Fellow members of the American Society of Parasitologists (ASP), friends, and honored guests, welcome to the annual presidential address to the Society. It is my honor and privilege to introduce to you this year the president of our Society, Dr. Sharon Patton.
I first met Sharon 16 yr ago, when I was a graduate student finishing a Master's degree, and I sought her expertise in diagnostic parasitology. I was analyzing a series of 2,000-yr-old desiccated fecal samples left in a Tennessee cave by prehistoric native Americans. I had decided it would be interesting to investigate the samples for parasitic infection based on a literature review of the topic, even though I knew very little about parasitology. At the time, I honestly believed that I would only be in her laboratory long enough to learn the techniques required to analyze the samples and write a chapter in my thesis. We were...