SAN FRANCISCO (April 10, 2000) - Martin Harvey Weiss, MD, was named the Immediate Past President of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) at the AANS Annual Meeting in San Francisco, California, April 8-13, 2000. Active in the AANS since 1973, Dr. Weiss has served as President of the AANS (1999-2000) as Secretary (1994-1997) and as a member of the Board of Directors (1988-1991) of the Association.

Dr. Weiss is Professor and Chairman of the Department of Neurological Surgery at the School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC). In addition, he is Chief of Neurosurgery at the USC Medical Center, as well as attending neurosurgeon at the USC University Hospital. He also serves as consulting neurosurgeon to the staffs of Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, The City of Hope, Huntington Memorial Hospital and the Hospital of the Good Samaritan. Dr. Weiss also is the first holder of The Martin H. Weiss Chair in Neurological Surgery at USC, which was established by an endowment funded by the William Wrigley Family.

After earning his bachelor's degree, magna cum laude, from Dartmouth College and his medical degree from Cornell University Medical College, Dr. Weiss served a surgical internship at the University Hospitals of Cleveland. He subsequently spent two years as an associate in general surgery at the United States Military Academy at West Point (New York), following which he returned to complete his residency in neurosurgery at University Hospitals of Cleveland. He became Board certified in 1972, and has been elected to Phi Beta Kappa national honorary society and Alpha Omega Alpha national medical honorary society.

In addition to his involvement with the AANS, Dr. Weiss has served as Chairman of the American Board of Neurological Surgery, Chairman of the Residency Review Committee for Neurological Surgery and Chairman of the Neurology B Study Section of the National Institutes of Health, as well as Vice President of the American Academy of Neurological Surgery, Vice President of The Society of Neurological Surgeons, Vice President of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons and President of the Southern California Neurosurgical Society. Additionally, he is a member of the American College of Surgeons (Past Chair of the Neurosurgical Advisory Council), American Medical Association, Western Neurosurgical Society, Neurosurgical Society of America, Research Society of Neurological Surgeons and The Neurosurgical Forum.

A prolific writer and investigator, Dr. Weiss has authored and co-authored nearly 250 books and scientific journal articles on a variety of neurosurgical topics with specific focus on pituitary tumors, meningiomas and spinal cord disorders. He has served as Editor-In-Chief of Clinical Neurosurgery and as a founding member of the Editorial Board of Neurosurgery. He is presently Associate Editor of Neurosurgical Focus, the online journal of the Journal of Neurosurgery.

Founded in 1931 as the Harvey Cushing Society, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) is a scientific and educational association with nearly 5,500 members worldwide. The AANS is dedicated to advancing the specialty of neurological surgery in order to provide the highest quality of neurosurgical care to the public. All active members of the AANS are Board-certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgery. Neurosurgery is the medical specialty concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of disorders that affect the spine, brain, nervous system and peripheral nerves.