The Early History of the American Society for Reproductive Immunology: A Personal Memoir

Several years ago, I was asked to write about the development and early history of the American Society for Immunology and Reproduction, first by Joan Hunt, and then Judith Head, when each was president of the ASIR. Then, later, David Clark and Tom Gill, when they were presidents, officially named me as the Society Historian. Though this has been an organization that is of the utmost importance to me, and to which I devoted an enormous amount of time and effort, I have been slow to respond. But, at last, let me tell you that story of how and why we developed, and our early days, based upon my memory, notes, and letters that I have kept. As an undifferentiated medical student at the University of Virginia, having returned to University of Virginia to go to medical school after several years on active duty in the US Navy, I tried to assess which areas of medicine I enjoyed the most, as I went through the different clerkships. In those days, we had 3 months off every summer, and each summer I obtained a fellowship and did research. I worked in the Department of Physiology, and then Microbiology. I was so intrigued by the tissue culture work and immunological studies I did in my second summer, that I continued to work on those projects throughout the next school year. I also learned that I was best suited for the specialty of Obstetrics and Gynecology, because it was the best mix of both general medicine and surgery, both being of great interest to me.