Society of general physiologists

The Society was organized in 1945 to promote the subject of general physiology and to provide a structure for physiologists of different training and backgrounds to meet and exchange ideas. The first meeting was in Woods Hole, Mass. in Sept., 1946. Today the society conducts an annual symposium, has editorial control of the Journal of General Physiology, and sponsors lecturers at the International Congresses of Physiology, Biophysics, and Biochemistry respectively.

The Society of General Physiologists was organized in 1945 under the leadership of R. Chambers, E. N. Harvey, L. V. Heilbrunn and M. H. Jacobs. Its purpose was to promote and advance the subject of general physiology and to provide a structure for general physiologists of different training and backgrounds to meet and exchange ideas. Forty-nine of the over 100 charter members attended the first annual meeting in September, 1946 in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. By removing artificial boundaries between plant and animal physiologists, the society attracted a mixed membership of botanists and zoologists. The list of its early presidents reflects this policy: L. V. Heilbrunn, D. R. Goddard, H. F. Blum, K. V. Thimann, J. H. Bodine, L. R. Blinks and H. B. Steinbach. The Society was incorporated in the State of Massachusetts in 1966.

The Society has focused on three major areas of interest. Beginning in 1946, the Society has sponsored annual symposia, the proceedings of which have been published in a separate volume each year since 1955. The Society has had editorial control of the Journal of General Physiology since 1960. And, in 1977, the Society began sponsoring a Distinguished Lecturer at the International Congresses of Physiology, Biophysics and Biochemistry respectively.