Coming of Age: The American Academy of Forensic Sciences and the Forensic Sciences Profession - 1948 to 1998.

In 1998 the American Academy of Forensic Sciences celebrated its first 50 years of operation at its Golden Anniversary Meeting in San Francisco. In anticipation of that event, in 1991 the Academy created a committee to prepare a history of the organization. One of the products of that committee was a book, the principal author of which was one of the authors of this review (KSF). The theme of the opening Plenary Session at the meeting was The History of the Forensic Sciences Profession and of the Academy. This article is based on presentations by the authors at that Plenary Session [2] and on material compiled for the book. Comparisons are made of the early years of the forensic science profession and of the Academy with the status of the current profession and Academy.