The International Union of Microbiological Societies was founded in 1927 as the International Society for Microbiology. lts first President was Nobel Laureate and Director of the Pasteur Institute in Brussels (Belgium), Jules Bordet. The first International Congress for Microbiology was held in Paris in 1930. At the time of the 10th International Congress of Microbiology held in Mexico in 1970 the Executive Committee decided to create three sections covering the fields of Bacteriology, Virology and Mycology. Subsequently these sections became three separate divisions of IUMS possessing complete autonomy in the conduct of their affairs and the organization of their International Congresses (past and future International IUMS Congresses).
| IUMS Presidents Past and Present | |||
|
1927 1930 |
Jules Bordet |
1982-1986 |
P Gerhardt |
|
1931-1936 |
Jules Bordet |
1986-1988 |
K Arima |
|
1936-1939 |
J C G Ledingham |
1988-1990 |
S Sasaki |
|
1939-1947 |
T M Rivers |
1990-1994 |
Rita R Colwell |
|
1947-1950 |
T Madsen |
1994-1999 |
P Helena Makela |
|
1950-1951 |
O da Fonseca |
1999-2002 |
BWJ Mahy |
|
1953-1958 |
MacFarlane Burnet |
2002-2005 |
J Davies |
|
1958-1966 |
André Lwoff |
2005-2008 |
K-H Schleifer |
|
1966-1970 |
André Lwoff |
2008-2011 |
D Sordelli |
|
1970-1974 |
V M Zhdanov |
2011-2014 |
G. Smith |
|
1974-1978 |
Ashley Miles H P |
2014-2017 | Yuan Kun Lee |
|
1978-1982 |
R Seelinger |
2017-2022 | Eliora Ron |
| 2022-2026 | Rino Rappuoli | ||
A more detailed essay on the history of IUMS is written as
- The International Union of Microbiological Societies, IUMS by Karl-Heinz Schelifer (IUMS president from 2005-2008) in Research in Microbiology 159: 45-48 (2008). Download the PDF
- A history of the international union of microbiological societies (1927-1990) by Eric Kupferberg, PhD. February 1993. Download the PDF.
- A history of the Mycology Division under IUMS. Download the PDf.