Sources: Jeri D. Ropero-Miller, PhD, President and Carl R. McClary, MS, President-Elect and Chair, Executive Director Ad Hoc Search Committee All, this is probably one of our most important Presidential spotlights serving to inform the Academy membership of activities and resources of benefit to you. Carl McClary joins me in sharing the wonderful and exciting […]
Source: Jeri D. Ropero-Miller, PhD, AAFS President I can’t believe we are already in May and it seems like we were enjoying the February meeting just yesterday. It was a productive meeting and I was able to share my agenda with hundreds of members at the business meeting through my presidential address. I wanted to […]
Source: Zeno Geradts, PhD, AAFS President This message comes with mixed feelings as we announce the upcoming retirement of Executive Director Anne Warren, effective May 29, 2020. Anne joined the Academy staff in 1985 as the Assistant Director. Her tremendous management skills were quickly recognized and in 1990 she assumed the Executive Director position. Under […]
Source: Zeno Geradts, PhD, AAFS President The 72nd AAFS Annual Scientific Meeting is approaching, so now is the time to book hotels, flights, and, of course, register for those special sessions that fill up quickly. We have 26 workshops, 6 breakfast seminars, and 2 luncheon seminars on a wide variety of interesting topics, as well […]
Sources: Zeno Geradts, PhD, AAFS President and Jeri-Ropero-Miller, PhD, AAFS President-Elect AAFS President Zeno Geradts and President-Elect Jeri Ropero-Miller traveled to São Paulo and Brasilia, Brazil, May 19–30, as part of a 22-member delegation for the International Educational Outreach Program (IEOP) in Forensic Science. Accreditation & Outreach Coordinator Nancy Jackson organized the trip in collaboration with the AAFS association academy, […]
Source: Zeno J. Geradts, PhD, 2019-20 President 2020 AAFS Annual Meeting Theme: “Crossing Borders” I am honored to be elected President of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. My first annual meeting was in 1996 in New York when I was invited to speak at a workshop. I was overwhelmed by the different topics and […]
Source: Susan M. Ballou, MS, 2018-19 President During my undergraduate studies, one of my professors queried the class with the question: Would you allow ten suspected murderers to be released to ensure an innocent person wouldn’t remain in prison? Due to the passage of time, I cannot emphatically state the question is correctly phrased, but […]
Source: Susan M. Ballou, MS, 2018-19 AAFS President Disney World® opened to the public in 1971. As the first guests passed through the entryway onto magical Main Street, the majestic railroad soared above. Ahead, Cinderella’s castle promised entrance into a dream world of rides and shows. Walt Disney knew how to give each guest the […]
Source: Susan M. Ballou, MS, 2018-19 President In Havana, Cuba, in 1947, “the father of forensic pathology,” Dr. Rutherford B.H. Gradwohl, met with Dr. Israel Castellanos, the Director of the Cuban National Identification Office. They met to plan the first meeting of the Pan-American Medical-Legal Congress, which convened in St. Louis, MO, in 1948. Later […]
Source: Susan M. Ballou, MS, 2018-19 President In 1992, a 23-year-old woman disappeared from her home. A recent graduate of Harvard University who aspired to working in the corporate world, she inexplicably failed to show up at work one day. While her family members tried to find her, police searched the area around her home […]
Source: Susan M. Ballou, MS, 2018-19 President Under the direction of 2017-18 President Betty Layne DesPortes, the 70th AAFS Annual Scientific Meeting proved to be both exciting and educational. Let us now look forward to our next meeting in February 2019. I welcome you to what I know will be a tremendous and engaging year […]
Source: Betty Layne DesPortes, JD, MS, 2017-18 President For this month’s President’s Message, I would like to run the President’s Editorial article that was published in the January 2018 issue of the Journal of Forensic Sciences, Vol. 63, No. 1 There are No Sides in Forensic Science When I became President of the Academy, the first […]
Source: Betty Layne DesPortes, JD, MS, 2017-18 President The pre-registration deadline for the 70th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences in Seattle, WA, is January 24. Please register today; workshops and special sessions are filling up quickly. The theme for the Seattle meeting is “Science Matters,” and the focus will be […]
Source: Betty Layne DesPortes, JD, MS, 2017-18 President The Annual Meeting is fast approaching and now is the time to finalize your flight, hotel, and meeting arrangements. Pre-registration offers significant savings so do not miss the pre-registration deadline of January 24, 2018. Workshops and special sessions fill up quickly, so register as soon as possible […]
Source: Betty Layne DesPortes, JD, MS, 2017-18 President At our annual meeting in Seattle, we will be celebrating the 70th Anniversary of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. We have come a long way since that first American Medicolegal Congress in 1948, in St. Louis where the assembly approved a motion to pursue the formation of […]
Source: Betty Layne DesPortes, JD, MS, 2017-18 President On October 19, 2017, I had the pleasure of attending the preview reception at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum celebrating the opening of the exhibit Murder is Her Hobby: Frances Glessner Lee and The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death. The exhibit contains 19 meticulously […]
Source: Betty Layne DesPortes, JD, MS, 2017-18 President Scientific evidence is a powerful tool in the search for the truth and the pursuit of justice. As forensic scientists, we have a duty to ensure our results and opinions are valid and reliable. Standards and best practice guidelines provide the foundation for our work and […]
Source: Betty Layne DesPortes, JD, MS, 2017-18 President The week of August 21-25, 2017, I had the pleasure of attending the 21st Triennial Meeting of the International Association of Forensic Sciences (IAFS) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The opening ceremony highlighted the global span of the 1,440 delegates from 86 countries and 6 continents. IAFS President Michael Pollanen […]
Source: Betty Layne DesPortes, JD, MS, 2017-18 President As President of the Academy, I have had the honor of talking to a wide variety of audiences about forensic science and the mission of the Academy. I often describe the greatest strengths of the Academy as the extensive knowledge base of our members and their level […]
Source: Betty Layne DesPortes, JD, MS, 2017-18 President Forensic science is a field with no borders, and it is a field that provides a vast platform for collaboration among scientists throughout the world. Meetings and conferences this spring and summer have highlighted these characteristics. The AAFS has been well represented at these meetings, but I […]