American College of Radiology

Last revised by Daniel J Bell on 7 Dec 2020

The American College of Radiology (ACR) was founded in 1923 by Albert Soiland, an American radiologist 2. Its contemporary core purpose, according to its website, is "To serve patients and society by empowering members to advance the practice, science and professions of radiological care" 1.

In 1923, a bill was passed by politicians in California allowing lay individuals to set-up and run x-ray centers. This development greatly alarmed Albert Soiland (1873-1946), a pioneering radiologist working in Los Angeles. He felt that the time had come for radiology to be recognized as a bona fide medical specialty in the United States. Thus on the morning of June 26th 1923, he advanced a resolution at the House of Delegates of the American Medical Association (AMA) for radiology to be officially endorsed as a specialty and for a Section on Radiology to be established. The AMA duly promulgated radiology as a specialty, although it took until 1924 for the Section to be set-up 2.

On the evening of the same day, Soiland had dinner with twenty leading radiology colleagues. He proposed that a College of Radiology be founded, something with which his radiology dinner companions concurred. The American College of Radiology was incorporated in 1924.

Current Chair of the Board of Chancellors is Geraldine McGinty, the first female radiologist to hold this position.

The College is organized into 54 chapters (50 states, Washington DC, Canada, and the Council of Affiliated Regional Radiation Oncology Societies (CARROS)).

Currently over 38,000, including radiologists, radiation oncologists, nuclear medicine physicians and medical physicists 1.

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