The membership also took the following actions based on the recommendations of the Council:

...Elected 29 surgeons to Active membership.

...endorsed the recommendations of the Editor to add a new Section Editor for Cardiopulmonary Support and Physiology, approved the appointment of Dr. Richard Weisel to that position and authorized the creation of programs which will provide Category 1 continuing education credit for individuals who serve as reviewers of manuscripts for the journal and for readers of certain journal articles.

...reaffirmed the association’s policies opposing duplicate presentation and or publication of material submitted to the JTCVS and/or the annual meeting which was included on our website, in the call for papers for this annual meeting and in the JTCVS.

...established an ad hoc Editorial Search Committee to recommend a successor to Dr. Wechsler to the Council and the membership upon the completion of Dr. Wechsler’s term in December 2007.

...nominated Dr. Wechsler for membership on the Peer Review Advisory Committee of the Center for Scientific Review and supported the nomination of Dr. D. Craig Miller to the Advisory Council of the NHLBI.

...approved a redesign of the association’s website which will be operational by the first of May.

...approved the publication of a bimonthly THORACIC SURGERY NEWS under the editorial direction of Dr. Joel Cooper. He will be assisted by Drs. Yolando Colson, Bill Williams, Carlos Duran and Bud Frazier. The initial issue was distributed during this annual meeting.

...established an AATS/STS Postgraduate Course Advisory Committee which includes a representative of the STS to eliminate duplication of educational programming between the two organizations.

...authorized the Education Committee to develop an e-learning project in cooperation with the Joint Council on Thoracic Surgery Education and CTSNet.

...established a new research scholarship to be named in honor of Dr. John W. Kirklin. The first John W. Kirklin Research Scholarship will be presented next year in Philadelphia.

...authorized the establishment of a new annual Dwight C. McGoon Faculty Research Award to be presented to an individual selected by the Thoracic Surgery Residents Association. The first recipient was Dr. William G. Williams from Toronto, Ontario.

...established a competitive traveling fellowship for North American residents and fellows in their second or third year through which they might spend a week at other institutions to broaden their educational experience.

...agreed to consider amending the bylaws to enable members to request senior membership at age 65 or to continue as active members until they attain the age of 70.

...approved the city of Toronto as the site of the 2010 annual meeting over the dates of April 24 to 28.

...authorized a comprehensive workforce needs assessment for the specialty of cardiothoracic surgery in conjunction with the Center for Workforce Studies of the Association of American Medical Colleges to develop a forecast of future supply, demand and needs in the specialty. The association will invite the STS to join us in this effort.

Registration is open for the stand-alone postgraduate course on Valvular Heart Disease to take place at the Fairmont Hotel in Chicago from September 9 to 11, 2005. To register, please visit: www.aats.org.

Please make plans to attend the 86th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery to be held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania April 29 to May 3, 2006.