The International Society for the Systems Sciences (ISSS) is a worldwide organization for systems sciences. The overall purpose of the ISSS is: :"to promote the development of conceptual frameworks based on general system theory, as well as their implementation in practice. It further seeks to encourage research and facilitate communication between and among scientists and professionals from various disciplines and professions at local, regional, national, and international levels." Initially conceived in 1954 as the ''Society for the Advancement of General Systems Theory'', and started in 1955/56, the Society for General Systems Research became the first interdisciplinary and international co-operation in the field of systems theory and systems science. In 1988 it was renamed to the International Society for the Systems Sciences.

History

The society was initiated in 1954 by biologists Ludwig von Bertalanffy and

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 schizophrenia ...

, economist Kenneth Boulding, and mathematician Anatol Rapoport at the Stanford Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences. They called a meeting at the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

meeting in Berkeley in 1954. At this meeting, attended by seventy people, the society was conceived as the ''Society for the Advancement of General Systems Theory''. The next year Boulding, Gerard and Rapoport started working with James Grier Miller at the Mental Health Research Institute of the University of Michigan. There the society got underway as "Society for General Systems Research". The statement of the mission of the society was formulated with the following four objectives: * to investigate the isomorphy of concepts, laws, and models in various fields, and to help in useful transfers from one field to another * to encourage the development of adequate theoretical models in areas which lack them * to eliminate the duplication of theoretical efforts in different fields * to promote the unity of science through improving the communication among specialists. In the 1960s local chapters were established in Boston, New York, San Francisco, Washington D.C, and Florida. Annual meetings were held in the winter, and annually a General Systems Yearbook was published. Periodical articles were published in the society's journal ''Behavioral Science'', and additionally "The Bulletin" offered regional and thematic publications. In 1971 the Society had 1100 individual and 6 institutional members, and a membership in some societies affiliated with the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 1988, the society was renamed the 'International Society for the Systems Sciences' (ISSS). to "reflect its broadening scope".

Activities

Important activities of the Society are: * the '' General Systems Yearbook'' * the ''General Systems Bulletin'' * the Special Integration Groups A listing of the Special Integration Groups (SIGs) gives an idea of the themes of ongoing development in the Society:

Presidents

Among the Presidents of ISSS have been foremost scientists from several fields and countries, including some Nobel laureates: * Roelien Goede, 2022-2023 * George Mobus, 2021-2022 * Delia MacNamara, 2020-2021 * Shankar Sankaran, 2019-2020 * Peter D. Tuddenham, 2018-2019 *

David Rousseau David Rousseau (born 1960) is a British systems philosopher, Director of the Centre for Systems Philosophy, chair of the Board of Trustees of the International Society for the Systems Sciences (ISSS), a Past President of the ISSS (2017-2018), a ...

, 2017-2018 * Ockie Bosch, 2016-2017 *

John Kineman John Jay Kineman (born 1949) is an American physical scientist and Theoretical ecology, theoretical ecologist, affiliated with the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, Cooperative Institute for Research in the Environmental ...

, 2015-2016 * Ray Ison, 2014-2015 * Gerald Midgley, 2013-2014 * Alexander Laszlo, 2012–2013 * David Ing, 2011-2012 * Jennifer Wilby, 2010-2011 *

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 ...

, 2009-2010 *

Timothy F. H. Allen Timothy F. H. Allen (born July 6, 1942) is a British botanist and former professor of Botany and Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.Makers of American Botany, Harry Baker Humphrey, Ronald Press Company, Library of Con ...

, 2008-2009 * Gary Metcalf, 2007-2008 * Kyoichi Kijima, 2006-2007 * Debora Hammond, 2005-2006 * Enrique Herrscher, 2004-2005 *

Kenneth D. Bailey Kenneth Dillon Bailey (October 21, 1910 – September 26, 1942) was a United States Marine Corps officer who posthumously received the Medal of Honor for heroic conduct during action during the Battle of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. He ...

, 2003 * Alexander Christakis, 2002 * Michael C. Jackson, 2001 *

Harold G. Nelson Harold Glea Nelson (born March 4, 1943) is an American architect, consultant and former Nierenberg Distinguished Professor of Design in the School of Design at Carnegie Mellon University. In 2001, he served as president of the International Soc ...

, 2000 * Peter Corning, 1999 *

Béla A. Bánáthy Béla Antal Bánáthy (born 1943 in Budapest, Hungary) is an American systems scientist, who teaches part-time at the International Systems Institute at the Saybrook Graduate School. Biography Bánáthy received his Bachelor of Science, B.S. f ...

, 1998 *

G. A. Swanson Gale Alden (G.A.) Swanson (Jan 12, 1939 - July 3, 2009) was an American organizational theorist, and Professor of Accounting at Tennessee Technological University, known for his accounting theories based on James Grier Miller’s general living ...

, 1997 * Yong Pil Rhee, 1996 *

Ervin Laszlo Ervin may refer to: *Ervin (given name) *Ervin (surname) *Ervin Township, Howard County, Indiana, one of eleven townships in Howard County, Indiana, USA See also * Justice Ervin (disambiguation) * Earvin * Ervine * Erving (disambiguation) * Erwan ...

, 1995 *

J. Donald R. de Raadt J. Donald R. de Raadt (born 1946) is a Swedish organizational theorist and Professor Emeritus in Informatics and System Science at Luleå University of Technology. Biography J. Donald R. de Raadt studied Economics and Politics at the University o ...

, 1994 *

Harold A. Linstone Harold Adrian Linstone (15 June 1924 – 8 July 2016) was a German-American mathematician, consultant, futurist and University Professor Emeritus of Systems Science at Portland State University and a specialist in applied mathematics. Biography ...

, 1993 *

Ian I. Mitroff Ian Irving Mitroff (born 1938) is an American organizational theorist, consultant and Professor Emeritus at the USC Marshall School of Business and the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California He is noted for a w ...

, 1992 * Howard T. Odum 1991 *

Len R. Troncale Lenard Raphael Troncale (born 1943) is an American biologist, systems theorist, Professor Emeritus of Cellular and Molecular Biology, and former Director of the Institute for Advanced Systems Studies at the California State Polytechnic University. ...

, 1990 *

C. West Churchman Charles West Churchman (29 August 1913 – 21 March 2004) was an American philosopher and systems scientist, who was Professor at the School of Business Administration and Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of California ...

1989 * Ilya Prigogine, 1988 * Russell L. Ackoff, 1987 * Peter Checkland, 1986 *

John A. Dillon John Andrew Dillon, Jr. (1923 – February 22, 2005) was an American physicist, administrator, Professor at the University of Louisville, and founder and first director of the Systems Science Institute at the University of Louisville. Biography J ...

, 1985 * Bela H. Banathy, 1984 * Karl Deutsch, 1983 *

John N. Warfield John Nelson Warfield (November 21, 1925November 17, 2009) was an American systems scientist, who was professor and director of the Institute for Advanced Study in the Integrative Sciences (IASIS) at George Mason University, and president of the Sy ...

, 1982 *

George Klir George Jiří Klir (April 22, 1932 – May 27, 2016) was a Czech-American computer scientist and professor of systems sciences at Binghamton University in Binghamton, New York. Biography George Klir was born in 1932 in Prague, Czechoslovakia. ...

, 1981 * Robert Rosen, 1980 *

Brian R. Gaines Brian R. Gaines (born c. 1938) is a British scientist, engineer, and Professor Emeritus at the University of Calgary. Biography Gaines received his Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy from Trinity College, Cambridge, and ...

, 1979 *

Richard F. Ericson Richard Ferdinand Ericson (1919–1993) was an American organizational theorist, professor emeritus of management and director of the Interdisciplinary Systems and Cybernetics Project, Program of Policy Studies in Science and Technology at George ...

, 1978 * Geoffrey Vickers, 1977 * Heinz von Foerster, 1976 *

Kjell Samuelson Kjell Samuelson (1932–4 February 2018) was a Sweden, Swedish systems scientist, Sci-Tech consultant, Professor Emeritus at the Stockholm University and Royal Institute of Technology, and a pioneer of Systems Science & Cybernetics, Communications ...

, 1975 * Gordon Pask, 1974 * James Grier Miller, 1973 * Margaret Mead, 1972 * Stafford Beer, 1971 *

Bertram Gross Bertram Myron Gross (1912 in Philadelphia – March 12, 1997 in Walnut Creek, California) was an American social scientist, federal bureaucrat and Professor of Political Science at Hunter College (CUNY). He is known from his book '' Friendly Fascism ...

, 1970 *

Lawrence Slobodkin Lawrence Basil Slobodkin (June 22, 1928 – September 12, 2009) was an American ecologist and Professor Emeritus at the Department of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University, State University of New York. He was one of the leading pioneers ...

, 1969 * Milton Rubin, 1968 *

John Milsum John H. Milsum (August 15, 1925 – November 9, 2008) was a Canadian control engineer who was Professor and first Director at the Biomedical Engineering Department of the McGill University in Montreal, and a professor at the University of Briti ...

, 1967 * Peter Caws, 1966 * Anatol Rapoport, 1965 *

W. Ross Ashby W. Ross Ashby (6 September 1903 – 15 November 1972) was an English psychiatrist and a pioneer in cybernetics, the study of the science of communications and automatic control systems in both machines and living things. His first name was not ...

1962-64 * Charles A. McClelland 1959-61 *

Kenneth E. Boulding Kenneth Ewart Boulding (; January 18, 1910 – March 18, 1993) was an English-born American economist, educator, peace activist, and interdisciplinary philosopher.David LatzkoKenneth E. Boulding Commentsat personal.psu.edu. Accessed 24 April 200 ...

, 1957–58

Sir Geoffrey Vickers Memorial Award

The Sir Geoffrey Vickers Memorial Award is an annual award in memory of Sir Geoffrey Vickers for outstanding student papers at the pre-doctoral level in the field of the systems sciences. A listing of recipients:International Society for the Systems Sciences: Student Awards
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References

External links

Homepage
of the International Society of Systems Science
ISSS
introduction on the IFSR website {{authority control Organizations established in 1954 Systems science societies