| Award | Leibrock Lifetime Achievement Award |
| Name | John Thompson |
| Year | 2003 |
| Description | John Thompson was an integral part of the foundation upon which the socioeconomic house of Neurosurgery was built. He played an pivotal role in the formation of the first socioeconomic committee of national organized neurosurgery in the 1960's and help guide that endeavor for 25 years. He served as the Secretary of the joint AANS and CNS socioeconomic committee for 8 years and continued in that capacity for another three years when the joint committee evolved into the more egalitarian Joint Council of State Neurosurgical Societies in 1986. His unique and knowledgeable guidance assured that the Joint Council got off to a smooth start and the success of the Council to this day is due in no small part to his sage input.
Dr. Thompson received his MD from Johns Hopkins in 1948 and did his neurosurgical training at the University of Michigan between which he served a stint with the Armed Forces at a MASH unit in Korea in 1951 as a final military touch to his initial pre-medical service in the Navy in WWII. John's success as a St. Petersburg, Florida neurosurgeon for almost 35 years, during which time he was elected to the Presidency of the Florida Neurosurgical Society, and his socioeconomic credentials earned him the admiration and respect of his neurosurgical colleagues in the Congress of Neurological Surgeons where he served on the Executive Committee of the Congress from 1962 to 1971. He was Secretary from 1965 to 1968 and President from 1969 to 1970. As the Council of State Neurosurgical Societies inaugurated its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003, it seemed most fitting that John Thompson be its first recipient and bestowed the Award upon him in recognition of and in respect for his great contribution to the socioeconomic fabric in the cloak of the practice of neurosurgery. John M. Thompson, M.D. 1924-2005 |