A Comprehensive Analysis of Academic Attributes of the Presidents of the North American Skull Base Society

Objectives Our objective was to elucidate the demographic, academic, and career attributes of North American Skull Base Society (NASBS) presidents and determine how leadership of this society has changed over time.

Design Thirty-one NASBS presidents have served between 1990 and 2021. Demographic and scholarly variables were recorded from publicly available sources. To determine how trends in NASBS presidents have changed over time, linear and logistic regressions were conducted on continuous and categorical variables, respectively.

Setting Virtual setting was used for this study.

Participants There were no active participants in the study.

Main Outcome Measures Academic metrics of NASBS presidents were the main outcome measure.

Results NASBS presidents had a mean age of 53.3 ± 6.1 years at election and were all male. The most common institution at which former presidents trained (n = 4) and practiced (n = 3) was the University of Pittsburgh. Otolaryngologists comprised 41.9% (n = 13) of the cohort, neurosurgeons made up 38.8% (n = 12), and the remaining 19.3% (n = 6) were from other specialties. NASBS presidents from neurosurgery (p = 0.033) and other specialties (p = 0.014) were more likely to hold the rank of chair compared with those from otolaryngology. Over time, there has been a linear increase in years of research experience at the time of election (p = 0.048). There remains a lack of diversity of gender and race.

Conclusions NASBS presidents have demonstrated increased research activity over time, favoring long-term academic careers. Knowledge of these trends and attributes, which demonstrate an increase in skull base literature, growth of the NASBS, and a need for increased diversity in the field, is important for stewarding the future of the NASBS and promoting equity.