SAS HISTORY
FOUNDING OF THE SOCIETY
In 1954 a number of spectroscopists, recognizing the existence of several regional societies of spectroscopists, organized a committee to promote a stronger exchange of information among these societies. The efforts of this committee resulted in the formation of the Federation of Spectroscopic Societies on March 1, 1956 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The temporary officers at this meeting were Dr. Eugene Rosenbaum, Chairman, and Mrs. Sarah Degenkolb, Secretary. The Societies adopted a Constitution at this meeting. Five other societies were represented at this meeting including the Canadian Association of Applied Spectroscopy.
The officers elected for one year were Mr. Edwin Jaycox, Chairman; Miss Grace Marsh, Vice Chairman; and Rev. James J. Devlin, S.J., Secretary-Treasurer.
On March 7, 1957, the Federation held a meeting of the representatives of the member societies in Pittsburgh. The officers elected were Mr. William J. Poehlman, President; Mrs. Sarah Degenkolb, Vice President; and Rev. James J. Devlin, S.J., Secretary-Treasurer. The major business of that meeting was the appointment of a fact finding committee to consider the advisability of founding a National Society of Applied Spectroscopy. After due inquiry, this committee reported a widespread interest in forming a national society and proceeded to draft a constitution.
The enthusiastic response to the proposal of a national society and the expressed willingness of the New York area group to relinquish its name and journal, culminated in the foundation of a national Society for Applied Spectroscopy at a meeting of the Federation of Spectroscopic Societies in New York on November 4, 1958. On November 7, 1960, the Society was incorporated in the State of Pennsylvania with its legal residence at Mellon Institute, 4400 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as a nonprofit corporation.
APPLIED SPECTROSCOPY JOURNAL
In 1958 the New York Society for Applied Spectroscopy donated its journal, Applied Spectroscopy, then in Volume 12, to the National Society and published it for the Society during that year. In 1960, the Society for Applied Spectroscopy assumed the responsibility for publishing the journal. Dr. Frederick Strong III, who was editor at the time of transfer, continued in that capacity until 1961.
In 1966 the Society became an affiliate member of the American Institute of Physics. At that time, the responsibility for publication of Applied Spectroscopy was assumed by the American Institute of Physics, but the editorial management remained under the Society for Applied Spectroscopy. In addition to publishing and printing the Journal, the American Institute of Physics also processed membership forms and handled other routine matters such as balloting and dues collection. In 1971, the Society retained its affiliation with AIP but transferred the printing and publication of the journal, together with the managerial services to The Williams & Wilkins/Waverly Press Company. Subscription and managerial services were transferred to the office of the Executive Secretary of the Society in January 1982. In 1984, the printing services were transferred to Allen Press, Inc. in Lawrence, Kansas.
LOGO
The logo was designed in 1960 by Rockwell Kent, III.
LOCAL SECTIONS
There were seventeen original founding sections. These include:
Baltimore-Washington, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Delaware Valley, Detroit, Indiana, Milwaukee, New England, New York, Niagara Frontier, North California, Ohio Valley, Pittsburgh, San Diego, Southeastern, and Southern California
NATIONAL MEETINGS
In 1962 the Baltimore-Washington Section was host to an International Conference on Spectroscopy. The Tenth Colloquium Spectroscopicum Internationale was also designated the First National Meeting of the Society for Applied Spectroscopy. The surplus funds from this meeting were donated to establish a fund for use by other Sections of the Society sponsoring national meetings in succeeding year. National meetings have been held annually since that time.
In 1974 the Society began holding its Annual National Meeting in conjunction with the Federation of Analytical Chemistry and Spectroscopy Societies (FACSS).
Click here for even more information on the Early Years of SAS.
Presidents
1957 William J. Poehlman
1960 Sarah H. Degenkolb
1961 Neil E. Gordon, Jr.
1962 John Hansen
1963 Donald R. Johnson
1964 Charles R. Pepper
1965 John R. Ferraro
1966 Marvin W. Skougstad
1967 Herman A. Szymanski
1968 Bruce M. Larue
1969 C.L. Grant
1970 Jeanette G. Grasselli
1971 Leopold May
1972 R.K. Skogerboe
1973 G. Vernon Wheeler
1974 Marvin Margoshes
1975 John J. McClafferty, Jr.
1976 Jack E. Katon
1977 Robert J. Manning
1978 Edward G. Brame, Jr.
1979 Michael L. Parsons
1980 Philip F. Kane
1981 John F. Jackovitz
1982 Theodore Rains
1983 James D. Winefordner
1984 O. Karmie Galle
1985 Jacob Fuchs
1986 Patricia B. Roush
1987 James A. Holcombe
1988 Richard F. Browner
1989 Alvin Bober
1990 S. Roy Koirtyohahn
1991 Gary M. Hieftje
1992 Truman C. Waugh
1993 M. Bonner Denton
1994 Peter R. Griffiths
1995 David Coleman
1996 Nancy Miller-Ihli
1997 Kathryn S. Kalasinsky
1998 Joseph Caruso
1999 Robin L. Garrell
2000 Rina K. Dukor
2001 Vasilis Gregoriou
2002 Rachael Barbour
2003 Laurence A. Nafie
2004 Robert G. Michel
2005 Cynthia Mahan
2006 Rebecca Dittmar
2007 James de Haseth
2008 John Chalmers
2009 Jon Carnahan
2010 Fred LaPlant
2011 Curt Marcott
2012 Mary Kate Donais
2013 Katherine Bakeev
2014 Ian R. Lewis
2015 Diane Parry
2016 Ellen Miseo
2017 Greg Klunder
2018 Mike Carrabba
2019 Robert Lascola
Secretaries
1957–1964 James J. Devlin, S.J.
1965–1967 Jan K. Hurwitz
1968–1970 E.R. Shuster
1971–1973 Andrew F. Rekus
1974–1976 Jae Y. Hwang
1977–1982 Genevieve M. Bonini
1983–1985 Constance B. Sobel
1986–1988 Truman C. Waugh
1989–1991 Karen Wolnik
1992–1994 Jean Kane
1995–1997 John Koropchak
1998–2000 Alexander Scheeline
2000–2003 Jon Carnahan
2004–2006 David C. Lankin
2007–2009 Timothy Keiderling
2010–2011 Katherine Bakeev
2012 Michelle Megan
2013–2014 Robert Lascola
2014–2017 Gloria Story
2018 Ian R. Lewis
Treasurers
1957–1961 Edwin S. Hodge
1962–1964 Isabel H. Tipton
1965–1966 Walthew T. Barnes
1967–1969 William F. Ulrich
1970–1973 Elma Lanterman
1974 Philip Kane
1975–1977 James R. Lindsay
1978–1980 Marion Skeadas
1981–1983 Andrew F. Rekus
1984–1986 Michael S. Epstein
1987–1989 Jan K. Hurwitz
1990–1995 Edgar S. Peck
1996–1998 Marvin Margoshes
1999–2001 Mary (Tungol) Carrabba
2002–2004 Deborah Bradshaw
2005–2007 D. Christian Hassell
2008–2013 Paul Bourassa
2014–2016 D. Bruce Chase
2017 Diane Parry
Parliamentarians
1969–1982 Abram Davis
1983–1985 F. Monte Evens
1986–1988 O. Karmie Galle
1989–1991 Eileen M. Skelly-Frame
1992–1995 Peggy Dean
1996–1998 Rina K. Dukor
1999–2000 Laurence A. Nafie
2000–2002 Augustus Way Fountain, III
2002–2004 Rebecca Dittmar
2005–2006 Deborah Bradshaw
2006–2007 Brandye Smith-Goettler
2008 Jessica Jarman
2009–2011 Diane Parry
2012–2015 John Wasylyk
2015 Ben Manard
Marketing Chair
2017 Andrew Whitley
Student Representatives to the Executive Committee
2002–2003 Paige Eagan
2004–2005 Debbie Martinez
2006–2007 Lacey Averett
2008–2009 Michelle Meighan
2010–2011 John-David McElderry
2012–2013 Ryan Schmeling
2014–2015 Chad Atkins
2016–2017 David Bryce
2018 Megan Stanton Schmale
Newsletter Editors
1974–1980 Andrew F. Rekus
1981–1983 James R. Lindsay
1984–1995 John A. Dean
1996–1998 Michael Epstein
1999–2004 Marvin Margoshes
2005–2014 David Butcher
2015–2017 Fred Haibach
2018 Xiaoyun (Shawn) Chen
Executive Assistant/Director
1982–1988 Donna L. Welch
1988–1996 Jo Ann Brown
1996 Bonnie A. Saylor
Journal Staff
Editors-in-Chief
1946–1955 George L. Buc
1958–1961 Frederick C. Strong III
1962–1964 Leopold May
1965–1967 James E. Paterson
1968–1974 John R. Ferraro
1975–1993 William G. Fateley
1994–1997 James A. Holcombe
1998–2009 Joel Harris
2009–2012 Peter R. Griffiths
2012–2018 Michael W. Blades
2018 Sergei Kazarian
Editors
1986–1997 D. Bruce Chase
1998–2009 Paul Farnsworth
2009–2012 Michael W. Blades
2012–2017 Peter R. Griffiths
2017–2018 Sergei Kazarian
2018 Michael W. Blades
Co-Managing Editors
1989–1993 O. Karmie Galle and Truman C. Waugh
Production and Composition Editor/Managing Editors
2001–2012 Rebecca Airmet
2012 Kristin S. MacDonald
Business Managers
1960–1964 James J. Devlin, S.J.
1965–1981 Alvin Bober
1989–1993 Robert H. Bell
Publishing Services/Printing
1966–1970 American Institute of Physics
1971–1982 Williams and Wilkins/Waverly Press
1984–2015 Allen Press, Inc.
2016 Sage Publications Inc.