History of ECS

The Electrochemical Society was founded in 1902 in Philadelphia, PA.^[4] At the beginning, ECS was called the American Electrochemical Society. It was, even then, a melting pot of scientific and technological disciplines, and of their adherents, who participated from around the globe.

The 19th century saw many applications of electricity to chemical processes and chemical understanding. Bridging the gap between electrical engineering and chemistry led innovative young people in industrial and academic circles to search for a new forum to discuss developments in the burgeoning field of electrochemistry.

The original constitution of the Society called for holding meetings and publishing papers presented there and the ensuing discussions. In 1902 the Society ushered in a new publication, Transactions of the American Electrochemical Society. In 1907 the first “local” section was formed at the University of Wisconsin. That same year, the American Electrochemical Society Bulletin was launched; it became the Journal of The Electrochemical Society in 1948.

In the 1920s, topical interest area divisions began to be founded, including the High Temperature Materials Division and the Electrodeposition Division. In 1930, the international nature of the Society was officially recognized by dropping “American” from the name. A new category of membership was started in 1941 to permit industrial companies to support the Society’s mission. ECS began fulfilling the need for critical textbooks with the publication of its second monograph, the Corrosion Handbook, by H. H. Uhlig in 1948.

Throughout the latter half of the 20th century, the Society continued to grow in size and importance, expanding the number of its publications, and the significance of the technical research unveiled at its meetings.

Over time, the Society’s members and publications’ authors have included many distinguished scientists and engineers. The Society’s original charter members included:

• G. Acheson, who commercialized carborundum, an artificial graphite;
• H. Dow, founder of Dow Chemical Company;
• M. Hall, inventor of the Hall process for the manufacture of aluminum;
• Edward Weston, founder of Weston Instruments.

Thomas A. Edison joined the Society in 1903 and enjoyed membership for 28 years. In 1965, Moore’s law forever changed the world of technology. That seminal prediction developed its roots within the Society.

ECS has included numerous Nobel laureates among its members, most recently the three co-winners of the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. John B. Goodenough, M. Stanley Whittingham, and Akira Yoshino shared the prize “for the development of lithium-ion batteries.” 

For a more complete history of ECS, please consult The Electrochemical Society: The First Hundred Years, 1902 – 2002.

Past Secretaries