American Society for Virology
The American Society for Virology (ASV) is an American scientific society serving the community of researchers in virology. The organization was founded in 1981 and was the first scientific society in the world dedicated exclusively to virology.[1]
Founding and history
Historically, virology has been considered a subdiscipline of microbiology. The motivation for founding a society specifically for virologists dates to the mid-1960s and originated in the community's dissatisfaction with its representation in existing microbiology societies, most notably the International Association of Microbiological Societies and the American Society for Microbiology. The society was formally founded following a meeting of 40 prominent virology researchers at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago on June 9, 1981. Its first official annual meeting took place at Cornell University in August 1982, by which time its membership had reached almost 1,000 scientists.[1][2]
The founding president of the ASV was Wolfgang Joklik, who served from 1981 to 1983. Other notable founding members include David Baltimore, Purnell Choppin, Harold Ginsberg, Thomas Merigan, Bernard Roizman, Peter K. Vogt, Bob Wagner, Julius Youngner, and Norton Zinder, who signed letters sent to members of the virology community soliciting opinions about the possible future society in advance of the O'Hare meeting.[1] Ginsberg, Wagner, Choppin, and Youngner all served subsequent terms as president.[3]
Activities
The ASV continues to host an annual scientific meeting every summer, held on the campuses of host universities in the United States or Canada. The society also hosts career and educational information including an online jobs directory and received a grant from the Alfred Sloan Foundation to support a website documenting the history of virology, which is maintained by former ASV president Sondra Schlesinger.[4]
The 2015 president was Columbia University faculty member and science communication specialist Vincent Racaniello, while the 2016 president is Grant McFadden of the University of Florida.[4]
Organization
As of 2015 the ASV contained councils for seven subdisciplines: plant virology, animal virology, evolution and ecology, medical virology, veterinary virology, invertebrate virology, and prokaryotic virology. The ASV is headed by a president serving a two-year term and maintains standing committees for organizing meetings and other activities.[4]
References
External links
- Official website
- Viruses from Structure to Biology, a website documenting the history of virology maintained by Sondra Schlesinger on behalf of the ASV.
