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In 1957, the CVT changed its name to the
American Vacuum Society, Inc. The first biennial
equipment exhibit was held in conjunction with
its 1961 Symposium. Since 1965, an equipment
exhibit has been a part of every Symposium.
These exhibits have proven to be of great interest
to the registrants, and of considerable financial
help to the AVS. The 40
th
anniversary Sympo-
sium, which was held in Orlando in 1993, had
over 1,300 attendees and 900 papers. Both the
50
th
and 60
th
anniversary Symposia, held in Balti-
more, Maryland, and Long Beach, California, had
over 2,200 attendees with 1,400 papers.
AVS is a tax exempt not-for-profit organisa-
tion. The founders of AVS were mainly drawn
from industry and industrial participation has
continued to be strong as participation from
government labs and universities grew. With
membership drawn from all three sectors, AVS
provides a forum for interaction between them.
Over the years, the AVS has developed a close
association with the American Institute of Phys-
ics becoming a full member society of AIP in
1976. The AIP has been publishing the “Journal
of Vacuum Science and Technology” for the AVS
since its inception in 1965.
The AVS is governed by an elected Board
of Directors consisting of a President, Presi-
dent-Elect, Past-President, Secretary Clerk,
Treasurer, and six Directors. The President
serves a one year term and Directors two year
terms. Two trustees are also elected each year
for three year terms; the six trustees are respon-
sible for selecting the winners of the various
awards presented by AVS for scientific and
technical achievement at all levels from post-
graduate studies onwards.
In the 1960’s, the AVS Board of Directors formed
Technical Divisions to provide a home and give
support to those new disciplines that have bene-
fited most from improved vacuum technology.
These included a Vacuum Metallurgy Division in
1961 (which changed its name and focus to the
Advanced Surface Engineering Division in 1999),
a Thin Film Division in 1964, a Surface Science
Division in 1968, a Vacuum Technology Division
in 1970, an Electronic Materials and Processes
Division in 1979 and a Fusion Technology Division
in 1980 (which became the Plasma Science and
Technology Division in 1986). There are now ten
Technical Divisions which also include Applied
Surface Science (formed in 1985), Electronic
Materials and Processes, Magnetic Interfaces
and Nanostructures (2000), Nanometer Science
and Technology (1992), and the newest, Bioma-
terials Interfaces Division, which was added in
2003. The Divisions provide technical guidance
to the Society. They play a strong hand in the
content of the annual International Symposia,
and they sponsor or co-sponsor topical sympo-
sia related to their own special fields of expertise.
To foster new areas of technology, the Board estab-
lished Technical Groups, which are intended to be
a stepping-stone to division status or a temporary
organisation for a developing area of technology.
Frederick A. McNally was responsible for the formation of the American Vacuum Society
(AVS). Through his efforts, an organisational meeting was held in New York City on June
18, 1953, to discuss the formation of a permanent organisation that could bring together
both the theoretical and practical knowledge of the many different fields using a vacuum
as a production or research tool. This meeting resulted in the formal organisation of the
“Committee on VacuumTechniques” (CVT) less than a week later, and its formal incorporation
in Massachusetts on October 19, 1953. Since its first symposium the following June in Asbury
Park, New Jersey, the group has convened an annual symposium in every succeeding year.
THE AMERICAN VACUUM SOCIETY (AVS)
Original (1986) by J. M. Lafferty; Updated in 2000 by
W. D. Westwood, and in 2018 by Joe Greene and Ivan Petrov
www.avs.org