Founders of a Society: The Origins of SER Three Visionaries. One Mission. A Legacy of Epidemiologic Excellence.
The Founding Vision
In 1967, three pioneering epidemiologists—Milton Terris, Abraham Lilienfeld, and Brian MacMahon—recognized a critical gap in the professional landscape: the absence of a forum where students and junior faculty could present their research and engage with senior scholars in a constructive, collegial environment.
Milton Terris
Abraham Lilienfeld
Brian MacMahon
Their goal was simple yet transformative: to create a space for open dialogue, mentorship, and the advancement of epidemiologic science. This vision led to the founding of the Society for Epidemiologic Research (SER) in 1968.
The First Meeting
The inaugural SER meeting took place in May 1968 in Washington, D.C., drawing over 300 members by the end of that year. Half were academics, while the rest came from local, state, and federal health agencies.
A Student Center Society
From the beginning, SER emphasized student participation. The founders believed that graduate students should have a platform to share their ideas and receive feedback from seasoned professionals. This commitment remains a cornerstone of SER’s identity today.
A Personal Reflection
In the newsletter, Joseph Lynn Lyon recalls attending his first SER meeting in 1973, where he was inspired by the intimate setting and the powerful keynote by Thomas Chalmers. He describes SER as a place where “very junior people like me could interact on a personal level with the major epidemiologists whose work I had only read”.
