WASHINGTON - (April 16, 2007) - Mary Louise Sanderson was recognized with the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) 2007 Distinguished Service Award, at 9:50 a.m. on Tuesday, April 17, at the AANS Annual Meeting – Celebrating AANS’ Diamond Jubilee – April 16-19 in Washington, D.C. This award was bestowed on Ms. Sanderson in recognition of her many years of outstanding commitment and dedication to the field of neurosurgery.

Ms. Sanderson was born in Fairmont, W. Va. She attended Vassar College and Carnegie Mellon University, where she studied art history and applied art.

When the American Board of Neurological Surgery (ABNS) moved from New Orleans to Chapel Hill, N.C. in 1983, David G. Kline, MD, and M. Stephen Mahaley, MD, hired Ms. Sanderson to run the office. Shortly thereafter, Dr. Mahaley left the University of North Carolina to take over the residency program at the University of Alabama, and for the first time, the secretary and the ABNS office were not located in the same place. In 1989, ABNS Directors accepted an offer from their Chairman Robert G. Grossman, MD, and Methodist Hospital, and moved the ABNS Board office to its permanent location in Houston. It has continued there under Ms. Sanderson’s administration ever since.

Ms. Sanderson was recipient of a North Carolina Volunteer award in 1986. In Houston she has worked with Reach to Recovery, and both Camp Star Trails and the Breast Cancer Center at M. D. Anderson. Currently she is an active volunteer with the Houston Symphony Orchestra Guild and Museum of Fine Arts Guild.

Founded in 1931 as the Harvey Cushing Society, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) is a scientific and educational association with more than 6,800 members worldwide. The AANS is dedicated to advancing the specialty of neurological surgery in order to provide the highest quality of neurosurgical care to patients. All active members of the AANS are certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgery, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons (Neurosurgery) of Canada or the Mexican Council of Neurological Surgery, AC. Neurological surgery is the medical specialty concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of disorders that affect the entire nervous system including the spinal column, spinal cord, brain and peripheral nerves.

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