Abstract:  Following fifteen years of meeting as part of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM, now ASTM International) a small group of influential mass spectrometrists broke away from the umbrella group to found the American Society for Mass Spectrometry.  Whereas in the early days talks at annual get-togethers were dominated by topics related to the oil industry, the newly formed ASMS had a broader focus and included lively discussions of everything from mechanistic studies of molecules in the gas phase to surface science studies of materials important to the electronics industry.  The growing Society became the premier US venue in which to present both fundamental research on the technique and applied research into its use in ever-widening fields of study.  This talk will follow the Society’s growth and development over the last 70+ years, incorporating into that history the vast array of scientific developments that enabled new areas of application.