From the Editor‐in‐Chief

Abstract

In December 1914 at the AAAS meeting in Washington D.C., 21 men met to begin the organization of the Ecological Society of America. In December 1915, 50 people voted to form the Society. The officers were President Victor E. Shelford, Vice-President William M. Wheeler, and Secretary-Treasurer Forrest Shreve. The cover of this issue shows some of the individuals who played important roles in the formation of the Society and a brief biography of each by Sharon Kingsland. Further, we have reproduced from the Bulletin 1(3):1–8 Victor Shelford's history of how the ESA was formed. On other history topics there is a Special Session report by Bill Reiners, Jeff Lockwood, Steve Prager, and Juliana Mulroy from the 99th meeting of the Society entitled “Ecological concepts: What are they, what is their value, and for whom?” There is also a “History of the Historical Records Committee” by Dennis Knight and “The Fifth Decade: a period of growth” by Kiyoko Miyanishi. In the next issue there is an article by Jean H. Langenheim, President of ESA in 1986, remembering her major professor William Cooper, who was a student of H. C. Cowles, one of the original organizers of ESA. Jean has also written an interesting book entitled The Odyssey of a Woman Field Scientist: a Story of Passion, Persistence and Patience published by Xlibris in 2010. Also, in this historic year, I call your attention to two recent books: Victor M Cassidy's Henry Chandler Cowles: Pioneer Ecologist published by Kedzie Sigel Press in 2007, and Peter G. Ayres' Shaping Ecology: the life of Arthur Tansley published by Wiley-Blackwell in 2013. Frank Egerton will also have a book on the history of ESA coming out, we hope, this year. The Bulletin will alert you to its publication. Throughout this centenary year expect further articles and historic pictures of the society. I cannot help but describe my tenuous connection to one of the founders of ESA. When I was a high school student I lived near the Morton Arboretum outside of Chicago. The naturalist there was May Theilgaard Watts; I visited with her several times and she was the one who first introduced me to ecology. May Watts was an undergraduate student of Henry Cowles during her stay at the University of Chicago. She graduated in 1918. May Theilgaard propelling Henry Chandler Cowles about Big Bay, Madeline Island, Wisconsin. Photograph by George D. Fuller, 1869–1961. Digital collection: American Environmental Photographs Collection, [AEP Image Number WIS45], Department of Special Collections, University of Chicago Library. Inscribed to me by May Watts when I was an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin.