Alfred Schramm YEAR OF FIRSTS 59 1960 ACGP names Alfred Schramm, DO, as the organization’s first executive secretary (executive director), the only DO to serve in this position to date. The ACGP Congress of Delegates is established by ACGP’s Committee on Bylaws, including Chairman J. R. Forbes, DO, Lester Nowlin, DO, and ACGP’s newly appointed Executive Secretary Albert Schramm, DO. Charles Sauter, DO, FACGP, serves as the first speaker of ACGP’s Congress of Delegates. 1961 The California Merger movement attempts to absorb all of California’s DO population through amalgamation by offering an MD designation (in California) in exchange for their DO degrees. In July, AOA’s House of Delegates votes to legally challenge the California degree exchange and amalgamation. A small group of California DOs, led by ACGP member Ethan Allen, DO, FACGP, and others, sue in California State Court to reverse the intended action of the California Merger. The case eventually moves forward to the California Supreme Court. ACGP loses hundreds of members, as well as many of its founders and icons, due to the California Merger and the conversion of nearly 2,400 DO degrees to the California-issued MD designation. 1962 ACGP moves its operations out of California to Chicago, Illinois. ACGP creates a panel to accredit educational programs for its members’ educational requirements, beyond the learning opportunities traditionally sponsored by AOA and other medical organizations. ACGP further expands its medical education programming by establishing a preceptor program for its student members. The Conclave of Fellows Award is created by President-Elect James Rowland, DO, FACGP, to recognize those who have made a significant contribution to ACGP.
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