Thomas Baker, MD and Simon Fredricks, MD

The Aesthetic Surgery Education and Research Foundation is pleased to announce that Aesthetic Society Founding Members Drs. Thomas Baker and Simon Fredricks were awarded the 2017 Career Achievement Award. The presentation took place at the Member Business Meeting held during The Aesthetic Meeting 2017 at the San Diego Convention Center, on Sunday, April 30.

The year was 1967 and the setting was the famous Harry's Bar in Venice, Italy. Drs. Fredricks and John Lewis had just taken part in the IV International Congress of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery in nearby Rome. On that fateful evening at Harry's, they laid out the groundwork for a new organization dedicated to teaching the art and science of aesthetic plastic surgery. They jotted down the names of 26 surgeons on a napkin, including Dr. Baker, who would join them as a Founding Member a few months later.

At that time, Drs. Baker and Fredricks were seen by many as disrupters and by others as visionaries who stood against the status quo. They proved to be the latter as their vision, insight and dedication helped build the largest and most prestigious educational organization in the world dedicated to aesthetic plastic surgery of the face and body. Drs. Baker and Fredricks' dream has grown to a society with a membership of nearly 2,400 members worldwide. By keeping membership requirements high, offering first-in-class education and top-notch programs and services, they fostered an environment in which newer, better, and safer techniques could be developed and taught to board certified plastic surgeons. As the educational opportunities and science from The Society and Foundation continues to grow, the future of our specialty looks brighter than ever.

Both doctors are Past Presidents of The Aesthetic Society, with Dr. Fredricks also having served as The Aesthetic Foundation's first President when it was formed in 1993. Individually, Drs. Baker and Fredricks have written influential books and hundreds of important articles. They have given countless lectures to both aspiring and established plastic surgeons, and pioneered aesthetic surgical techniques. Even today, after nearly 120 years of combined experience, Drs. Baker and Fredricks continue to make their mark on our chosen profession by staying involved and sharing their wisdom.

Given the ubiquity and demand for plastic surgery today, it is almost impossible to overstate how nascent the field of plastic surgery was in 1967. The science was scarce. The textbooks were few and far between. There was no dedicated peer-reviewed journal. Educational opportunities were scarce and of inconsistent quality. Drs. Baker and Fredricks were great visionaries whose creation of The Aesthetic Society enabled aesthetic surgery to develop into the successful entity that it is today. Indeed, every plastic surgeon who performs cosmetic procedures owes their career to these pioneers.