HISTORY

SDAMPP was formed in 2008 to advance medical physics education. The Society's purpose and mission are described in detail elsewhere. It non-profit organization (501c3) that is governed by elected officers and a board of directors. The Society's By-laws, Rules, and other governance documents are available here. The majority of the Societies activities are conducted by standing committees, of which SDAMPP currently has 10. Many of SDAMPPs initiatives originate with ideas proposed by society members, committee members, and board members. The Society relies on volunteers for the vast majority of its operations and utilizes external organizations to provide support for maintaining our website and other information technologies.

The Society's activities have evolved in response to the needs of our members, our discipline, and our sister organizations, including AAPM, CAMPEP, and ABR. In the early years, the Society's activities mainly focused on its Annual Meeting. In recent years, we have published reports, hosted topical webinars, a forum for discussion using an electronic bulletin board, liaised and cooperated with other organizations, and performed various other activities in support of our members. Since 2015, presentations from the Annual Meeting have been posted on our website.

The state of the Society in recent years has been very strong. The membership has grown to more than 170 in 2020. All leadership positions are occupied, including elected officers, directors, committee chairs, and liaisons. Succession planning is a quasi continuous activity because most offices and appointments have terms of one to three years. Thus, there have been ample opportunities for members to become involved in their areas of interest. Typically this begins by the prospective volunteer contacting a committee chair.

No discussion of SDAMPP's history would be complete without a few cursory remarks about its present and future. The present is especially important; by becoming involved today our members help to shape our future and ultimately, our history. Almost all of our most impactful and popular activities began with one individual who pointed out a problem or proposed a solution. SDAMPP is an ideal place to medical physics educators to talk and work with colleagues to reach our shared aspirations and goals.

The following individuals were elected to the office of President-Elect in the year listed. They also served successively as President, and Chair of the Board.

• 2008: James Dobbins
• 2009: Vacant
• 2010: Ehsan Samei
• 2011: John Bayouth
• 2012: J. Daniel Bourland
• 2013: Vacant
• 2014: Gary Fullerton
• 2015: Amy Harrison
• 2016: Timothy Turkington
• 2017: Ishmael Parsai
• 2018: Vacant
• 2019: Beth Schueler
• 2020: Wayne Newhauser

The following individuals in the elected office of Secretary for the terms listed

• 2009-2017: Beth Schueler
• 2017-2019: Wayne Newhauser
• 2020-present: Samuel Armato

The following individuals in the elected office of Treasurer for the terms listed

• 2009-2015: Samuel Armato
• 2016-present: Bud Wendt

The current roster of all Elected Officers is provided elsewhere on our website.

Selected Events Leading Up to the Creation of SDAMPP

An ad hoc meeting of 16 leaders representing a range of existing medical physics academic programs met on July 24, 2007 during the 2007 AAPM annual meeting in Minneapolis to discuss the founding of SDAMPP. This meeting was initiated by Jim Dobbins and Ehsan Samei from the graduate program at Duke, along with significant input by Bill Hendee, Gary Fullerton, and others. The purpose, vision, and need for this new organization were discussed. It was unanimously agreed upon by those present that such an organization was needed, and that it should be independent but work closely with existing organizations (such as AAPM).

A tentative timetable was put forward to develop a charter, write bylaws, secure 501(c)(3) nonprofit status, select initial officers, and solicit input from all current medical physics programs in North America and other selected international locales. It was proposed that the organization attempt to launch in 2008, with a goal of having its first annual meeting to coincide with the AAPM meeting in summer of 2008.

Jim Dobbins and Ehsan Samei were voted as co-chairs of the initiative. A Steering Committee was formed consisting of the following individuals:

• Jim Dobbins (co-chair), Duke University
• Ehsan Samei (co-chair), Duke University
• Sam Armato, University of Chicago
• John Bayouth, University of Iowa
• Jay Burmeister, Wayne State University
• Geoff Clarke, Univ. of Texas Health Sciences Center at San Antonio
• Gary Fullerton, Univ. of Texas Health Sciences Center at San Antonio
• Maryellen Giger, University of Chicago, 2009 President of AAPM
• Bill Hendee, Medical College of Wisconsin, Editor Medical Physics Journal
• David Hintenlang, University of Florida
• Ed Jackson, Univ. of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
• Frank Lohr, Mannheim Medical Center, Univ. of Heidelberg, Germany
• Colin Orton, Wayne State University, editor emeritus Medical Physics
• E. Ishmael Parsai, University of Toledo College of Medicine
• Ervin Podgorsak, McGill Univ Health Center
• Russ Ritenour, University of Minnesota Medical School
• Steve Rudin, SUNY Buffalo
• Fang-Fang Yin, Duke University
• Jim Zagzebski, University of Wisconsin