I am honored and humbled to be here today, as a representative of the society with which I have identified myself for the past 24 years. The honor of serving as President for the past 13 months has been one that I have taken seriously, because it reflects a trust that each of you have bestowed upon me. In the words of former American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons (ASCRS) President Harry Bacon during his 1949 presidential talk, “It is good to lose oneself in contemplation of the past and in reflection upon the achievements of those who have gone before us.” I actually have the distinct pleasure of introducing the Bacon Lecturer tomorrow and am doubly honored in that Harry Bacon was a prime mentor in the 1940's for my father-in-law Dr. Richard Thompson during his surgical training at Temple, and the speaker chosen to give the Bacon Lecture is Dr David Hoyt, one of my mentors. Who would believe that this young lad from Ohio would go on to graduate from medical school at Case Western Reserve University and then to complete surgical training as a young man in California, much less become the executive Director of the American College of Surgeons! But that’s the point…things change.

It has been a busy but very rewarding year, culminated by this meeting, but also highlighted by the Strategic Planning session we held right up the coast in Fort Lauderdale in conjunction with the 25th annual Cleveland Clinic Symposia in February, the results of which are being disseminated broadly this week and which will guide our society over the next 3 to 4 years.