International Society for the Systems Sciences (ISSS)

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."[1] 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.[2] In 1988 it was renamed to the International Society for the Systems Sciences. Contents 1 History 2 Activities 3 Presidents 4 Sir Geoffrey Vickers Memorial Award 5 See also 6 References 7 External links History[edit] The society was initiated in 1954 by biologists Ludwig von Bertalanffy and Ralph Gerard, 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 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.[3] 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:[4] 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.[5] 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.[6] In 1988, the society was renamed the 'International Society for the Systems Sciences' (ISSS).[7] to "reflect its broadening scope".[8]