Brief History of the Academy for Eating Disorders

First Meeting

The Academy for Eating Disorders (AED) began in 1993 with a meeting organized by Craig Johnson, Ph.D. in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. Thirty-three clinicians and researchers met to discuss concerns about the deleterious effect of managed care and other insurance practices on providing quality treatment for patients with eating disorders.

This group saw a need for an organization of eating disorders professionals that embodied excellence in education, treatment and research that could advocate for patients with eating disorders, provide professional training and development and, in general, represent the field of eating disorders. The AED was formed to meet these goals, and today, the AED includes over 1,000 eating disorders professionals from around the world who have joined together to support this mission.

The current and past leadership of the AED has worked hard to ensure that this mission is met. To follow is a brief description of each AED president, including some of the highlights of each president's term of office.

Past Presidents
1993-1995
President: Pauline Powers, MD, South Florida, USA
  • Membership grew from 33 to 250 members
President: Ruth Striegel-Moore, PhD, Wesleyan University, USA
  • Restructuring of the organization reduced the AED Board from 26 members to a more manageable number with term limits established for Board members
  • Melanie Katzman, PhD, and Bryan Lask, MD, organized a task force to enhance international membership
  • AED co-sponsored a workshop on the Development of Research Priorities in Eating Disorders, initiated by Susan Yanovski, MD, from the National Institutes of Health, USA
1996
President: B. Timothy Walsh, MD, Columbia University, USA
  • Increased focus on professional training and education
  • Teaching Day tradition established with Amy Baker Dennis, PhD, appointed first Coordinator for Teaching and Education
1997
President: Joel Yager, MD, University of New Mexico, USA
  • Membership increased to over 500 members. Negotiated the International Journal of Eating Disorders as the official journal of the Academy
  • Established a listserv to enable members to communicate more effectively
  • Initiated the process of shifting the management structure from the Adolescent Medicine offices at Montefiore Hospital in New York City to an organizational management corporation
1998
President: Marsha Marcus, MD, Western Psychiatric Institute, USA
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  • Completed management transition process
  • Increased AED activities promoting public education about eating disorders
1999
President: Stephen Wonderlich, PhD, University of North Dakota, USA
  • First formal strategic planning session held in Toronto, Canada
  • Significant organizational restructuring with the addition of Publications, Research, and Public Affairs Councils
2000
President: James Mitchell, PhD, Neuropsychiatric Research Institute, USA
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  • Redefined the relationship between the AED and other U.S.-based eating disorders organizations, including advocacy groups (which eventually coalesced into the U. S.-based National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) and the Eating Disorders Research Society (EDRS)
  • First AED sponsored International Conference on Eating Disorders (ICED) held in New York, USA
2001
President: Allan Kaplan, MD, Toronto General Hospital, Canada
  • Period of rapid growth with membership of AED surpassing 1000
2002
President: Patricia Fallon, PhD, Seattle, Washington, USA
  • Expanded initiatives designed to increase the involvement of colleagues from outside of North America
2003
President: Cynthia Bulik, PhD, University of North Carolina, USA
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  • Global membership expanded
  • First AED-sponsored conference outside North America held in Quito, Ecuador
2004
President: Michael Devlin, MD, Columbia University, USA
  • AED transitions to new management group
  • AED Web site renovated
  • Planning initiated for first ICED to be held outside of North America
  • Publication of special issue of International Journal of Eating Disorders and publication of the first AED Annual Review
2005
President: Scott Crow, MD FAED, University of Minnesota, USA
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  • New leadership structure implemented
2006
President: Eric van Furth, PhD, National Center for Eating Disorders, Centrum Eetstoornissen, Ursula, The Netherlands
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  • AED Advisory Board established
  • Worldwide Charter launched in six languages
  • AED works with NEDA and EDC to improve the health of models in the fashion industry
  • Guidelines for the Fashion Industry launched in six languages
  • CE credentialing for IJED available
2007
President: Kelly Klump, PhD, FAED, Michigan State University, Department of Psychology, USA
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  • AED Research Grant Program developed
  • AED Scientific Committee formed
  • Develop of the AED Research-Practice Task Force focused on improving the quality of research, clinical practice and prevention in the field of eating disorders by facilitating an on-going transfer of knowledge from research into practice and from practice into research
  • Completion of the first AED Position Paper on eating disorders as serious forms of mental illness
2008
President: Judith Banker, LLP, MA, FAED, Center for Eating Disorders, USA
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  • AED launches new branding platform
  • AED prioritizes Research-Practice Integration as long-range strategic organizational goal. Releases AED Guidelines and Action Plan for Research Practice Integration
  • AED leads in translating research to community practice via the:
    • Release of AED Guidelines for Childhood Obesity Prevention Programs
    • Formation of AED Medical Care Standards Task Force to promote essential online medical management education for physicians world wide
    • Formation of AED Fitness Industry Guidelines Task Force to facilitate the collaborative global implementation of eating disorder awareness, prevention, and intervention   guidelines throughout the health club and fitness industry

 

2009
President: Susan Paxton, PhD, FAED, La Trobe University, Australia
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  • Five new Sister Organizations and the first meeting of the Academy's 7 Sister Organizations and Chapters
  • Launch of new and updated Web site
  • Launch of "AED Position Paper: The role of the family in eating disorders" 
  • Completion of the AED's Early Recognition posters and brochures for primary care settings
  • Major contribution to collaborative approach to the Office of the First Lady (USA) raising awareness of the AED's "Guidelines for Obesity Prevention Programs"

Immediate Past President
2010
Debra K. Katzman, MD, FAED, University of Toronto, Canada
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  • AED's Efficiency Program
  • Strong Membership
  • 2011 AED Fundraiser and Book Launch of Restoring Our Bodies, Reclaiming Our Lives, by Aimee Liu
  • "Go Green" Initiative
  • Launch of AED's Critical Points for Early Recognition and Medical Risk Management in the Care of Individuals with Eating Disorders brochure

Current President

2011
Anne Becker, MD, PhD, ScM, Harvard Medical School
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