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 RODGER C. HAGGITT GASTROINTESTINAL PATHOLOGY SOCIETY
HISTORY
ARCHIVE
At the 1976 annual meeting of the
organization then called the International Academy of Pathology (IAP), now the United
States and Canadian Academy of Pathology (USCAP), the long course was devoted to
gastrointestinal pathology. Due to its success, the first evening subspecialty conference
devoted to gastrointestinal pathology was presented the following year at the IAP annual
meeting in March 1977. That first evening session was organized by Jack Yardley from Johns
Hopkins University, and included Henry Appelman (The University of Michigan), Harvey
Goldman (Beth Israel Hospital/Harvard Medical School), Bill Hawk (The Cleveland Clinic),
Tom Kent (The University of Iowa), Si-Chun Ming (Temple University), Tom Norris (The
University of Washington), and Robert Riddell (The University of Chicago). This group,
headed by Henry Appelman, organized a group for gastrointestinal pathologists.
Every gastrointestinal pathologist in the United States and Canada received an invitation
to attend the first organizational meeting, held the 1979 IAP meeting. At that meeting,
the establishment of a society was approved, and four subcommittees were formed to deal
with membership, finances, bylaws, and educational activities. During the next year, all
organizational functions were completed, and at the 1980 IAP meeting, the organization was
officially established, by-laws were approved, the first officers elected, the first dues
collected, and the first educational program was offered.
The original name for the organization was the Gastrointestinal Pathology Club. Only later
did it achieve "Society" status. In 2001, after the tragic and untimely death of
Dr. Rodger Haggitt, the name of the society was officially
changed to Rodger C. Haggitt Gastrointestinal Pathology Society.
The organization was developed as a mechanism:
1. for propagating interest in gastrointestinal pathology
2. for emphasizing the importance of gastrointestinal pathology as a sophisticated and
complex area of pathology
3. for sharing information among members
4. for developing joint investigative efforts among its members
5. for establishing referral centers or referral mechanisms for specific types of case
problems
6. for devising a registry for unusual cases.
The first three of these initial goals were accomplished early on. The Club was recognized
as a companion society of the IAP and its first scientific session was presented about a
year later. The fourth goal took longer, but it, too, has been fulfilled as exemplified by
a published study on adenomas with invasive carcinoma that was shepherded by Harry Cooper.
It took e-mail technology to really allow the fifth goal, the referral network, to
operate. The development of an e-mail group from the Society, which became an opportunity
for members to consult a wide group of GI colleagues regarding problem cases, has been
functional sine 1995. The sixth goal, the registry issue, has yet to get off the
ground. Currently, the Society has also awards prizes for resident presentations at the USCAP annual meeting and organizes educational symposia at national meetings, including
the IAP, the American Society of Clinical Pathologists, Digestive
Disease Week and the international congresses of the International
Academy of Pathology.
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