The 2015 AANS Presidential Address: Neurosurgery’s founding principles

Abstract

These are turbulent times for American neurosurgery. It is important to look ahead and prepare for the future but it is also important to look back—for it is memory and tradition that prevent the tyranny of the present. It is impossible to know where we are going if we don’t remember where we were. In this paper I want to discuss the founding principles of neurosurgery—the principles that have allowed neurosurgery to prosper in its first century—and to stress the importance of adhering to these principles in times of change. I also want to talk to you about how the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) is helping neurosurgeons honor our founding principles, while preparing neurosurgery for its second century.