History

The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) is one of the largest and most prestigious professional associations of its kind. Formed as the American Society of Zoologists through a 1902 merger of two societies, the Central Naturalists and the American Morphological Society, its focus has remained to integrate the many fields of specialization which occur in the broad field of biology. Throughout most of its history the society was known as the American Society of Zoologists and changed its name to the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology in 1996 to reflect the scientific breadth, integrative approaches, and interests of its membership across all disciplines of biology. The SICB is organized around disciplinary divisions, each relevant to a major segment of biology. The Society is dedicated to promoting the pursuit and public dissemination of important information relating to biology. Research is presented in numerous symposia during the SICB Annual Meeting, as well as in the publication of its journal, Integrative and Comparative Biology (ICB) (formerly: American Zoologist). The SICB takes pride in the fact that one of the Society's focal points is to support its student members, and that the organization is fundamentally committed to the advancement and development of the field of biology through its members.

For a listing of SICB Presidents from 1890 to present, please visit our archive.

For more on the history of the Society, please see the following articles. SICB members may access these articles on-line through the Society's journal, Integrative & Comparative Biology.

C. EDWARD QUINN. The Beginnings of the American Society of Zoologists. Amer. Zool. 1979 19: 1247-1249. [Abstract] [PDF]  

RALPH W. DEXTER. C. O. Whitman and the American Society of Zoologists. Amer. Zool. 1979 19: 1251-1253. [Abstract] [PDF]  

ANTHONY C. CLEMENT. Edwin Grant Conklin. Amer. Zool. 1979 19: 1255-1259. [Abstract] [PDF]  

C. EDWARD QUINN. Ancestry and Beginnings: The Early History of the American Society of Zoologists. Amer. Zool. 1982 22: 735-748. [Abstract] [PDF]

KEITH R. BENSON and C. EDWARD QUINN. The American Society of Zoologists, 1889-1989: A Century of Integrating the Biological Sciences. Amer. Zool. 1990 30: 353-396. [Abstract] [PDF]