HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!
1996 marks the 50th anniversary of the IEEE Computer Society. This significant milestone has been reached thanks to the active, interested participation of its membership. The growth of the society and the computing industry has been truly astounding. In the 1950's, Computer Society membership was less than 10,000. Its international reach did not begin until the late 1960's. Today, the society represents nearly 100,000 members worldwide, and it remains the oldest and largest association of computing professionals in the world.
The IEEE Computer Society traces it origins to the 1946 formation of the Committee on Large-Scale Computing of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE). Five years later, the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) formed its Professional Group on Electronic Computers. The AIEE and the IRE merged in 1963 to become the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). The respective committee and group of the predecessor organizations combined to form the modern IEEE Computer Society.
The AIEE's original scope was "the treatment of all matters in which the dominant factors are the
requirements, design, construction, selection, installation, and operation of machinery and devices
relating to computing devices, including studies of the electromagnetic, electronic, and mechanical
phenomena of such devices. Fundamental mathematics, electronic, and properties of materials
entering into these devices are not included."
Our current scope and aims are simpler: to encompass the broad, continually evolving environment
in which our members live and work and to allow the membership to steer the Computer Society in
the appropriate direction. But the society’s mission remains clear: to give computing professionals
the tools they need to stay on top of new technologies and grow in their chosen profession.
"The Computer Society strives to be the leading provider of technical information and services to the world’s computing professionals." - IEEE Computer Society Vision Statement
In 1968, with an IEEE Reorganization, the society focus was set to be conference activity, TC activity, publication activity, continuing education and student relations, distinguished visitors program expansion, and area committees. This focus is still appropriate today. Despite the fact that close to 30 years have passed since setting this focus, these areas remain fundamental keys to satisfying and serving society membership. But though our focus remains stable, we have grown and expanded our reach as our industry and needs have expanded. Consider these facts:
50 years ago the society and our industry was in its infancy. The first Joint Computer Conference in April 1966 sponsored by AIEE and IRE included presentations on Univac 1, IBM CPC, Era 1101 and SEAC. There were papers on magnetic drums, mercury delay lines, and cathode ray tubes. Logic was mostly based on flip-flops and shift registers but dynamic logic attracted considerable attention.
Today the Computer Society sponsors about 100 technical meetings ranging from large, industry-oriented conferences to small, highly interactive workshops each year. The society is pleased to cosponsor Supercomputing each year, where over 5,000 participants are exposed to cutting-edge technology, paper presentations, tutorials, and the fastest Gigabit Network in the world.
As early as 1948, standards were a part of the Computer Society. Today its membership participates in more than 200 standards working groups.
1952 was the year that saw the production of the first Transactions and the beginnings of the society’s publications program. The first proceedings devoted specifically to computers was published by IRE in 1953. It covered machinery (such as SWAC, ILLIAC, ERA Logistics) and techniques (analog vs. digital, logical AND OR circuits, and magnetic core matrices). Today the Computer Society annually produces 10 magazines, 8 transactions, and innumerable books, monographs, tutorials, conference proceedings, CD-ROMs, and videotapes on a broad spectrum of topics. The society publications program continues to grow and change with the industry. IEEE Computational Science and Engineering (CS&E) was launched in 1994. CS&apm;E is the only publication in the field addressing not only the computational science aspects of science and engineering but the whole computational process as well. The society publication program expands once again in 1997 when it launches its 11th magazine, IEEE Internet Computing (IC). IC promises to provide the computing and engineering professional with a single source of credible, useful information on the Internet and its enabling technologies.
In 1953 the Computer Society had 7 active chapters. Today there are 114 separate regular and student chapters supporting activities of specific interest to various regions.
1959 saw the inception of the society’s first Technical Committee. Today society members and computing professionals support 29 special interest Technical Committees and one special interest Technical Council (TCs). Two examples of TCs are Supercomputing Applications and Computer Architecture. TC membership is free and provides professionals with an excellent opportunity to network and stay on the cutting edge of their specialty area. Many of the TCs produce a complimentary newsletter.
1966 was the year of general agreement in science and industry that both large and small computers were here to stay. It was also the year the society introduced Computer magazine. Computer remains the society's key communications vehicle today.
The Distinguished Visitors Program, begun in 1971, was expanded this past year to ensure the Computer Society serves members in all parts of the world. This highly successful program offers local chapters the opportunity to hear about the latest research and developments on hot topics from first quality speakers. Talks range from "Ethical Issues in Computer Science and Engineering" to "Data-Driven and Multithreaded Architectures for High-Performance Computing."
It is clear the Computer Society has grown substantially throughout the last 50 years. Today it continues its growth and changes to meet the changing needs of its membership. One area of growth and change in just the last few years is in the use of the Internet and electronic publishing. Today, Computer Society electronic publishing initiatives and the award-winning Computer Society home page have become models for other professional societies to follow. A complete full-text searchable CD-ROM of all society publications was made available this year. The society Web site (www.computer.org) provides all computing professionals with access to advance abstracts and tables of content from our periodicals and proceedings along with multimedia content to take readers beyond the printed page. Members and nonmembers may search our comprehensive online catalog and place orders online in a secure environment. Anyone may access Technical Committee home pages and download membership applications. The Computer Society home page has also become the computing professionals’ resource for finding information and links to other computing and specialized Web resources. In keeping with our 50th anniversary celebration, the society has produced a multimedia presentation on the history of computing. It is available through our home page and may be downloaded for personal or professional use.
Ray Bradbury spoke to Computer Society members at the 2nd Joint Conference in 1967. He told participants "that is a beautiful feeling...to really feel a part of your time; and you must feel a part of your time. You’re building these machines, you’re doing these incredible things." Today its membership is still doing incredible things. But Mr. Bradbury wasn’t particularly impressed by the hardware and software of that time..."I don’t give a damn about any of those machines I saw today. I care about all of you who built them and who can build them better." The Computer Society cares about the professionals around the world because the Computer Society is its membership. It exists to help computer scientists and engineers "build them better."
It’s hard to imagine where the Computer Society and its members will have taken the industry and our world 50 years from now. But the Computer Society will be celebrating its 100th anniversary. And every computing professional will be, through past, present, and future participation, a part of the celebration.
HAPPY 50th ANNIVERSARY!
IEEE Computer Society Contact Information
Home page address: www.computer.org
Headquarters Office
1730 Massachusetts Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036-1992
Phone: +1-202-371-0101
Fax: +1-202-728-9614
Conference Department Phone: +1-202-371-1013
Membership Queries: +1-800-272-6657
Publications Office
10662 Los Vaqueros Circle
P.O. Box 3014
Los Alamitos, CA 90720-1264
Phone: +1-717-821-8380
Fax: +1-717-821-4010
Publications Orders: +1-800-272-6657
European Office
13, Avenue de l’Aquilon
B-1200 Brussels, Belgium
Phone: +32-2-770-2198
Fax: +32-2-770-8505
Asia/Pacific Office
Ooshima Building
2-19-1 Minami Aoyama
Minato-ku, Tokyo 107, Japan
Phone: +81-3-3408-3118
Fax: +81-3-3408-3553
