The Annual Meeting of the members has been traditionally held at a dinner occurring during the Annual Society of Toxicology Meeting. More recently (since the late 2000’s), a reception has been held instead of a dinner). In 1994, Dr. Bob Tardiff designed and then presented the members with the official lapel pin of the Academy. A pin is now presented to each new Fellow along with the first Certificate. In the early meetings, there was often some entertainment, and few of us will ever forget Dr. Charlie Winek’s “Presidential address.” Several members annually promised to perform as a string quartet, although the complexities of carrying instruments have resulted in this never materializing. Essentially all ladies present as guests until the mid-1990’s were Fellow’s wives, and traditionally, for at least the first five years, they were presented with roses. As more women were accepted into the Academy, this practice was discontinued, although accompanying wives sometimes continued to appear surprised when certification or re-certification documents were presented to women whom they had assumed were accompanying persons. It has now become common for a few accompanying husbands to attend. With time, the entire membership has become representative of the gender and minority memberships of the professional societies.
In addition to the required business meeting, other activities usually occur including: 1) wearing of formal attire at the dinner, an activity first suggested by President Emil A. Pfitzer in 1995, and endorsed as denoting our very special status; 2) providing ribbons to new members to wear, to make them easily identifiable for welcoming into the Academy, first suggested by Dr. John Thomas in 2000; 3) collection of names for potential membership, also first suggested by Dr. John Thomas; 4) passing of the gavel to the incoming president and presentation of a plaque to the outgoing president. By 2010, the dinner has been replaced with a reception that includes presentation of the Mildred S. Christian Career Achievement Award.