In 1955, Pearce Bailey persuaded Dr. Masland to take what was originally to be a leave of absence from Wake Forest to serve as research director of the National Association for Retarded Children but resulted in Dr. Masland being named assistant director of the National Institute of Neurologic Diseases and Blindness in 1957 and then succeeding Bailey as director in 1959. Under Dr. Masland’s leadership, the NINDB budget grew from $40 million to $129 million. As director, he established programs in epilepsy, head injury, neuroepidemiology, and for the study of scrapie and kuru. He oversaw improvements of the quality of the intramural and extramural research programs, assisted in developing the merit-based peer review system, the development of Clinical Center programs, and the expansion of neurology training programs and the establishment of training programs in pediatric neurology.
After leading the NINDB for nine years, Dr. Masland assumed the Chairmanship of Neurology at Columbia University upon the untimely death of Milton Shy in 1967. Although he stepped down from this position in 1973 and was named the Houston Merritt Professor of Neurology, Emeritus, in 1974, his career was far from over. From 1976 to 1977, he was executive director of a special commission of the Department of Health Education and Welfare concerning the control of epilepsy and its consequences. From 1982 to 1989, he was a clinical professor of neurology at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Rutgers Medical School; and from 1981-1989, he served as president of the World Federation of Neurology.
Although remembered for his remarkable leadership of the National Collaborative Perinatal Project, Dr. Masland’s accomplishments were many. His nationwide survey of mental retardation research resulted in the important monograph Mental Subnormality: Biological, Psychological, and Cultural Factors, coauthored with Seymour B. Sarason and Thomas Gladwin. He was an effective and persistent figure in raising public awareness of epilepsy and dyslexia in children. He was an ardent campaigner for laws to protect the handicap and in recommending laws mandating the use of seat belts in automobiles and helmets while riding bicycles.
Included among his 80 publications are 29 that focused on epilepsy, 20 on disorders of language and dyslexia, and 22 related to pediatric neurology.
| In addition serving as president of this organization, he served many other professional organizations including being a member of the board of the Klingenstein Foundation. Not surprisingly, Dr. Masland received many honors that include an honorary degree from Haverford College, the Samuel T. Orton Award from the International Dyslexia Association, the Award of Merit from the National Association for Retarded Children (which was presented to him by President John F. Kennedy), and the 1987 William G. Lennox Award. | .jpeg?sfvrsn=b84909d5_1 "Masland with Kennedy") |