The Harvard Society for the Advancement of Orthodontics was founded in 1991 by 31 orthodontists who wanted to “influence progress in orthodontics and share ideas with colleagues linked by experiences in the orthodontic programs at Harvard, Forsyth, and the Children’s Hospital,” according to HSAO’s inaugural newsletter.

 

The society owes its existence to Coenraad F.A. Moorrees, a professor of orthodontics at Harvard from 1964–1987 and the author of seminal publications that shaped the fields of craniofacial biology and orthodontic practice. Moorrees suggested to some of his trainees that they form a professional group that would be a legacy to the future for people coming through the program. An organizing committee was formed in 1989 or 1990, and the society held its first meeting in 1991.

 

On June 7 and 8, 1991, 77 of the young organization’s 108 members participated in a workshop in trends in contemporary orthodontics, leading to the society’s first publication, Orthodontics at the Crossroads?

 

Reviewer Thomas M. Graber, editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, called it “a landmark book… that is required reading for the libraries of leaders and followers alike,” according to a report in HSAO’s Fall 1994 newsletter.

 

The Society early on established its bona fides, holding annual scientific meetings in the United States each year and international conferences abroad every three years. It published its proceedings in a journal edited by Joseph G. Ghafari, Advances in Orthodontics, and mailed each edition to all U.S.-based orthodontic training programs. 

 

HSAO members were prominent contributors to a 1993 conference and subsequent publication, Biological Mechanisms of Tooth Eruption, Resorption, and Replacement by Implants. It was edited by Ze’ev Davidovitch, who was then the chair of the Orthodontic Department at Harvard Dental School.

 

Early on, the Society emphasized its educational mission by establishing a Moorrees Lecture for the annual meetings and creating the George R. Cadman Award of Clinical Proficiency for residents. In addition, the group honored founding member Jack G. Dale by creating the Dale Orthodontic Residency at Harvard/Forsyth, a continuing education program that promotes critical knowledge and high standards of clinical aptitude.

 

By 1997, the HSAO had created the John D. Heeley Craniofacial Biology Fund to fund the travel of deserving students to the annual AADR/IADR meeting for a research presentation in the Craniofacial Biology section.

Over the years, the society has held scientific conferences around the globe, published issues of Advances and encouraged the free and lively exchange of information on the science and practice of orthodontics.