The forty-first president of the United States, George Herbert Walker Bush, has been invited to serve as the 1999 Cushing Orator. The Oration will be delivered at the AANS Annual Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Tuesday, April 27, 1999, from 11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
For more than 30 years, the AANS has sponsored the Annual Cushing Oration, named for Harvey Cushing, MD, universally recognized as the Father of Modern Neurosurgery. Former Cushing Orators include H. Ross Perot, General Colin Powell, Wernher von Braun, and former president Jimmy Carter.
Mr. Bush, a decorated World War II naval pilot, graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Yale University in 1948 with a bachelor's degree in economics. Following his graduation, he moved to Texas where he began making his way in the oil business.
He emerged into the political arena in 1963 and, after losing his first campaign for the U.S. Senate in 1964, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas' 7th District in 1966. One of the few freshman members of Congress ever elected to serve on the Ways and Means Committee, Mr. Bush was reelected to the House two years later without opposition.
Following a second unsuccessful try for the Senate in 1970, Mr. Bush accepted a number of important leadership positions, including U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (1971); Chairman of the Republic National Committee (1973); and Chief of the U.S. Liaison Office in China. Mr. Bush also served as Director of Central Intelligence (1976), and, in that capacity, strengthened the intelligence community and helped to restore morale at the CIA.
In 1980, Mr. Bush lost his bid for the Republican presidential nomination to Ronald Reagan, but later accepted a spot on the national ticket and served as vice president of the United States from 1981-1989. Bringing foreign policy experience to his role, Mr. Bush coordinated administrative efforts to combat international terrorism and declare the international war on drugs. He also piloted a task force on regulatory relief aimed at increasing American competitiveness.
A leader in the political arena, Mr. Bush became the Republican Party's nominee for president and the American people's choice in 1988. In addition, he became the first sitting vice president to ascend to the presidency since Martin van Buren in 1837, and only the second president to serve a full term without Republican Party control in either chamber of Congress.
During his term in Office, Mr. Bush's leadership proved invaluable to the resolution of some of the most troubling crises of the century: Freedom prevailed in the Cold War; the Berlin Wall fell; Germany reunified; historic arms treaties took place with Russia; and a 30-nation coalition was created to oppose Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.
His administration pushed new ideas for educational reform, home ownership and environmental protection. Under his leadership, Mr. Bush successfully fought for and signed into law, among other things, the Americas with Disabilities Act and the Clean Air Act -- landmark civil rights and environmental legislation.
Since leaving office in 1992, Mr. Bush has served as Chairman of the Eisenhower Exchange Fellowship, as Honorary Chairman of the Points of Light Foundation, and as a member of the Board of Visitors at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. In addition, he and his wife, Barbara, have helped support more than 150 charitable organizations in their community and around the country.
Founded in 1931 as the Harvey Cushing Society, The American Association of Neurological Surgeons is a scientific and education association with approximately 5,300 members in the United States, Canada and Mexico. It 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 must be certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgeons. Neurosurgery is the medical specialty dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of disorders affecting the nervous system, brain, spinal cord and spinal column.
