The Beginning

The groundwork for the establishment of the AAFP Foundation came in March 1958, when the Congress of Delegates of the American Academy of General Practice (now the AAFP) considered a resolution to establish “an educational and research foundation for the support of research on medical economic aspects of general practice.” The resolution passed, and the AAGP Foundation was subsequently incorporated as a non-profit corporation in the State of Missouri on November 18, 1958.

The first staff of the Foundation consisted of AAGP Executive Director Mac Cahal and Helen Cobb, his executive assistant. Two donations helped to establish a corpus of funds for the fledgling foundation: a $1,000 donation from Marion Laboratories (now Sanofi Aventis) of Kansas City, Missouri, and another donation from A.W. Breckenkamp, administrator of the AAGP Group Disability Insurance Plans (now AAFP Insurance Services, Inc.)