The wave of excitement continues from our centennial celebration at ACR 2023, the College’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C. This year’s meeting was especially eventful as we commemorated 100 years of advances and achievements of the ACR with colleagues, family and friends in radiology. We kicked off the meeting with a Centennial Gala, where more than 850 of us celebrated our rich history and the promise of an exciting future.
It is only fitting that as we marked our Centennial milestone, we also unveiled the College’s new brand. The ACR has grown to more than 40,000 members, and today the College is attracting more and more young physicians and physicists drawn to our profession by emerging technological advances that include rapid-paced evolution of AI use cases.
These dynamics served as the catalyst for our new logo that is bold, inclusive and forward-focused. Our brand refresh captures the College’s position as a champion for radiology and radiologists, emphasizing that the ACR will continue to have a significant impact on every member’s future and the ability to care for our patients.
We also unveiled a new tagline: “Focused. Forward. Together.” These words tie into the ACR’s new strategic plan — “Empowering the Radiologist of the Future” — that will increase member engagement and value, improving radiologic care and strengthening healthcare for all.
There is still much work to do … together.
Launching a new brand is no small feat. I extend immense gratitude to our new ACR President William T. Herrington, MD, FACR, immediate past chair of the ACR Commission on Membership and Communications, and Neil U. Lall, MD, chair of the ACR Brand Refresh Committee, who expertly steered us through this herculean effort. I would also like to acknowledge and thank ACR CEO William T. Thorwarth Jr., MD, FACR, and all the ACR leadership and staff who have worked tirelessly over the past 18 months to bring this new branding to life.
The team introduced the new brand at ACR 2023 with pins, notebooks, hats and even a scarf that I wore during my BOC chair report. The new ACR logo items will be available at our online store soon so you can proudly sport the new look at your workplace or wherever your travels take you.
As I noted in my report to the Council, the first year of my term as BOC “anything but bored” chair has been quite an experience. The College is involved in many important initiatives, which include implementation of the new strategic plan, mitigating planned Medicare reimbursement cuts (our ever-favorite Olympic sport), working with numerous partners in legal battles to ensure fair and accurate implementation of the No Surprises Act, pushing for Lung Cancer Screening Day to become recognized annually in November, engaging stakeholders on radiology’s role in promoting environmental sustainability, educating our members on new technology, supporting states addressing scope-of-practice issues … and the list goes on. There is still much work to do … together.
It was wonderful to get together in Washington to compare notes and gear up for whatever is to come in the next year — and the next century.
As the College embarks on our second 100 years, we’re focused on our members and our role in continuing to advance our profession while delivering the highest quality of patient-centered healthcare. Together, we will ensure that radiologists remain integral to the future of patient-centered care that is safe, equitable, effective, efficient and timely. Ultimately, we believe that the ACR’s success will be measured by yours!