Peter A. McGregor, father of sleep technology and founder of the American Association of Sleep Technologists, passed away on January 23, 2010. He was 81.
In 1978, Peter lead the effort to organize the Association of Polysomnographic Technologists (APT) with the goal of building a professional identity for sleep technologists and developing standards, education, and training for the emerging field. At the time, the APT consisted of 20 individuals, but has grown over the years to over 4,800.
In 1979, when the Board of Registered Polysomnographic Technologists (BRPT) administered the first registry exam, Peter was the first to obtain the RPSGT credential and held the distinction of having registry # 1.
In 2008, Peter attended the 30th Anniversary Meeting of the newly-renamed American Association of Sleep Technologists (AAST) in Baltimore, Maryland in 2008. Many of the nearly 1,400 sleep technologists in attendance met Peter there for the first time and were touched by his warmth and kindness.
With his passing, many people lost a great friend and the sleep technology profession lost a remarkable leader in Peter A. McGregor.