International EPR (ESR) Society History and Funding

In 1989, following considerable discussion, including the results of a questionnaire distributed in the EPR Centers Newsletter, a group of about 70 attendees at the 12th International EPR Symposium in Denver, Colorado (July, 1989) voted unanimously to form an International EPR Society. At present, the Society has over 1,000 members world-wide plus the support of corporate affiliates. An entire database of over 3,000 scientists who are involved in EPR research is maintained by Society funds.

Society funding supports the publication of the EPR newsletter four times a year with one issue being a freely available public issue via the EPR Newsletter website.

The Aims of the Society

1. To stimulate the scientific development of electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR)/electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy.
2. To communicate information and news about EPR and its applications among its members and to serve as a clearing house on EPR among scientists in academia, government, and industry.
3. To encourage appropriate and useful application of EPR in a wide variety of fields, including physical, chemical, biological, medical, agricultural, and geological systems.
4. To provide a central voice for the EPR community by promoting support for research and development utilizing EPR through interaction with other societies, government funding agencies, and international scientific organizations.
5. To stimulate educational programs on EPR and related spectroscopies through the organization of schools, workshops, and seminars.

The Society is to be international in scope and is to cover the entire range of disciplines that use EPR.

Some of the specific ways in which the Society will seek to achieve its goals include:

• establishment of a newsletter as a regular vehicle for communication of information ranging from technical discussions to a calendar of upcoming meetings;
• presentation of Gold and Silver Medals;
• presentation of a Young Investigator Medal;
• presentation of Fellow of the EPR /ESR Society;
• establishment of a committee to facilitate access to and knowledge of commercial and non-profit computer materials for EPR;
• establishment of a committee on nomenclature;
• provision of systematic input to national science foundations, and other government agencies throughout the world on the evaluation and support of research using EPR.

Cooperation with Existing Societies and Journals

The Society will seek to work cooperatively with existing national and international magnetic resonance societies, including joint meetings and workshops where there is a mutual desire to do so. The Society does not intend to establish a new meeting or to establish a new journal. It will consult with existing journals to determine if there is mutual interest in some relationship that could result in enhanced coverage of EPR and a reduced subscription price for the journal for members.

During the discussions about the establishment of the Society there was a strong consensus that EPR has entered a very exciting and productive stage whose full exploitation would be enhanced by having an organized body that centers on the technique. While there is no desire to dissociate from general magnetic resonance societies, it was felt that these societies inevitably will be dominated by the more numerous NMR users. Support of this viewpoint was received from government, industrial, and academic participants.

It was agreed that the key to success of the Society will be the INVOLVEMENT of the EPR COMMUNITY in the Society.

Society Documents

Constitution
By-Laws

Past Officers

Past Presidents

Founding President: Harold Swartz – 1989-1993
Keith McLauchlan – 1993-1996
Jim Norris – 1996-1999
John Pilbrow – 1999-2002
Yuri Tsvetkov – 2002-2005
Wolfgang Lubitz 2005-2008
Jack Freed 2008-2011
Seigo Yamauchi 2012-2013
Hitoshi Ohta October 1, 2012 until June 30, 2013
Lawrence Berliner July 1, 2013 until March 31, 2014
Klaus Möbius April 1, 2014 until December 31, 2014
Hitoshi Ohta 2015-2017
Thomas Prisner 2018-2020

Past Vice Presidents

Americas

Sandra S. Eaton 1999-2002
Ron Mason 2002-2005
Balaraman Kalyanaraman 2005-2008
Michael Bowman 2008-2011
Lawrence Berliner 2011-2014
Stephen Hill 2015-2017
Songi Han 2018-2020

Asia/Pasific

Takeji Takui 2002-2005
Shozu Tero-Kubota 2005-2008
Michael Davies 2008-2011
Hitoshi Ohta 2012-2014
Graeme Hanson 2015
Elena Bagryanskaya 2015-2017
Hiroshi Hirata 2018-2020

Europe

Marina Brustolon 2002-2005
Carlo Corvaja 2005-2008
Thomas Prisner 2008-2011
Klaus Möbius 2012-2013
Graham Smith 2015-2017
Gunnar Jeschke 2018-2020

Past Secretaries

Haim Levanon
Shirley Fairhurst 2002-2008
Sushil Misra 2008-2013

Past Treasurers

Chris Felix 2000-2008
Tatyana Smirnova 2009-2016
Tatyana Smirnova 2017-2019 (Acting)