (NL), October 2007.

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Rhinology- from a subordinate in the
ORL-triad towards a flourishing specialty
The specialty of otorhinolaryngology came to life in
the second half of the 19th century. The beginning of
otology as a separate entity of medicine dates from the1870s. It resulted, among others, from the steep
increase of cases with chronic otitis and its complications, the development of mastoid surgery and thegeneral acceptance of tuning forks tests. Officially,
otology was recognised as a new discipline by theappointment of Adam Politzer as a ‘Dozent’ and two
years later, in 1870, as the first (associate) professor of
otology in Vienna. This led to the foundation of otological societies and journals and, from 1876, also toregular International Otologic Congresses.
Almost simultaneously, but independently, laryngology emerged as a new branch of medicine. This was dueto the increasing incidence of laryngeal tuberculosis,
syphilis and neoplasms and the introduction of
cocaine as a local anaesthetic (1884) that greatly facilitated diagnosis and surgical intervention. The first official international Laryngological Congress took placein Milano in 1880.
Rhinology was the third in the bond that is now calledin the USA the ‘triological’. It had its clinical start in
the 1880s and 1890s. Again, the introduction of
cocaine and general anaesthesia played a major role. It
allowed surgery of the septum, sinuses, turbinates andcosmetic nasal surgery. In most clinics rhinology waspart of laryngology and its head was professor of laryngology or rhino-laryngology. It took until 1908 however, before rhinology was officially included in thelaryngological congresses and the 1st RhinoLaryngological Congress was held.
The mergeing of otology, rhinology and laryngology
followed a different pathway in various countries. In
some, the national societies were called
Otorhinolaryngological Society right from the beginning in the 1890s. In others, it took decades before thedepartments of otology and rhino-laryngology werejoined. The first world congress of the three disciplines oto- rhino- and laryngology together did noteven take place until 1928 (!).
From the beginning, rhinology has been the least
prominent of the triad. This was still the case in theinterbellum period and also in the first decades after
WW II when great progress was made in otology andaudiology. However, from the 1960s onwards theimportance of rhinology gradually grew. Our knowledge and treatment options of nasal allergy increased
and new surgical concepts and techniques, in particular those of functional nasal surgery and endoscopic
sinus surgery brought the discipline of rhinology to
the foreground. The foundation of the various rhinological societies in the 1950s and 1960s has played amajor role in this process.

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The Conception of the IRS
The idea of founding an international rhinologicalsociety resulted from the close coöperation between
Prof. Ewout Van Dishoeck of Leiden and Dr. Maurice
H. Cottle of Chicago. They worked together in presenting courses on rhinology and functional nasal surgery in the early 1960s (Leiden, 1963, 1964, 1965 andCincinatti, 1964).
In 1954, Cottle had founded the American Rhinologic
Society (ARS) and in 1963 Van Dishoeck laid the fundaments for a European Rhinologic Society (ERS)
that was officially founded at Leiden in July 1964.
Having established an American and a European
Rhinological Society it was logical to also “create acentral organisation”, in other words an International
Rhinologic Society.
At the nasal surgery course in Cincinnati in May 1964
that was presented by Cottle and organisedby Raymond Hilsinger this idea was finalised.
The journal International Rhinology-Rhinologie
Internationale, that had been started by Van Dishoeck
in 1963, informed the members of the ARS and ERS
under the heading ‘Official Part’ as follows:rhinologic society, the JRS, in 1962. They therefore
contacted their board and suggested a precongressmeeting on rhinology prior to the world congress of
ORL in Tokyo in October 1965. This meeting mightthen serve as the forum to found an International
Rhinological Society. Professors Ryo Takahashi from
Jikei University of Tokyo and Teruo Takasu from
Nagoya University accepted to organise a meeting at
the Kyoto International Hotel in Kyoto prior to theworld congress at Tokyo.
But before we recall the foundation meeting of the
IRS at Kyoto the reader should be told more about
these founding fathers of the society.

THE FOUNDING FATHERS“During the 6th Course in Corrective Surgery of the Noseand External Pyramid in Cincinnati from May 5th to 15th
1964, the proposition discussed in Leiden to found an
International Rhinologic Society was consolidated. As temporary president was elected Prof. van Dishoeck (Leiden)
and as temporary secretary G. Drumheller (Everett, Wash.).
All members of the American Rhinologic Society (A.R.S.)
and the European Rhinologic Society (E.R.S.) will be automatically members of this Master-organization.” 2

The IRS was thus conceived at Leiden in July 1963
and the idea was consolidated at the course in
Cincinnati in May 1964.
The text in the journal continued by announcing:“Meanwhile Statutes and bylaws have been drawn up andsent for approval to the A.R.S. and the E.R.S. They will be
duly published in the official organ of the I.R.S. International Rhinology. The first Congress of the IRS isplanned on Wednesday October 20th 1965 in Kyoto prior to
the general ENT-congress in Tokyo.”

The initiators had learned that Japanese colleagues
interested in rhinology had also successfully started a

6Prof. Ewout Van Dishoeck (1897-1970)
The main founding father of the IRS undoubtedly has
been Prof. H.A.E. van Dishoeck of Leiden University
in The Netherlands. Van Dishoeck was born at
Leiden, the son of a publisher. While working as afamily practitioner he used his spare time to performresearch at the laboratory of the famous otorhinolaryngologist and professor of physiology at Utrecht
Hendrik Zwaardemaker. After finishing his PhD thesis
he went to Groningen to train in ORL at the clinic ofProf. Benjamins. In these years, the mid-1930s, hepublished a series of original articles on nasal physiology that are still cited in the literature. After having
finished his training he settled as an ENT specialist at

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Amsterdam. During and after the war he continued
doing research mainly in otology-audiology and allergology. In 1951 he was appointed professor of otorhinolaryngology at Leiden. In the years until his retirement in 1967 he was tremendously active in various
fields. A new department was build, international congresses and courses on audiology (1962, 1963), rhinology (1963) and functional corrective nasal surgery(1963, 1964, 1966) were organised. In these years, Van
Dishoeck also started two international journals,‘International Audiology’ and ‘International
Rhinology’ (now ‘Rhinology’). He also played an
instrumental role in the foundation of theInternational Society of Audiology (1953), theEuropean Rhinologic Society (1964) and theInternational Rhinologic Society (1965).

Dr. Maurice H. Cottle (1898-1981)
Maurice Cottle was born in London, the son of a tailor. In 1913, the family settled at Chicago where hestudied medicine and trained in ORL at the Cook
County Hospital. In the 1930s, Maurice Cottle devoted himself more and more to rhinologic surgery anddeveloped new concepts and techniques. In the 1940s,
he started giving courses on ‘Reconstructive Surgeryof the Nasal Septum and External Pyramid’. In his
teaching he laid emphasis on surgery for function
instead of cosmesis and reconstruction instead ofresection as was the philosophy and technique of theday. He stressed the need for functional tests like rhinomanometry and introduced various new surgical

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methods and instruments. His teaching was not appreciated equally by all his students but the impact of his
teaching on the practice of nasal surgery was tremendous, in particular in Europe. He spread his ideas bynumerous carefully prepared courses and lectures allover the world. Cottle was the founder and long-timepresident of the American Rhinologic Society that was
founded by him in 1954 and a driving force behind thefounding of the ERS (1964) and the IRS (1965). He
was an art connoisseur and a very good violin player.
He was married to the internationally renowned concert pianist Gitta Gradova.

Prof. Teruo Takasu (1911-1976)
Professor Teruo Takasu graduated from Nagoya City
University School of Medicine and then joined theDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology in 1937. In 1943,
he obtained his Ph.D. degree. He was appointed associate professor in 1950 and promoted to Professor andChairman of the department in 1963. He was the president of the 4th Annual Meeting of Japan Rhinologic
Society that was held in Nagoya in July 1965. He was
the president of the 1st International Rhinologic
Society Meeting that was held in Kyoto in October 20,
1965. In 1975 he retired from his university position.
Prof. Takasu’s research was mainly devoted to thebasic mechanisms of chronic sinusitis and allergic
rhinitis. He was one of the pioneers of medical treatment of nasal and paranasal sinus diseases in Japan.

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THE FOUNDING SOCIETIESThe International Rhinologic Society was the result of
a combined effort of the boards of the American
Rhinologic Society (1954), the Japanese Rhinologic
Society (1962) and the European Rhinologic Society(1964). In the 1950s and 1960s there was a general
recognition of the need for specialized societies andmeetings apart from the major world congresses of
ORL that were held every four years in different partsof the world.
The American Rhinologic Society was one of them. In
the field of rhinology it was the forerunner. Founded
in 1954 by Dr. Maurice Cottle of Chicago, it organised
meetings every year at different places in the USA andpresented nasal surgery courses that were directed by
Cottle and his associates. These courses had great
impact on the quality of nasal surgery, although very
likely more outside than inside the USA. In its earlyyears, the ARS was not generally accepted by the academic world in North America. Later in the 1980s, it
became the driving force in the USA behind new
developments in rhinology such as endoscopic sinus
surgery. In 1987 Dr. David Kennedy (at the time atJohns Hopkins Baltimore, later Philadelphia) and Dr.
Guy Settipane founded the very successful bimonthly
American Journal of Rhinology.
The Japanese Rhinologic Society (JRS) was founded in
1962. Its 1st meeting took place in Nagano City thatsame year. Founders of this society were Professors
Toshiro Goto (Nagasaki University School of
Medicine), Teiichi Kashiwado (Yokohama City
University School of Medicine), Yoshihisa Nagoshi(Toho University School of Medicine), Toshio
Shiraiwa (Tokyo Medical University), and Ryo
Takahashi (Jikei University School of Medicine). In
1966, the JRS started publishing the quarterly
Japanese Journal of Rhinology. From the very beginning it was supported by the university ENT departments in Japan and counted a large membership.
Yearly meetings were held at different locations allover Japan.
The European Rhinologic Society (ERS) was foundedby Prof. H.A.E. Van Dishoeck at Leiden, theNetherlands, in 1964. Its foundation was prepared at acourse entitled “Practice of Rhinology” that was heldat Leiden University Hospital in July 1963, the first

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countries were invited to lecture, among them Sir
Victor Negus (London), Prof. Axel Hamberger(Stockholm), Dr. Børje Drettner (Uppsala), Mr Philip
Golding Wood (Maidstone, Kent), Prof. Branimir
Gusic (Zagreb), Prof. Marcel Gignoux (Lyon), Prof.
Léon Flottes, (Toulon), Dozent Dr. E.H. Mayer(Vienna), and Dr. Heinz Naumann (Berlin).
THE FOUNDATION MEETING AT KYOTO,OCTOBER 19-20, 1965
The foundation meeting of the IRS was named”Extraordinary Meeting of the International
Rhinologic Society”. It was sponsored by the Japanese
Rhinologic Society and held in the Rainbow Salon of
the Kyoto International Hotel at October 19 and 20,
1965. President of the meeting was Prof. Teruo Takasu(Nagoya University), secretary Prof. Ryo Takahashi(Jikei University, Tokyo)

Program of the Foundation Meeting of the IRS at the Kyoto
International Hotel, October 19-12, 1965.

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Outline of the program

The meeting was opened Tuesday October 19 at 13:00.
This author, at that time a young and recently appointed associate professor at Leiden, enjoyed the honour
and pleasure to attend. It started with an opening andwelcome speech by the president of the meeting Prof.
Teruo Takasu who informed us that the conference
was attended by “some 150 participants from 15 various countries”.3
His address was followed by a Business Meeting
where, at about 13:45 hours, the Society was officiallyfounded by the accepting the Constitution and Bylaws
that had been prepared by Cottle and Van Dishoeck in
April 1965.
Article II OBJECTS AND AIMS reads as follows:“The purpose of this Society shall be to create a central international organization with which all national and regionalsocieties of the world may be affiliated; to organize international congresses, and instructional courses on all aspects ofRhinology; to stimulate study, research, and scientific

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ticipants. Unfortunately, we do not have any photographic documents of the meeting.
The next morning the Scientific Session was continued followed by a luncheon and a closing ceremony at
3 o’clock. Altogether 29 scientific and clinical presentations were given, 18 from Japan, five from the USA(Cottle (2), Drumheller, Hinderer, Martin), three from
Europe (Van Dishoeck, Guillen, Melon), two from
India (Bhatia, Misra), and one from Australia(Blomfield). The papers given by Takasu, Blomfield,
Goto, Nakano, Martin, Shiroiwa, Kashiwado, andMelon were later published in full in volume 3 of thejournal ‘International Rhinology’ in 1966. The others
papers were published in short in volume 5 in 1967.
In September 2002 this author made a nostalgic visit
to the place where the society was founded. The hotel
is still there, but has been renamed into ‘Kyoto
Kukusai Hotel’. The entrance is even more beautiful
and welcoming than before and the ‘Rainbow Salon’is still there, now under the name ‘Rainbow Room’.
40 YEARS OF IRS CONGRESSES, 1965-2005
One of the objectives of the IRS as laid down in thestatutes is to organise international congresses in thefield of rhinology. The society did so with different
intervals. In the beginning an IRS meeting was organised every four years (apart from the remarkable double congress in 1977). Later the intervals were longer
and more irregular as we can see from Table 1. Morerecently, the Board decided to hold a meeting every
two years and have it alternate with the biannual congresses of the ERS that are combined with an ISIAN
meeting.
The IRS congresses have travelled over all continents
except Africa: North America (2), Middle America (2),South America (1), Far East (3), Europe (4) andAustralia (1) (Table 1).

advancement in the field of Rhinology and all related sciences; to promote the publication within the field of
Rhinology in its official journals.”

Dr. Maurice H. Cottle, Chicago was appointed the 1stpresident of the IRS, Dr George H. Drumheller(Everett, Wash.) Secretary-Treasurer.
This first business meeting of the newly establishedsociety was followed by a Scientific Session at 14:00
hours. In the evening there was a banquet for all par-The 1st Congress was the memorable foundation meeting at Kyoto organised by professors Takasu andTakahashi that has already been reported on above.
Some 150 participants from 15 different countries
attended this first ‘Extraordinary Meeting’. Almost all
lectures presented were published in the issues of thejournal International Rhinology in 1965 and 1966,
either in full or in summary.

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Visit to the place where the IRS was founded by the author in September 2002. The Rainbow Salon (renamed Rainbow Room)is still there.

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Table 1 The official congresses organised by the IRS andtheir presidents.
Year/Site

President

I

1965- Kyoto

Teruo Takasu (Nagoya City)II

1969- Mexico City

III 1973- BordeauxIV

1977- Rio de Janeiro

Jaime Carillo (Mexico City)
Georges Guillen (Bordeaux)
Roberto Neves Pinto(Rio de Janeiro)

1977- Kansas City

Pat Barelli (Kansas City)V

1981- Budapest

Helmut Masing (Erlangen)VI

1985- Cancun

Thomas Azuara (Mexico City)

VII 1991- Tokyo

Ryo Takahashi (Tokyo)

VIII 1996- Ghent

Paul B. Van Cauwenberge (Ghent)

IX

2000- Washington

Eugene B. Kern
(Rochester, Minn.)X

2003- Seoul

In Yong Park (Seoul)

XI

2005- Sydney

Kevin Kane (Melbourne)

XII 2007- Venice

Desiderio Passali (Siena)

The 2nd Congress was held in Mexico City August 9,
1969 prior to the 8th world congress of ORL with
Dr Jaime Carillo as its president. This meeting wasvery well attended too, especially by rhinologists from
North America and Europe.
rd

The 3 Congress was organised by Dr. Georges Guillen
at hotel ‘Aquitania’ in Bordeaux, May 12-16 prior to
the 9th ORL world congress in Venice. The main topics of the meeting were respiratory physiology, rhinomanometry, and surgery of the septum and pyramid.
The 4th Congress was organised in Rio de Janeiro
March 20-25 following the 11th world congress of ORL
in Buenos Aires. President was Dr Neves Pinto from
Rio. Apart from many colleagues from Brazil andother South American countries it was attended byAmerican and European colleagues on their way
home from Buenos Aires, among them from the USA
Drs Hinderer (Pittsburgh), Barelli (Kansas City) andWest (St Louis) and from Europe professors Krajina(Zagreb), Montserrat-Viladiu (Barcelona) and Sulsenti(Bologna). This meeting was also of historic importance as it witnessed the foundation of the Brazilian
Rhinologic Society.4
That same year, a “second” 4th IRS congress took place

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at Kansas City August 21-23 following the 12th
International Course of Functional Corrective Surgeryof the Nasal Septum and the External Pyramid’ directed by Dr Cottle. Course and congress were organised
and presided by Dr. Pat Barelli.5 It has also remained
unclear to this author how it was possible to have two
4th congresses but the facts show how it happened,however.
The 5th Congress was held from June 16-19, 1981 at the
Budapest Hilton Hotel prior to the 12th world congressof ORL. The meeting was chaired by Prof. Helmut
Masing from Erlangen. Apart from scientific sessionsa ‘Postgraduate Course in Functional Surgery of the
Septum and Nasal Pyramid’ was presented. The meeting was very well attended by rhinologists from
Europe, USA, Japan, Brazil, Mexico and other countries. Unfortunately, there were few participants from
East-European countries present. The location, theAmerican-owned Hilton appeared an obstacle forthem to attend. The course was presided by professors
Hasegawa, Masing, Krajina and Kern. Prof. L. Surjan(Budapest) and prof. Takahashi (Tokyo) were invited
as guests of honour.
The 6th Congress (quadrennial meeting as it was often
called) was organised at the Cancun Sheraton Hotel,
Cancun, May 22-24, 1985, preceding the 13th ORL
world congress in Miami. President of the meeting
was Prof. Thomas Azuara of Mexico City. This meeting had great importance for rhinologists of theAmerica’s who assembled in large numbers at thecoast of the Yucatan peninsula.
The 7th Congress took place at the Keio Plaza
Intercontinental Hotel in Tokyo, September 23-28,
1991 under the presidency of Prof. Ryo Takahashi. It
was combined with the 10th ISIAN meeting and the30th annual congress of the Japanese Rhinologic
Society. The meeting was opened by H.I.H. Prince
Tomohito of Mikasa. It featured an excellent scientific and clinical program Professors Shunkichi Baba,
Tetsuo Ishii and General Secretary prof. Minoru
Okuda made it a great success. In this respect, also thework done by prof. Yoshio Honda, Hirosato Miyake,
Masaru Ohyama, Kiyoshi Togawa, Goro Mogi, Takeru

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Former First Lady of the USA Mrs Barbara Bush with the nine senior rhinologists who were voted by their colleagues to receive
the Life-Time Achievement Award of the IRS. From right to left: Hiroshi Moriyama, representing laureate Ryo Takahashi(Tokyo), Charles Gross (XXXX), Egbert Huizing (Utrecht), Fausto Lopez-Infante (Mexico City), Heinz Stammberger, representing laureate Walter Messerklinger (Graz), Wolfgang Pirsig (Ulm), Georgio Sulsenti (Bologna), Eugene Tardy (Chicago), andMalte Wigand (Erlangen).

Ishikawa and Tadami Kumuzawa must be gratefully
mentioned. The congress was attended by no less than
489 participants from 33 different countries (258 fromJapan, 231 from other countries).
The 8th Congress that was organised by Prof. Paul van
Cauwenberge in Ghent, September 8-12, 1996 wasequally successful. Prof. van Cauwenberge combined
the 16th ERS, 15th ISIAN, and 8th IRS congress into a‘Week of the Nose’. The conference was patronised by
Her Majesty Queen Paola of Belgium. Guest of
Honour was Prof. Okuda (Tokyo), vice-presidents
were B. Bertrand (Ghent) P. Clement (Brussels), E.
Kern (Rochester Minn.) and M. Tos (Copenhagen),while great work was done by Secretary General Koen
Ingels (Ghent).
The 9th Congress held in Washington (DC) September
20-23 was another highlight in the history of the IRS.
Congress President Prof. Eugene Kern from the Mayo

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Clinic Rochester (Minnesota) baptised it ’The Nose
2000… And Beyond’. The conference was held in the
Omnishore Hotel and turned out to be the largest
gathering of rhinologists in the United States to date.
Approximately 1400 rhinologists from over 70 countries came to Washington to exchange ideas anddebate issues. During the opening ceremonies, theUnited States Marine Corps band, ‘The Presidents
Own’ from the White House provided the music.
Sessions were in conjunction with the American
Academy of Otolaryngologic Allergy Foundation and
the American Academy of Facial Plastic andReconstructive Surgery. Former First Lady Mrs
Barbara Bush, the spouse of former US president
George Bush (and she stated in her speech, the mother of the future president!) was the special guest of thismillennium conference. On behalf of the Society she
offered ‘A Life-Achievement Award’ to nine distinguished senior rhinologists for their contribution torhinology.

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The 10th Congress organised by Prof. In-Yong-Park at
the Hilton Hotel in Seoul, October 23- XXX 2003 wasanother major event. The meeting enjoyed a hugeattendance especially by colleagues from Asian countries. Guest of honour was Egbert Huizing from
Utrecht. As the main topics of the conference werechosen: pathophysiology of chronic sinusitis, imageguided surgery, dynamism of mucosal system andendoscopic surgery. The outstanding dinners offeredat this meeting will be remembered by many for theirgastronomic quality and elegance.
The 11th Congress was held jointly with the meeting of
the Australian Society of Otolaryngology, Head andNeck Surgery at Sydney from October 25-29, 2005
under the excellent presidency of Kavin Kane. The
conference was attended by over 600 delegates from45 different countries. In all, participants were offeredover 95 invited papers, 26 instructional sessions, 6 plenary and 7 panel discussions.
THE OFFICIAL ORGANS OF THE IRS‘RHINOLOGY’ AND THE ‘AMERICAN
JOURNAL OF RHINOLOGY’
Together with the ERS Van Dishoeck, in 1963, founded the journal International Rhinology- Rhinologie
Internationale, the first journal in the field of rhinology. Members of the ARS and ERS were automaticallysubscribers of the journal. Their membership fee
included receipt of the quarterly issues and all the supplements published by the journal.
Thus far the papers presented at congresses and symposia had usually been published as congress proceedings. It took great effort to produce such books and

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their distribution was limited. As Van Dishoeck
remarked, “They are not an effective way of publication”. “For these reasons and especially for the furthering of the interest in rhinology we think that a special international journal of rhinology will be able tomaintain a distinctive position”. This expectation has
certainly become true. Soon, the journal became oneof the field’s most important platforms for publishingbasic research and clinical studies. Nowadays it has acirculation of 2250.
Van Dishoeck served as the editor until he passed
away in 1970. In 1972-Prof. Egbert Huizing was
appointed editor-in-chief by the Executive Committeeof the IRS. In coöperation with the international
Editorial Board he changed the name of the journal
into ‘Rhinology’ and gradually managed to increase its
quality and gave it a more modern outlook. The journal ‘Rhinology’ has been cited over the years in
Embase and Excerpta Medica, but for reasons
unknown until the present day, it took a long time
before it was given an impact factor. Huizing stayed on
duty for more than 30 years and was succeeded by
Prof. Valerie Lund of London as editor-in chief andProf. Wytske Fokkens of Amsterdam as co-editor in
2004.
After a long-lasting discussion the American Journalof Rhinology was also accepted as official organ of the
IRS. It was considered debatable whether or not anational journal could be the spokesman of an international society. However, the high quality of thisjournal and its worldwide impact on the science andpractice of rhinology made it desirable to appoint it tothis position.

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THE IRS TODAY
Honorary Members
Prof. Ryo Takahashi (Tokyo),appointed at Sydney, 2005
Prof. Egbert H. Huizing (Utrecht)
appointed at Sydney, 2005
Prof. Peter Clement (Brussels)
appointed at Sydney, 2005

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Secretaries General-Treasurers
1965-1985 George Drumheller
1986-2005 Peter Clement Brussels
2005Metin Önerci (Ankara)

General Secretaries - Treasurers: George Drumheller andPeter Clement.
Honorary members: Ryo Takahashi (Tokyo), Egbert H.
Huizing, Utrecht, Peter Clement (Brussels).

Presidents
1965-Maurice H. Cottle
1969-Jaime Carillo (Mexico City)
1973-Georges Guillen (Bordeaux)
1977-Pat Barelli (Kansas City)
1978-Carl B. Sputh (Indianapolis, Ind.)
1981-Helmut Masing (Erlangen)1985-Thomas Azuara (Mexico City)
1991-Ryo Takahashi (Tokyo)
1996-Paul Van Cauwenberge (Gent)
2000-Eugene B. Kern (Rochester, Minn.)
2003-In Yong Park (Seoul)
2005-Kevin Kane (Melbourne)

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Executive Board (as of October 2005)
President: Kavin Kane (Melbourne)
Past President: In Young Park (Seoul)
President-Elect: Desiderio Passali (Siena)
General-Secretary-Treasurer: Metin Önerci (Ankara)
Editor-in-chief of the journal ‘Rhinology: Valerie
Lund (London)
Historian without voting rights: Egbert Huizing(Laren, NL).

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Regional Vice-presidents on the Board of Directors withvoting rights (in alphabetic order)
Am. Rhin. Soc.: David Kennedy (Philadelphia, Penn.)
Austr. & New Zeal. Rhin. Soc.: Kavin Kane
(Melbourne)
Chin. Rhin. Soc: Huang Weigo (Xi An City)
Eur. Rhin. Soc.: Markus Rautiainen (Tampere)
Jap. Rhin. Soc.: Hiroshi Moriyama (Tokyo)
Kor. Rhin. Soc.: Tae Young Jang (Inha)
The membership of these societies per 2007 is as follows: ARS: 673; Austr-New Zeal. RS: 270; Chin. RS:
100; ERS: 663: JRS: 2000; KRS: 826, totalling 4532
paying members of the International Rhinologic
Society.
Regional Vice-presidents on the Board of Directors without voting rights (in alphabetic order)
Association of South-East Asian National Rhin. Soc.:
Balwant Singh Gendeh (Kuala Lumpur)
Egypt Rhin. Soc.: Reda Kamel (Cairo)
Latin-Am. Rhin. Soc.: Aldo Stamm (Sao Paulo).

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The Future
Predicting the future is hazardous, as we all know. The
future tasks of the IRS are standing clearly before us,
however.
The IRS must, in the first place, be instrumental inplanning and organising world-congresses on rhinology. These meetings should be held every four years on
a different continent and in cooperation with IFOS,
EUFOS, and the various continental rhinologic societies in order to avoid duplicates.
The second task of the IRS is to spread knowledge.
This might be accomplished by supporting and organising instructional courses. These are in great demand,in particular in developing countries.
A third undertaking would be to promote founding
national rhinologic societies in these countries.
If the IRS manages to fulfil both tasks in an active way
in the coming decades it will prove its right to exist.
REFERENCES
1. Huizing EH. The ERS 40 years- Why do we need thisSociety? Rhinology, special edition, 2004.

Regional Vice Presidents on the Board of Directors without voting rights but authorized as observer (in alphabetic order):A representative fromAfrica,the All India Rhinologic Society,
the Middle East and
the Pakistan Rhinologic Society.

2. Official Part-Partie Officielle. Int Rhinol 3,135, 1965.
3. Official Part-Partie Officielle. Int Rhinol 4, 35, 1966.
4. Announcements. Rhinology 15, 57, 1977.
5. Announcements. Rhinology, 15, 105, 1977.
6. International Rhinology, Introduction. Int Rhinol
1, 3, 1963.

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