The Pavlovian Society
Founded May 7, 1955
Historical Background and By-Laws
Historical Background
The Pavlovian Society was founded by W. Horsley Gantt, MD in 1955. He was the first and probably the only American to work extensively with Pavlov in his Petrograd laboratory. Surprisingly, his initial contact with Pavlov was entirely accidental. As a young MD he joined Herbert Hoover’s American Relief Association and was appointed Chief of the Petrograd Relief Unit in 1922. He was introduced to Pavlov by a Russian colleague in the Association shortly after his arrival and soon became a lifelong friend and colleague. He joined Pavlov’s laboratory in 1925 after spending a year with a Russian family to acquire the language. After extensive study and research in Pavlov’s laboratory he translated and published Pavlov’s Lectures on Conditioned Reflexes in 1928. In 1929 he left Russia to found the Pavlovian Laboratory at Johns Hopkins.
After more than two and a half decades of highly visible research on the application of conditioning principles to the understanding and control of mental disorders, he founded the Pavlovian Society in 1955. Initially the membership consisted primarily of Horsley Gantt’s friends, former students, and colleagues. Since his death in 1980 the Society has continued to meet annually and publish the Society’s Journal, Integrative Physiological and Behavioral Science, (originally Conditional Reflex and subsequently Pavlovian Journal of Biological Science). The current goal of the Society is to bring together a broad range of scientists through a common interest in Pavlovian conceptual models and research.
BYLAWS
ARTICLE I: NAME AND PURPOSE
The name of the Society shall be the Pavlovian Society.
The purpose of the Society shall be to promote the communication of scientific research between a wide range of fields including, but not limited to, psychology, physiology, behavioral neuroscience, psychophysiology, mental health and medicine. Pavlovian conceptual models will be the predominant, but not exclusive, focus of the Society.
ARTICLE II: MEMBERSHIP
The Society shall have four classes of members: Full Members, Post-doctoral Members, Student Members, and Emeritus Members.
Members shall be persons qualified to conduct and supervise scientific research in any of the above listed disciplines and allied sciences. To be eligible for full membership, a person must hold a Ph.D., MD or equivalent.
Post-doctoral members must be post-doctoral fellows performing research in a scientific field including, but not limited to, psychology, physiology, behavioral neuroscience, psychophysiology, mental health and medicine. Student Members shall consist of students who are currently enrolled in a graduate program in any of the broad range of disciplines recognized by the Society. They are encouraged, but not required, to subscribe to the Society journal at the regular member rate. Student members are not eligible to vote in Society elections.
Emeritus Members have the same privileges as active members but do not pay dues; they are encouraged; but not required, to register for the annual meeting at the regular member rate, but are eligible for the Student Member rate. Emeritus status may be requested by active members in good standing who are over 70 years of age, or it may be conferred by the Executive Committee on a member of long standing for good and sufficient reasons.
Eligible persons shall be considered for membership by the Executive Committee, either at the annual meeting or through email ballot. Any eligible person, as described above, may submit an application for membership.
ARTICLE III: OFFICERS
The officers of the Society shall be a President, a President-Elect, a Past President, the Secretary/Treasurer, and four Executive Committee Members elected by the membership. All members of the Executive Committee must be members of the Society.
President. The term of office of the President shall be one year. The term of the President-elect shall be one year, after which he/she shall serve one year as President. The term of office of the Past-President shall be one year immediately following his/her term as President. The terms of office shall commence following the close of the annual business meeting. The newly elected President shall be announced at the annual business meeting and he/she will take office as President-Elect at the close of the following year’s annual business meeting.
Executive Committee Members. Four Executive Committee Members shall be elected, one each year, by the membership for a term of four years. They shall assume office at the close of the Annual Business Meeting in the year of his or her election. Executive Committee may be re-elected once, but may not serve more than eight consecutive years. Executive Committee members are eligible for election to the Presidency, or Secretary-Treasurer, but must resign their position as an elected Member of the Executive Committee. Vacancies on the Executive Committee, either through election to another office, resignation or death shall be filled in the annual election immediately following the departure from office.
Secretary-Treasurer. The Secretary-Treasurer shall be elected by the Executive Committee to serve a term of three years. The Executive Committee may re-appoint the Secretary-Treasurer for successive three-year terms at their discretion. If re-appointment will not occur, an election will be held as per Article VIII.
Journal Editor. In the event that the Society publishes a journal, the Editor of the Society’s journal shall be elected by the Executive Committee to serve a term of four years. He or she may be re-elected once, but may not serve more than eight consecutive years.
ARTICLE IV: DUTIES OF THE SOCIETY OFFICERS
The President shall present a Presidential Address, preside at all Executive Committee meetings and the Annual Business Meeting, and exercise general supervision over the affairs of the Association.
The duties of the Secretary-Treasurer shall be to keep the records of the Society, including all Executive Committee Meeting minutes and public information on the Pavlovian Society Website; to conduct official correspondence via mail and email, as well as all social media distribution; to serve as a member of the Executive Committee, announce the results of all elections, develop and issue all programs of meetings; receive applications for membership and to give notice of all inductions into membership. The Secretary-Treasurer shall have sole responsibility for all funds of the Society and shall have authority to disburse these funds for purposes authorized by the Executive Committee, as well as by the membership voting at the Annual Business Meeting. A record shall be kept of all money received and all disbursements made, and an annual report of the financial status of the Society shall be submitted to the membership at the Annual Business Meeting. The Secretary-Treasurer shall count nomination and election ballots, as well as the ballots in any referenda submitted to the membership. The Secretary-Treasurer shall act as the general Executive Officer of the Society in consultation with and by direction of the Executive Committee, or as directed by the membership at the Annual Business Meeting.
In the event that the Society publishes a journal, the Editor of the Society journal is empowered to manage all of the professional components of the Journal, including journal content, format and style as well as the selection of Associate Editors, Consulting Editors, and Ad Hoc Reviewers. The editor of the journal shall serve on the Executive Committee and should present an annual report on the status of the journal to the annual meeting of the Executive Committee and to the membership at the Annual Business Meeting.
ARTICLE V: EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
The Executive Committee shall exercise general supervision over the affairs of the Society.
The Executive Committee shall consist of the President, the President-Elect, the Past-President, the Editor of the Society’s journal, the Secretary/Treasurer, and four Executive Committee Members elected by the membership. All members of the Executive Committee must be members of the Society.
The President of the Society shall preside at meetings of the Executive Committee and at the Annual Business Meeting.
The Executive Committee is empowered to form committees as it deems necessary to conduct the affairs of the Society.
The Executive Committee is empowered to fill any vacancy in the Executive Committee resulting from election to another office in the Society, resignation, or death. The Executive Committee by majority vote may remove an officer who does not adequately fulfill officer duties in Article IV. The position may be filled either by appointment of the candidate who received the second largest number of votes in the election for the office vacated or by election at the next annual election. The Executive Committee shall choose that alternative which, in its judgment, will best reflect the will of the membership.
ARTICLE VI: COMMITTEES
Membership Committee. The President and the President-Elect shall serve as Co-Chairs of the Membership Committee. The Co-Chairs shall determine the constitution of the membership committee on an annual basis. The membership committee is encouraged to seek new Society members either by actively soliciting potential scientists and/or reviewing applications independently submitted by individuals seeking membership. The Co-Chairs shall provide a report on membership to the Executive Committee at the annual meeting.
Awards Committee. The immediate Past President, the President, and the President-Elect shall constitute the Awards Committee and be responsible nominating individuals for the Pavlovian Research Award and the Gantt Medal. The Committee should submit their nominations to the Executive Committee at the annual meeting. The Executive Committee, by majority vote, shall determine the Research Award and Medal recipients. The medals will be awarded at the next annual meeting. The Awards Committee shall also be responsible for composing citations for the award winners.
Program Committee. There shall be a Program Committee and the method of selection of its members, their number, and their term of service shall be determined by the Executive Committee. The Secretary-Treasurer shall serve as a member of the committee ex officio. The Program Committee shall meet and prepare a program of invited addresses, symposia, research reports and other offerings it may deem appropriate.
ARTICLE VII: AWARDS
The Society is empowered to present four awards, the Pavlovian Research Award, the Gantt Medal, the Student Poster Award, and the Bucci Undergraduate Scholarship, each year at the annual meeting.
1) The Pavlovian Research Award, established by W. Horsley Gantt, honors members (particularly younger members) of the Society for significant research accomplishments. The award consists of a certificate and citation
2) The Gantt Medal, established by the Society following the death of W. Horsley Gantt in 1980, is awarded to individuals who have either made distinguished contributions to the field as broadly defined in Article I or contributed significantly to the functioning of the Society.
3) The Student Poster Award (established in 2007) recognizes the best poster presentation at the annual meeting by a student who has not yet obtained a Ph.D. at the time of the abstract submission. Posters (and their presenters) are judged by the quality of the presentation, thoughtfulness, originality and creativity of work. The award is intended to stimulate continued participation in the Society’s meeting.
4) The Bucci Undergraduate Scholarship was established in memory of former President of the Society David Bucci. The Bucci Undergraduate Scholarship is awarded to an eligible undergraduate student who has made significant contributions to the fields of learning theory, neuroscience, or psychology fields and provides a cash prize to partially cover travel expenses for the Society’s Annual Meeting.
ARTICLE VIII: NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS
Each year the Secretary-Treasurer shall email to all Members a nomination ballot for President and for Executive Committee Member(s). For each office that appears on the nominating ballot each Member may propose three names. The same person may be listed for more than one office.
The Secretary-Treasurer shall count the ballots and notify the Executive Committee of the names of the Members who have received the largest numbers of votes for each office. From the list, the Secretary-Treasurer inquires if the two nominees receiving the largest numbers of votes for each office are willing to stand for election, and continues through the list in the order of vote count until at least two candidates for each office have been obtained. No one may hold two offices at the same time. If a Member receives enough nomination votes to be a candidate for two offices, the Secretary-Treasurer shall request that Member to choose one office for which to be a candidate. After the list of candidates has been determined, the Secretary-Treasurer shall mail an election ballot to all Members, on which the names of the candidates for each office are listed in alphabetical order. The ballots are to be returned to the Secretary-Treasurer to be counted and then reported to the Executive Committee at the annual meeting.
ARTICLE IX: ANNUAL MEETING
An Annual Meeting shall be held at a time and place selected by the Executive Committee. The Secretary-Treasurer will notify all members of registration, fees, abstract submissions, and award application due dates.
The purpose of the Annual Meeting is to facilitate the communication of scientific information between and within a broad range of disciplines as described in Article I of these Bylaws. Pavlovian conceptual models will be the predominant, but not exclusive, focus of the annual meetings.
A Business Meeting of Members shall be held as a part of the Annual Meeting. Only Members may vote on matters brought before the meeting. All motions at the Business Meeting shall require only a simple majority for passage.
ARTICLE X: DUES AND FEES
The fiscal year of the Society shall close on December 31.
The Executive Committee shall recommend at the Annual Business Meeting, for the approval of the members in attendance, any changes in the amount of registration fees for each level and dues for the next fiscal year ($25 for 2023 unless registration fee is paid).
Any Member who fails to pay dues for two years and to whom notice of delinquency has been sent to the last known address, shall be dropped from membership at the Executive Committee’s discretion. Thereafter, said Member may be reinstated by applying in writing to the Secretary-Treasurer and paying dues for the year in which reinstatement is requested. A Member may resign by sending to the Secretary-Treasurer a notice of resignation. A Member who has resigned may be reinstated by paying the dues for the year in which reinstatement is requested.
In the event that the Society is dissolved, its financial holdings shall be used to pay any debts. Remaining holdings shall be donated to the Johns Hopkins University in memory of the founder of the Society, W. Horsley Gantt.
ARTICLE XI: CONFLICT OF INTEREST
Officers and members of the Executive Committee shall recuse themselves from any deliberations that involve an entity in which they have a financial stake. Similarly, they shall recuse themselves from deliberations that involve a member of their family.
ARTICLE XII: AMENDMENTS
Amendments or changes to these bylaws may be proposed by the Executive Committee or by Members at the Annual Business Meeting or at an additional meeting called by the Executive Committee. A two-thirds majority of those voting within the Executive Committee shall be required for the adoption of amendments or changes.
A revised governance document, such as these By-laws, shall be submitted to the membership by the Secretary-Treasurer for approval via email correspondence. The revised By-laws shall be in force when accepted by a two-thirds majority vote of those Executive Committee members responding within 30 days of the emailing.
Amended February 2023 by a vote of the Executive Committee.