TheAmerican Board of Otolaryngology (ABOto) was founded and incorporated in 1924, and is the second oldest of the twenty-four member boards of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS). The Board is a non-profit corporation, and the directors and examiners, with the exception of the Executive Vice President and the Examination Chairman, receive no compensation.

Founding members included two representatives from each of the following specialty organizations: the American Laryngological Association, the American Otological Society, the American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology, and the Section on Laryngology, Otology and Rhinology of the American Medical Association. This group of ten founding members, delegated authority by the above organizations, was established as the ABOto.

Since then, several other organizations have become sponsoring organizations: the American Broncho-Esophagological Association (1947), the American Society for Head and Neck Surgery (1947), the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (1971), the American Society of Ophthalmologic and Otolaryngologic Allergy (1974), the American Society of Pediatric Otolaryngology (1989), the American Neurotology Society (1991), the American Rhinologic Society (1994), the Association of Academic Departments of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (1995), and the Society of University Otolaryngologists-Head and Neck Surgeons (1995).