History of the Society
The Los Angeles Society of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology, in reality the Eye and Ear Section of the Los Angeles County Medical Association, was the outgrowth of an eye and ear society organized in 1904 through the efforts of a professor of eye, ear, nose and throat diseases at the College of Medicine of the University of Southern California.
Under the urgings of Dr. Joseph M. King, then president of the Los Angeles County Medical Association, it became the Eye and Ear Section of that organization with a charter issued April 11, 1905. The first meeting was held in the office of Dr. Babcock on May 10, 1905. The following were charter members: Doctors William D. Babcock, F.D. Bullard, W.D. Dilworth, R.A. Harris, Hill Hastings, A. L. Kelsey, G.J. Lund, B.F. Church, H.B. Ellis, Ernest W. Fleming, A. A. Libby, T. J. Mc Coy, A. L. Macleish, F. W. Miller, R.W. Miller, W. H. Roberts, A.C. Rogers, L. S. Thorpe, E.L.H. Swift, W. E. Hibbard, H.A. Kiefer, W.W. Murphy.
Dr. William D. Babcock was elected chairman and Dr. Frank Miller, clerk. All members of the Los Angeles County Medical Association limiting their practice to the eye, ear, nose and throat who presented credentials satisfactory to the executive committee were eligible for membership. Participation in the affairs of the Los Angeles County Medical Association was assured by election of a representative, usually the outgoing chairman to act as a member of the Council.
In 1947, the By-Laws of the Society were reorganized so as to provide for separate sections on ophthalmology and otolaryngology. This step was taken in order to make it possible for scientific meetings to be held separately in each specialty. The growth of scientific complexity in each specialty made it necessary for the scientific activities of the Society to be greatly broadened in scope, and seven monthly meetings were planned for each section separately with a joint meeting in May.
In April, 1965, because of the increasing size of the society and the expanding and diverging scopes of the two specialties, it was voted by the members to organize the two sections into separate societies. The Los Angeles Society of Otolaryngology was thus organized in August, 1965.
LA Society Presidents
William Luxford , M.D. 1999-2000
Robert O. Ruder, M.D. 2000-2001
William Slattery,M.D. 2001-2002
Carolyn M. Doherty, M.D. 2002-2003
Lucy Shih, M.D. 2003-2004
Philip Amoils, M.D. 2004-2005
Anita Newman, M.D. 2005-2006
Matthew Finerman, M.D. 2006-2007
Rick Friedman, M.D. 2007-2008
Robert Andrews, M.D. 2008-2009
David Saadat, M.D. 2009-2010
Jose Fayad, M.D. 2010-2011
Bozena Wrobel, M.D. 2011-2012
Teresa Pusheck, M.D. 2012-2013
Hrair Koutnouyan, M.D. 2013-2014
Adam Friedman, M.D. 2014-2015
Jennifer Derebery, M.D. 2015-2016
Niels Kokot, M.D. 2016-2017
Eric Wilkinson, M.D. 2017-2018
Vanessa Rothholtz, M.D. 2018-2019
Karla O’Dell, M.D. 2019-2020
Mia Miller, M.D. 2020-2021
Arthur Wu, M.D. 2021-2022
Mark Swanson, M.D. 2022-2023
Grace Lee Peng, M.D. 2023-2024