William W. Stead, MD, recently completed a decade of service to AMIA and to our profession as the founding editor of the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. We, the associate editor group who worked under him, take this opportunity to thank him for his profound contributions.
Dr. Stead imparted a number of important characteristics to the editorship and to JAMIA by demonstrating:
A massive, passionate commitment to moving the field forward through dissemination of scholarship and innovation.
A commitment to scientific rigor and quality of publication, sometimes at the expense of decreased page count.
A strong desire to represent the breadth and depth of this multidisciplinary field.
A long view on the course of events, favoring broad perspectives over provincial ones.
A palpable, deep and genuine respect extended to every author and reviewer, often expressed through tactful, direct, and honest feedback.
An ability to find the kernel of good and truth in almost any paper and to help authors find it also—sometimes by working with authors to rewrite manuscripts interactively.
A polite but persistent approach to editorial disagreements, combined with a polite and good natured acceptance of editorial advice, even when it differed from his perspective.
A ready opinion—usually strongly held, on any topic—balanced by a willingness to remodel himself and his skill set to adapt to changing times.
Bill Stead has been a visionary leader in biomedical informatics. He has brought extraordinary perspective and insight into creating a new journal “from scratch.” In an era when academic “triple threats” are said to be nearing extinction, he has shown that one can still understand and support clinical practice, conduct research and build an academic enterprise and contribute to excellent institutional management. One of his favorite expressions is, “We shouldn’t do it if it isn’t scalable and sustainable,” which he has applied both to development of informatics systems at Vanderbilt, and to practices within JAMIA. His keen business sense has helped to make JAMIA a break-even endeavor for the American Medical Informatics Association from its inception. His experience in team building has led to a cohesive and coordinated editorial board and staff that turns around submissions with exemplary efficiency. And on top of all that, he has big shoes.
In recognition of his pioneering leadership, the American Medical Informatics Association will initiate a Janet and Bill Stead Lectureship (details forthcoming later).
Thank you, Dr. Stead, for creating the “industry standard” for excellence in medical informatics editorial leadership.