In Memoriam: Francis I. Kittredge, Jr., MD, JD, FAAN
June 24, 2024
Francis I. Kittredge, Jr., MD, JD, FAAN, who served as the 25th president of the AAN from 1999 to 2001 and as the first president of the AAN Education and Research Foundation, now known as the American Brain Foundation, passed away on June 6, 2024. Kittredge, who was 89, was one of the first neurologists practicing in Maine, where he developed a group neurology practice in Bangor.
Foremost in Kittredge’s extensive legacy with the AAN stands the creation of the foundation. Kittredge worked with then-President Lewis P. Rowland, MD, FAAN, and then-President Elect Roger N. Rosenberg, MD, FAAN, to establish a fundraising body to seed fellowships and research grants in 1993. Kittredge helped ensure the success of the foundation through his generous contributions of board service and pledges over the following decades.
Kittredge also played a key role in the development of the United Council of Neurologic Subspecialties (UCNS), leading a long-range planning committee on neurologic subspecialization in 1995 at the time when the American Board of Medical Specialties had decided to no longer recognize new subspecialties. When Kittredge became AAN president in 1999, he appointed Stephen M. Sergay, MB BCh, FAAN, to carry forward the work to create a new board to recognize emerging neurologic subspecialties, which became UCNS.
A 1959 graduate of Temple University School of Medicine, Kittredge served in the US Army, practiced family and internal medicine, and completed a law degree before entering residency in neurology at the University of Pennsylvania in 1969. Early in his residency, Kittredge developed an interest in neuroimaging and throughout his career sought the latest technologies to improve care for patients. His practice purchased the first CT scan in Maine and developed the first neurophysiology laboratory in the state.
Kittredge’s long service with the Academy began when former AAN President Theodore L. Munsat, MD, FAAN, visited Kittredge’s medical center through a visiting professorship Kittredge had created. Munsat was awed by equipment at the regional center that he didn’t have at his institution in Boston and urged Kittredge to get involved in the Academy to share his forward-thinking with the field.
That first appointment to the Therapeutics and Technology Assessment Subcommittee led to decades of commitment to leading nearly every area of the Academy, including service on the Practice Committee, Medical Economics and Management Committee, Education Committee, Legislative Affairs Committee, and the Meeting Management Committee. He advocated for neurology on the state and national level, with countless trips to Washington, DC, as well as representing the AAN as a delegate to the American Medical Association House of Delegates.