New York Roentgen Society: A Brief History

The New York Roentgen Society (NYRS) was founded in April 1912 to address the scientific and clinical practice concerns of physicians specializing in the new field of radiology. It was created at a time when there were no state radiology societies and the only two national radiology groups, the American Roentgen Ray Society and the American Radium Society, limited their interests to scientific subject matter. In 1914, Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen, (the German physicist who discovered X-rays in 1895), was awarded an honorary membership at the NYRS, the only American honorary membership he ever accepted. In 1921, another distinguished scientist (and Nobel Prize laureate) spoke at the NYRS meeting and accepted an honorary membership: Dr. Marie Sklodowska Curie.

Throughout its history, the New York Roentgen Society has offered its members a forum to discuss progress and challenges in the field of radiology. From its onset, the list of Society members and officers read (and still reads) like a Who’s Who of local and national champions involved in radiologic sciences including prominent medical physicists, diagnostic radiologists and radiation oncologists.