Overview of the History of the Society
We present below an outline of the major milestones and events that have played an important role in shaping the history of the Indian Mycological Society.
Dr. S.R. Bose
Dr. S.N. Banerjee
- The society, at the time of inception on 21st August 1954, was named Mycological Society, and was subsequently renamed as Indian Mycological Society in the year 1990.
- Several eminent scientists were responsible for founding the society, such as the Late Dr. S.R. Bose who was the founding President of the society, Prof. S.N. Banerjee who served as the first Editor for the society's Publication, Prof. S.N. Bhaduri who served as the Society's first Secretary, Prof. P.N. Nandi and others.
- At the time of the first Executive Council Meeting, held on 2nd April, 1955, there were altogether forty ordinary members and eight associate members enrolled in the society.
- The first Annual General Meeting of the society was held on 10th October 1969, with Professor S.N. Banerjee at the head of the proceedings.
- The Silver Jubilee Celebration of the Society was observed by organizing a National Symposium on Recent Advances in Mycology and Plant Pathology held on September 22-23, 1979. This symposium was the first one of it's kind organized by the society, and was a reasonable success with as many as 30 research papers presented by eminent scientists.
- After the renaming of the society as the Indian Mycological Society, another National Symposium was organized on February 25-26, 1983 (the first of it's kind under the new banner). The theme was Interaction of Plant pathogens in the Host. 21 quality papers were presented by renowned researchers from all over the country.
- In the year 1990, the name of the society's journal changed from the former Indian Journal of Mycological Research to the present Journal of Mycopathological Research.
- After a hiatus of about seventeen years, during which period the society could not organize any symposiums, a National Symposium was held on Tropical Mycology in the 21st Century during 8-10th February 2001 where about 66 research papers were presented.
- In the year 2002, another National Symposium was organized on Frontier Studies in Microbes and Host Microbe Interaction. It was received very well, with as many as eighty papers presented.
- On February 15-16 2003, a National Symposium on Current Trends in Research on Micro-organisms was organized, and this time also the response was overwhelming. The event was also significant because the Society decided to launch symposiums and seminars at locations other than it's Head Quarter, Kolkata. Soon, the society organized a one day seminar on 20th March, 2004 for the participants of West bengal and Sikkim.
- A National Symposium on Perspectives of Plant Disease Management in the 21st Century was held on 1st October at OUAT Bhubaneshwar under the banner Indian Mycological Society - Orissa Chhattisgarh Chapter.
- The society organized an International Symposium on Agriculturally Important Micro-organisms: Conservation, Bioremediation and Ecological Significance on the occasion of the Society's Golden Jubilee Celebration from 23rd to 25th February, 2006.