History of International Society of Plant Morphologists (ISPM)
The International Society of Plant Morphologists (ISPM) was founded by late Professor Panchanan Maheshwari, FRS, having its Head Office at the Department of Botany, University of Delhi and was brought into existence during the joint session of the 38th Indian Science Congress Association and the first Pan-Indian Ocean Science Congress, held at Bangalore in January 1951. Originally, the chief objective of the Society was “the promotion of international cooperation in the study of, and diffusion of useful knowledge in the fields of Plant Morphology, Anatomy and Embryology, and the doing of all such other acts and things as were incidental of conducive to the attainment of the above object”. However, the scope of the Society was later on extended to other areas of plant sciences of interdisciplinary nature.
The Society publishes a journal, PHYTOMORPHOLOGY: An International Journal of Plant Sciences. The journal, which is now running its 66th volume, has done useful service in the dissemination of knowledge in diverse areas of plant sciences such as plant morphology, anatomy, developmental biology, palaeobotany, systematics, pathology physiology, genetics, biochemistry, molecular biology, microbiology and biotechnology as well as agriculture, medicine and environmental sciences.
A golden Jubilee Volume (Vol. 51) of this journal was published by the Society in the year 2002.
At present, ISPM has about 250 members on its rolls and 200 institution subscribers. The journal is available with almost all leading Universities , Institutions , FISPM as institutional members, in India and abroad.
Background
The Executive Council of ISPM felt that it should make every effort to invite more and more people working in the field of Plant Sciences to become member / Life member of the society, so as to strengthen the society’s status and improve the quality of its publication by way of introducing ISPM fellowship for Life Members of the Society. The society accords recognition to distinguished plant scientists by electing to the college of fellowship (FISPM). During 2013-14, twenty two Foundation Fellows have been elected.
Objectives of the society
-
Promote all fields of Plant Sciences.
- Recognize and promote excellence of plant scientists in different fields of Plant Sciences by conferring Fellowship (FISPM)
- Promote interaction among basic and applied scientists of various academic and research institutions.
- Organizing interdisciplinary seminars, conferences, symposiums, and workshops with a view to promoting advances in different areas of Plant Science Education and Research
Management Bodies
The general body of the society is constituted by the Fellow, Members (Annual, Life)
The Executive Council is the main policy and decision making body comprising PRESIDENT. VICE PRESIDENT (2), SECRETARY-TREASURER, ADDITIONAL SECRETARIES(3) and COUNCILORS (10)
ELECTED PRESIDENTS AND SECRETARY-TREASURERS
OF
INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF PLANT MORPHOLOGISTS (ISPM)
|
| | | |
| Period |
President |
Secretary-Treasurer |
| 1954-1959 | P. Maheshwari | B.M. Johri |
| 1960-1964 | I.W. Bailey | B.M. Johri |
| 1965-1969 | B.M. Johri | H.Y. Mohan Ram |
| 1970-1974 | A.S. Foster | H.Y. Mohan Ram |
| 1975-1979 | V. Puri | H.Y. Mohan Ram |
| 1980-1984 | J. Heslop-Harrison | H.Y. Mohan Ram |
| 1985-1989 | H.Y. Mohan Ram | S.P. Bhatnagar |
| 1990-1994 | R.N. Kapil | S.P. Bhatnagar |
| 1995-1999 | I.K. Vasil | N.N. Bhandari |
| 2000-2004 | N.N. Bhandari | I. Usha Rao |
| 2005-2009 | C.P. Malik | I. Usha Rao |
| 2010-2014 | Ved Pal Singh | I. Usha Rao |
| 2015-2019 | C.P. Malik | I. Usha Rao |
