The Power of We, 60 Years On
2007 is the 60th year of AIBS's creation as an umbrella organization to advance education, research, and professional interests in the biological sciences. From those heady days after WWII, some of the 11 founding societies (American Physiological Society, American Society for Horticultural Science, American Society of Plant Physiologists, American Society of Zoologists, Botanical Society of America, Genetics Society of America, Limnological Society of America, Mycological Society of America, Poultry Science Association of America , Society for the Development of Growth, Society of American Bacteriologists) are still with AIBS, some have lapsed, some have changed their names, and some no longer exist.
AIBS has since grown to almost 200 member societies and organizations while remaining remarkably faithful to its original purpose, as stated in Article II of the AIBS Constitution:
"The purposes of the Institute shall be the advancement of the biological sciences and their applications to human welfare, and to foster and encourage research and education in the biological sciences, including the medical, environmental, and agricultural sciences. To serve these purposes, the Institute will assist societies, other organizations, and biologists in such matters of common concern as can be dealt with more effectively by united action; hold and sponsor scientific meetings; cooperate with local, national, and international organizations concerned with the biological sciences; provide a voice for biologists in the public forum; promote unity and effectiveness of effort among all those who are devoting themselves to the biological sciences and their applications; and foster the relations of the biological sciences to other sciences, to the arts and industries, and to the public good."
The AIBS website, the pages of BioScience, and many other venues document our successes, along with our challenges and near misses (25th [1972] and 50th [1997] anniversary historical reviews of AIBS are online in the About AIBS section, as is a 2004 booklet). None of us would say that AIBS is "there" yet. Much has been accomplished by many good people's hard work and collaborations over the years, but there's always more to be done.
In this regard, we can contrast the iconic AIBS with the actual AIBS. The iconic AIBS embodies biologists' aspirations of what a national umbrella organization for U.S. biologists can, should, and ought to do. The actual AIBS is the members, board directors, and staff in the here and now, always aiming, with the resources and funds in hand, to live up to and honor their predecessors' accomplishments, the organizations's founding purposes, and AIBS members' expectations (so please keep sending those dues payments!).
Success on this front is a victory for all and the power of we. Anything less than success means that, together, we roll up our sleeves a little bit higher and redouble our efforts as we think about how future generations of biologists will judge our work.