Presidential address: The Endocrine Society.

IN the course of a career most of us have multiple opportunities to contribute something to the Annual Meeting of The Endocrine Society. Usually these opportunities take the form of ten-minute papers concerning some recent discovery. At this moment I wish I could tell you about the discovery of a new steroid associated with high blood pressure, or the discovery of a new peptide hormone, or the discovery of some new clinical entity, or the discovery of a new treatment for some old clinical entity. But such things as these can be presented at any meeting, and the opportunity to address you from the perspective of the President of The Endocrine Society comes only once in a lifetime. Tradition forbids that this occasion be devoted to the announcement of scientific discoveries and requires instead that it be used to say something about the state of the Society. I could gladly use the occasion to rhapsodize the Society that means so much to so many of us. I could gladly reminisce . . . to glory in the golden history of endocrinology. I could gladly paint with broad strokes what I foresee as the future of endocrinology. Or I could pretend to be a philosopher and discuss a subject which I like to call "clinical epistemology". . . . Howdoesanendocrinologist legitimately arrive at the notion that there is such an entity as an "endocrinopathy?" I could gladly try to convince you that there is no better career than that of the endocrinologist living in a time when the fruitful union of basic and clinical science gives daily new insights into life processes . . . a union that gives us powerful tools with which we can make meaningful measurements . . . provides us with methods of perturbing biological systems for heuristic or diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. I could gladly attempt to analyze what it is that makes The Endocrine Society thrive, grow, attract ever increasing numbers of scientists and practitioners; it is a truly vital organization with a genuine sense of identity, a genuine esprit de corps. To learn contemporary endocrinology well is to acquire an education that is broad and deep, liberal and practical. Instead I shall address myself to a very practical issue facing the Society. As a matter of fact, this year The Endocrine Society has had to meet several major issues. Most of these can be dealt with more suitably at the business meeting than at this moment. I should like to use this moment to discuss the purposes for the existence of The Endocrine Society, and, in particular, the purposes for holding this Annual Meeting. According to our By-laws, the purpose for which The Endocrine Society exists is ". . . the advancement and promulgation of knowledge concerning the internal secretions. . . ." In pursuing this purpose, The Endocrine Society, in 1917, began publishing the journal, Endocrinology, now in its 95th volume. In 1941, the Society added a second official publication, The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, which is now in its 39th volume. Since their inception both journals have been leaders in the field. Ever since The Endocrine Society was organized it has held Annual Meetings, in each of which the majority of time was devoted to papers presenting the results of recent endocrinological research. Since 1948, The Endocrine Society has also sponsored an annual Postgraduate Assembly . . . a week-long course designed to bring clinicians abreast of the best of scientific endocrinology. Finally, in 1971 The Endocrine Society undertook the sponsorship of a series of workshops on radioimmunoassay. The