Organized Anesthesiology. The first American medical anesthesia organization, the Long Island Society of Anesthetists, was founded by nine physicians on October 6, 1905. Members had annual dues of $1.00. One of the most noteworthy figures in the struggle to professionalize anesthesiology was Francis Hoffer McMechan. He became the editor of the first journal devoted to anesthesia, Current Researches in Anesthesia and Analgesia, the precursor of Anesthesia and Analgesia, the oldest journal of the specialty. Ralph Waters and John Lundy, among others, participated in evolving organized anesthesia.
Academic Anesthesia. In 1927, Erwin Schmidt, a professor of surgery at the University of Wisconsin's medical school, encouraged Dean Charles Bardeen to recruit Dr. Ralph Waters for the first American academic position in anesthesia.
Establishing a Society. The New York Society of Anesthetists changed its name to the American Society of Anesthetists in 1936. Combined with the American Society of Regional Anesthesia, the American Board of Anesthesiology was organized as a subordinate board to the American Board of Surgery in 1938, and independence was granted in 1940. Ralph Waters was declared the first president of the newly named American Society of Anesthesiologists in 1945.