Eugenia Rosemberg was a charter member of the American Society of Andrology (ASA) and Program Chair for the First Annual Meeting on March 31 to April 2, 1976 in Worcester, Mass. She was also an important scientist responsible for the beginnings of the American Society of Andrology. Dr Rosemberg served as a member of the Executive Council from 1976–1980 and was the first chair of the Publications Committee (1975–1980). As such, she was instrumental in the negotiations and formation of the Journal of Andrology. In 1982, Dr Rosemberg was the recipient of the Distinguished Andrologist Award, the highest honor given by the ASA to a member with lifetime achievements in the field of Andrology. Originally, her family—active in radio and television communications—escaped Russia for Argentina. Dr Rosemberg's education began in Argentina where she received her Bachelor's of Arts from the Liceo Nacional de Senoritas in Buenos Aires in 1936. This was followed with Medical School at the University of Buenos Aires, graduating in 1944. She remained at the university as Anatomy Instructor (1940–1946), Pediatric Instructor, and Associate Professor (1946–1948). Dr Rosemberg left Argentina in 1948, coming to Johns Hopkins University under the auspices of the Mead Johnson Fellowship and the Society for Pediatric Research. She subsequently stayed on in the Endocrinology Department at the Harriet Lane Home, Johns Hopkins University under the direction of Lawson Wilkins. In 1951, she joined the Endocrinology Section of the National Institute for Arthritis and Metabolic Diseases, National Institutes of Health (NIH) as a research fellow. Two years later, she joined the staff at the Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology in Shrewsbury, Mass. Dr Rosemberg returned to NIH in 1970 as Chief of the Contraceptive Development Branch. Dr Rosemberg was an active member of many scientific societies, including: American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Fertility Society, American Heart Association, American Medical Women's Association, the Argentine Endocrine Society, the Argentine Pediatric Society, and the Argentine Sterility Society. While a scientist at the Medical Research Institute of Worcester, she was one of the leaders that made the American Society of Andrology so successful. Not only was she an active founding member of the American Society of Andrology, but also she was instrumental in securing funding for our meetings and symposia for the first meeting on March 31, 1976. For those of us who were present and active at the initiation of our Society, it is clear that her persuasive energy in promoting the first Annual Meeting in 1976 in Worcester was critical in creating a viable Society. She marshaled space, obtained financial support from industry, invited world-class speakers, and gathered key charter members from multiple disciplines resulting in a large attendance, all by the shear dynamism and infectious enthusiasm for which she was known. This was a woman who was strong to begin with and achieved recognition at a time when women were not recognized. She had a great talent for contacting friends throughout the world and arranging numerous meetings. Many ASA members remember her not only for her scientific expertise but her flair as a person. Upon her death, Dr Rosemberg bequeathed a substantial sum of money to the American Society of Andrology with a written request that it be “used to establish an annual award to be presented at the time of the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Andrology in consideration of the candidate's original contributions to the field of Andrology.” Subsequently, the Eugenia Rosemberg Endowment Fund was established and, with ASA Council approval, the investment income will be used in perpetuity to sponsor the annual ASA Distinguished Andrologist Award. The first sponsored award will be given at the 2006 Annual Meeting in Chicago to Dr Norman Hecht. We thank Eugenia Rosemberg for her vision, dedication, and generosity to the American Society of Andrology. Special thanks to C. A. Paulsen.
