The Enduring APS Agenda

For the past two years I have been honored to serve as President of APS. Many of you have “become accustomed to my face,” and some of you may even have read a few of my columns that have appeared in the Observer. In these columns I have repeatedly emphasized the importance of maintaining a highly focused APS agenda. In my final column I return to this central theme.

When APS celebrates its centennial in 2088, few of those present at the celebration are likely to have any sense of the forces that motivated the founding of the society. However, in preparing for that centennial, some of the organizers may turn to yellowed copies of the Observer to learn about the early day of APS. So, for those of you who are reading this in the year 2088 (as well as the present pioneers) I want to summarize the early — and, I hope, enduring — APS agenda.

APS was created to provide a scientific society whose sole purpose is to promote the interests of the broad spectrum of psychological science. The founders acted because they were convinced that existing societies did not serve that purpose in a focused and effective manner. The fact that the APS membership grew to 12,000 within the first three years following its creation clearly indicates that their belief was well founded.

In developing plans and policies the first APS Board was guided by the principal assumption that all actions should be explicitly aimed at furthering the interests of psychological science. In a period of less than three years since its founding APS has established an office in Washington, DC, organized three conventions, established two journals (as well as the Observer), hosted three summit meetings of psychological organizations, and held two elections. APS has also been effective in influencing federal policies and actions affecting psychological science. APS has done all of this with the efforts of a small but enormously dedicated, talented, and effective APS central office staff, a few Board meetings (and many of those were conference calls), and even fewer committee meetings. We have substituted phone and fax for “frequent flyers.” (Those of you reading this in 2088 may not understand these terms. It merely means that we have been, well, frugal.)

These are quite remarkable accomplishments for a young scientific organization. I very much hope that those of you reading this in 2088 now have a greater appreciation of the efforts of APS members and staff during the formative years of the society. I also fully expect that those present at the Centennial Convention will have much reason to celebrate the sustained success of APS in promoting the interests of psychological science.

And, if they have read this issue of the Observer, those at the Centennial celebration will know that the president who served from 1989 to 1991 was honored and pleased to have had the opportunity to work with the APS Board the APS Washington office staff, and the many other pioneering members of APS, in setting the APS agenda.