Charlatans and heroes

Tribology & Lubrication Technology, Jun 2008 by Salek, Edward P

Association executives generally are not cast as the heroes in popular books or movies. Most people are hard-pressed to even figure out what an association executive is or does, let alone identify with them in literature or cinema.

So it came as a great surprise to this career association executive to enjoy a book where the hero is an association executive. Better yet, it is a true story and one of the more interesting chapters in American history from the 1920s and 1930s.

What does this have to do with STLE and the world of tribology and lubricants? There is a relevant point, but first the short version of a 2008 book called Charlatan.

Author Pope Brock's story recounts the multiyear pursuit of lohn R. Brinkley by Dr. Morris Fishbein, a top executive with the Chicago-based American Medical Association, who served as editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association until 1950. He was an outspoken critic of medical quackery and unorthodox medical procedures and an advocate of the public's right to basic medical knowledge.

Brinkley, who was not a medical professional, posed as a doctor and convinced gullible men and women that he could restore their youth and vitality through a variety of crude gland transplant operations. Although his handiwork actually killed or maimed scores of patients, Brinkley's skills as a huckster and con man enabled him to become a worldwide celebrity and multimillionaire who built a famed medical institute in rural Kansas and even ran an unsuccessful campaign to become governor of the state.

The hero in Brock's story, Dr. Fishbein, mounted an aggressive campaign to discredit Brinkley and the many other quacks that preyed on a naive public during the era between WWI and WWII. His pursuit was tenacious and eventually resulted in Brinkley being discredited. His illgained fortune was consumed by massive legal bills, and Brinkley died penniless in 1942.

Fishbein, who died in 1976 at age 87, is now regarded as one of the instrumental figures from a time when the AMA and many other professional and trade organizations gained significant prominence and power.

Here's the relevant point. Fishbein's campaign to rid the medical profession of quacks like Brinkley stands as an early example of how associations can serve to inform and protect the public. Associations have the potential to strengthen a profession or an industry by creating voluntary standards of conduct, test methods, product certification programs and other means of self-regulation. In STLE's case, we serve this function through activities such as rigorous peer-review of journal articles, noncommercial technical education and professional certification programs.

This traditional but important role of associations is sometimes forgotten in today's environment. The emphasis tends to be on what organizations can do to provide direct benefits to companies or individuals through training programs or product exposure at trade shows. But groups like STLE also serve a larger purpose that benefits everyone who participates in an industry or profession.

STLE appreciates our many individual and corporate members who support the association financially each year and enable us to perform the role that Dr Fishbein envisioned in the pursuit of his nemesis Brinkley. For those of you involved in tribology and lubricants but not yet an STLE member, I hope this lesson in literature and history will inspire you to join your peers in supporting our important work.

And if you're simply looking for a good book to read, don't overlook Charlatan on your next trip to your neighborhood or online bookstore. If you're like me, you'll be cheering on that association pioneer Dr. Morris Fishbein!

By Edward P. Salek, CAE

Executive Director

You can reach Certified Association Executive Ed Salek at esalek@stle.org.