Our Legacy
History
Following World War II, young neurosurgeons returned home looking to improve both their skills and the health of their communities. To meet these needs, the Congress of Neurological Surgeons was founded on May 10, 1951.
By the first Annual Meeting in November 1951, there were 121 members. In the over 75 years since, our membership has grown to over 12,000 neurosurgeons worldwide.
Naming the CNS
The goal from the beginning was to provide the best training to neurosurgeons and improve health around the world. Our name was chosen to reflect this international reach, while also referencing our surgical focus, the central nervous system.
CNS History
Constants Among Change: What the History of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons Tells Us about the Next 50 Years
Congress Quarterly Spring 2015
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International Initiatives of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons: Historical Vignettes
Congress Quarterly Fall 2012
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Vignettes from the CNS Archives: Contributions of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons to Socioeconomic Issues
Congress Quarterly Winter 2010
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Annual Meeting Archives
Since 1951, the Annual Meeting has been an event to unite our membership at one location. This collaboration of neurosurgeons and honored guests has a rich history.
- Take a look back at our 75+ years of Annual Meetings.
Walter E. Dandy Archive
Dandy was a pioneer of neurological surgery. We have preserved his place in history through our online archive. This collection includes:
Past Presidents
Starting with our founding in 1951, we have been led by a president who is a practicing neurosurgeon member. Learn more about our past presidents.
2023
Elad I Levy is currently the Professor and Chair of Neurosurgery and the L. Nelson Hopkins Endowed Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery at SUNY Buffalo.
2020
Dr. Steven N. Kalkanis is Chief Executive Officer of the Henry Ford Medical Group, and Chief Academic Officer and Senior Vice President of Henry Ford Health System.
2017, Boston
Dr. Scarrow is a neurosurgeon and president of the Mercy Health System in Springfield, Missouri.
2015, New Orleans
Dr. Nathan Selden is the Campagna Chair of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), neurosurgery residency program director, and Vice-Chairman of the Department of Neurological Surgery.
2013, San Francisco
Ali R. Rezai, MD is Associate Dean of Neuroscience, Professor of Neurosurgery, Stanley and Joan Ross Chair in Neuromodulation, and the Director of the Neuroscience Program and the Center for Neuromodulation at the Ohio State University.
2011, Washington, DC
Christopher Caldwell Getch is honored to serve as the President of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons.
2010, San Francisco
Gerald E. (Rusty) Rodts, Jr., MD, is honored to serve as President of the CNS.
2007, San Diego
Douglas S. Kondziolka was born in Montreal, Canada, and completed his medical training at the University of Toronto and University of Pittsburgh.
2006, Chicago
Richard G. Ellenbogen is Professor and Chairman of Neurological Surgery at the University of Washington School of Medicine.
2005, Boston
Dr. Oyesiku was born in Nigeria where he graduated from St. Gregory’s College and received his medical degree from the University of Ibadan.
2002, Philadelphia
Dr. Papadopoulos was born in 1956, the son of a Greek immigrant.
2000, San Antonio
Daniel Louis Barrow was raised in west central Illinois, the first of four children of Dr. and Mrs. Warren C. Barrow.
1999, Boston
Hunt Batjer was born in 1951 in Burlington, Vermont to parents Henry Huntington Batjer and Eleanor Thomas Batjer.
1998, Seattle
Dr. William Alan Friedman was born in Dayton, Ohio on April 25,1953. He attended high school in Cincinnati, Ohio.
1996, Montreal
Stephen J. Haines was born on September 4, 1949 at the Mary Fletcher Hospital in Burlington, Vermont, the son of Gerald and Frances Haines.
1994, Chicago
Dick and Debbie Roski live in Davenport, Iowa. They both grew up outside Cleveland, Ohio and met at Cleveland Metropolitan Hospital where Debbie worked as an R.N. and Dick was in his neurosurgical residency at Case Western Reserve University.
1993, Vancouver
Arthur L. Day, MD, Professor, Co-Chairman , and Residency Program Director of the Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of Florida, graduated from Louisiana State University Medical School in 1972 and completed his neurological surgery residency training at the University of Florida in 1977.
1992, Washington DC
Dr. William Chandler is the Richard C. Schneider Professor of Neurological Surgery at the University of Michigan.
1991, Orlando
Michael Salcman was born in Pilsen, Czechoslovakia and came to the United States in 1948. After attending public schools in New York, he entered the 6-year Combined Program in Liberal Arts and Medical Education at Boston University and served a surgical internship at the University Hospital in Boston.
1989, Atlanta
J. Michael McWhorter was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi on November 8, 1941. He was awarded a B.S. degree from the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg in 1963.
1986, New Orleans
Dr. Maroon was born in Bridgeport, Ohio, a small coal mining community in the upper Ohio Valley.
1985, Honolulu
Robert A. Ratcheson was born in Chicago, Illinois on August 24, 1940.
1984, New York
Edward R. Laws was born on April 29, 1938 in New York City, the son of a physician.
1983, Chicago
Dr. John M. Tew, Jr. began his education at Wake Forest University and the Bowman-Gray School of Medicine.
1982, Toronto
Donald H. Stewart, Jr. was born a “Tar Heel” at Duke University Hospital on December 8, 1934.
1977, San Francisco
Bruce Farrell Sorensen was born January 25, 1931 in Aurora, Illinois, the second son of Alton H. Sorensen, Sr. and Ruth Bergquist.
1976, New Orleans
Dr. Robert G. Ojemann was born in Iowa City, Iowa on May 5, 1931.
1973, Honolulu
Bernard Sutherland Patrick was born in Booneville, Mississippi, February 16, 1927.
1970, St. Louis
John Morgan Thompson was born in Tampa, Florida on February 14, 1924.
1967, San Francisco
John R. Russell was born March 17, 1922 in Bloomington, Indiana.
1966, San Juan
William H. Mosberg, Jr. was born on August 22, 1920 in Baltimore, Maryland.
1962, Houston
On September 24, 2008, while the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) held its 58th Annual meeting, the CNS and the world neurosurgical community lost one of its pillars, Richard L. DeSaussure, Jr. Dr. DeSaussure was one of the 22 Founding Members of the CNS in 1951, and its 12th President in 1962.
1961, New York
A Middle Westerner and a graduate of The Ohio State University, Dr. Sayers became, before entering medical school, a close friend of Harry E. LeFever, professor ofneurosurgery at the Ohio State University.
1960, Chicago
Thomas M. Marshall was born in 1917 to Mr. and Mrs. Wiley Marshall in Frankfort, Kentucky where his father was an attorney.
1959, Miami
Dr. Gordy received his M.D. from the University of Michigan Medical School in 1943.
1957, Washington DC
Frederick C. Rehfeldt was born in Jackson, Mississippi on July 1, 1915.
1955, Los Angeles
Dr. Donald B. Sweeney was born on March 17, 1917 in Mason City, Iowa.
1953, New Orleans
Nathaniel Roger Hollister was born on May 18, 1915. He was the third son of Robert R. Hollister, M.D. and Susan Holdredge.
1951, St. Louis
Elmer C. Schultz, “Dutch” as he was known to his many friends, was born and raised in Michigan.
CNS President
Martina Stippler
2025-2026 CNS President
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