The American Society for Cybernetics (ASC) is an American non-profit

scholastic Scholastic may refer to: * a philosopher or theologian in the tradition of scholasticism * ''Scholastic'' (Notre Dame publication) * Scholastic Corporation, an American publishing company of educational materials * Scholastic Building, in New Y ...

organization An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived fro ...

for the advancement of cybernetics as a

science Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...

, a discipline, a meta-discipline and the promotion of cybernetics as basis for an interdisciplinary discourse. The society does this by developing and applying cybernetics’ concepts which are presented and published via its conferences and peer-reviewed publications. As a meta-discipline, it creates bridges between disciplines, philosophies, sciences, and arts. The ASC is a full member of the International Federation for Systems Research (IFSR). In order to do so it holds conferences and seminars, and maintains contacts with cyberneticians and organizations for cybernetics in other countries. Further activities of the ASC are: * ASC Glossary on Cybernetics and Systems Theory * Disciplinary Matrices in Cybernetics and Systems ScienceDisciplinary Matrices in Cybernetics and Systems Science
Retrieved 8 June 2008. * Wiener and McCulloch awards The American Society for Cybernetics was founded in 1964 in

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to encourage new developments in cybernetics as an interdisciplinary field with

Warren McCulloch Warren Sturgis McCulloch (November 16, 1898 – September 24, 1969) was an American neurophysiologist and cybernetician, known for his work on the foundation for certain brain theories and his contribution to the cybernetics movement.Ken Aizawa ...

as first elected president of the ASC.HISTORY OF THE ASC
Retrieved 8 June 2008. In the 1980s ASC became a member of the International Federation for Systems Research, and in the 1990s supported the Principia Cybernetica Project. The ASC has been maintaining an editorial column in the interdisciplinary ''

Cybernetics and Human Knowing Journal Cybernetics is a wide-ranging field concerned with circular causality, such as feedback, in regulatory and purposive systems. Cybernetics is named after an example of circular causal feedback, that of steering a ship, where the helmsperson ma ...

'' since its first issue in 1992. Rodney Donaldson was the first ASC president to write for the column.

Annual Cybernetics Symposia

First Annual Cybernetics Symposium

The First Annual Cybernetics Symposium of the ASC was held on 26-7 October, 1967 at the National Bureau of Standards,

Gaithersburg Gaithersburg ( ), officially the City of Gaithersburg, is a city in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. At the time of the 2020 U.S. Census, Gaithersburg had a population of 69,657, making it the ninth-largest location in the state. Ga ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; ...

. The theme was "Purposive Systems: The Edge of Knowledge." The following people made presentations: * Saul Amarel: "Problems of representation in artificial intelligence" * Nikolai Amosov: "Simulation of thinking processes" * Herbert Anschütz: "Prospects for the development of the psychocybernetics of intelligent behavior" * Yehoshua Bar-Hillel: "The future of man-machine languages" *

Alexander S. Fraser Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

: "The evolution of purposive behavior" *

Ralph Gerard Ralph Waldo Gerard (7 October 1900 – 17 February 1974) was an American neurophysiologist and behavioral scientist known for his wide-ranging work on the nervous system, nerve metabolism, psychopharmacology, and biological basis of schizophr ...

: "The neurophysiology of purposive behavior" * Jerrier A. Haddad: "Hardware for purposive systems" * David Hawkins: "The nature of purpose" *

Margaret Mead Margaret Mead (December 16, 1901 – November 15, 1978) was an American cultural anthropologist who featured frequently as an author and speaker in the mass media during the 1960s and the 1970s. She earned her bachelor's degree at Barnard C ...

: "Cybernetics of Cybernetics" *

Emmanuel G. Mesthene Immanuel ( he, עִמָּנוּאֵל, 'Īmmānū'ēl, meaning, "God is with us"; also romanized: , ; and or in Koine Greek of the New Testament) is a Hebrew name that appears in the Book of Isaiah (7:14) as a sign that God will protect the H ...

: "How technology will shape the future" *

Talcott Parsons Talcott Parsons (December 13, 1902 – May 8, 1979) was an American sociologist of the classical tradition, best known for his social action theory and structural functionalism. Parsons is considered one of the most influential figures in socio ...

: "Facilitating technological innovation in society" * Frederick Seitz: "The Challenge" * Ivan Sutherland: "Facilitating the man-machine interface"

ASC Presidents

* 2021-

Paul Pangaro Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

* 2014-2020 Michael Lissack * 2009-2014 Ranulph Glanville * 2005-2008 Louis Kauffman * 2002-2004

Allenna Leonard Allenna Leonard is an American cyberneticist, consultant and director of Team Syntegrity International, specializing in the application of Stafford Beer's Viable System Model and Syntegration. She was president of the International Society for ...

* 1999-2001 Pille Bunnell * 1994-1998 Frank Galuszka * 1992-1993 Rodney Donaldson * 1989-1991 Fred Steier * 1986-1988 Larry Richards * 1984-1985 Jon Cunnyngham * 1983-1984 Bill Reckmeyer * 1980-1982 Stuart Umpleby * 1978-1979

Barry Clemson Barry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barry (name), including lists of people with the given name, nickname or surname, as well as fictional characters with the given name * Dancing Barry, stage name of Barry Richards (born c. 1950 ...

* 1976-1977 Mark Ozer * 1975-1976 Herbert Robinson * 1972-1974 Roy Hermann * 1970-1971 Carl Hammer * 1969-1970 Lawrence J. Fogel * 1967-1968

Wiener and McCulloch awards

The "Wiener Medal in Cybernetics" is an annual award by the American Society for Cybernetics in recognition of outstanding achievements or contributions in the field of cybernetics.ASC Awards
Retrieved 8 June 2008. Since 2005 the award has been redefined to recognize achievements and contributions from younger scholars and researchers working in cybernetics or with applications of cybernetics. Recipients of the Wiener and McCulloch awards: * 1968: Robert C. Wood * 1968:

* 1969: Stuart A. Kauffman * 1969:

Stephen Grossberg Stephen Grossberg (born December 31, 1939) is a cognitive scientist, theoretical and computational psychologist, neuroscientist, mathematician, biomedical engineer, and neuromorphic technologist. He is the Wang Professor of Cognitive and Neu ...

* 1970: Stafford Beer * 1972:

Natalia Bechtereva Natalia Petrovna Bekhtereva ( rus, Ната́лья Петро́вна Бе́хтерева, p=ˈbʲextʲɪrʲɪvə; July 7, 1924 – June 22, 2008) was a Soviet and Russian neuroscientist and psychologist who developed neurophysiological approa ...

* 1983:

Heinz von Foerster Heinz von Foerster (German spelling: Heinz von Förster; November 13, 1911 – October 2, 2002) was an Austrian American scientist combining physics and philosophy, and widely attributed as the originator of Second-order cybernetics. He was twic ...

* 1984:

Gregory Bateson Gregory Bateson (9 May 1904 – 4 July 1980) was an English anthropologist, social scientist, linguist, visual anthropologist, semiotician, and cyberneticist whose work intersected that of many other fields. His writings include '' Steps to a ...

* 1984: Gordon Pask * 1986: Humberto Maturana * 1993:

Herbert Brun Herbert may refer to: People Individuals * Herbert (musician), a pseudonym of Matthew Herbert Name * Herbert (given name) * Herbert (surname) Places Antarctica * Herbert Mountains, Coats Land * Herbert Sound, Graham Land Australia * Herbert, ...

* 1993: Louis Kauffman * 2001: Klaus Krippendorff * 2005:

Ernst von Glasersfeld Ernst von Glasersfeld (March 8, 1917, Munich – November 12, 2010, Leverett, Franklin County, Massachusetts) was a philosopher, and emeritus professor of psychology at the University of Georgia, research associate at the Scientific Reasonin ...

* 2007: Pille Bunnell * 2007: Charles François * 2007: Laurence Richards * 2007: Stuart Umpleby * 2008: Humberto Maturana * 2008: Francisco Varela * 2008: Ricardo Uribe * 2008: Richard Jung * 2008: Lars Löfgren * 2008: Søren Brier * 2008: Alexander Riegler * 2011: Mary Catherine Bateson * 2011:

Robert Vallée Robert Vallée (5 October 1922 in Poitiers, France – 1 January 2017, Paris, France) was a French cyberneticist and mathematician. He was Professor at the Paris 13 University (University of Paris-Nord) and president of the World Organization ...

* 2011: Thomas Fischer * 2012: Susan Parenti * 2013: Bernard Scott * 2013: Heinz von Foerster Society * 2014:

Louis H. Kauffman Louis Hirsch Kauffman (born February 3, 1945) is an American mathematician, topologist, and professor of mathematics in the Department of Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer science at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is known for the ...

* 2014: Allenna Leonard * 2014: Paul Pangaro * 2014: Randall Whitaker * 2014: Jennifer Wilby * 2015: Ranulph Glanville * 2016: Julia Frazer and John H. Frazer * 2016: William J. Reckmeyer * 2018: Paul Weston * 2019: Mark Enslin * 2019: Fred Steier

References

External links

ASC website

by the American Society for Cybernetics
Cybernetics and Human Knowing Journal websiteInternational Federation for Systems Research
{{DEFAULTSORT:American Society For Cybernetics Cybernetics Organizations established in 1964 Systems science societies George Washington University