American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Advance science, engineering, and innovation throughout the world for the benefit of all. Advancing Science, Serving Society. The formation of AAAS in 1848 marked the emergence of a national scientific community in the United States. While science was part of the American scene from the nation`s early days, its practitioners remained few in number and scattered geographically and among disciplines. AAAS was the first permanent organization formed to promote the development of science and engineering at the national level and to represent the interests of all its disciplines. Participants in AAAS meetings, held in cities across the country, represented a who`s who of science. The meetings were covered widely by newspapers, which sometimes reprinted their proceedings verbatim. However, AAAS`s permanence was not preordained and, despite the many contributions it made during its first 50 years, the Association came close to extinction more than once.
Company details
Find locations served, office locations
- Business Type:
- Professional association
- Industry Type:
- Publishing / Media / Marketing
- Market Focus:
- Globally (various continents)
- Year Founded:
- 1848
About Us
AAAS MISSION: Advance science, engineering, and innovation throughout the world for the benefit of all. Advancing Science, Serving Society.
AAAS VISION STATEMENT: A boldly inclusive, mobilized, and global scientific community that ignites, enables, and celebrates scientific excellence and science-informed decisions and actions.
The American Association for the Advancement of Science is guided by the following strategic goals:
- Advance scientific excellence and achievement
AAAS recognizes, inspires, and enables a robust research ecosystem that drives discovery and innovation and prepares future scientists and engineers. - Foster equity and inclusion for scientific excellence
AAAS fosters the diverse, equitable, open, and inclusive scientific enterprise that is essential for scientific excellence. - Build trust among scientists and communities
AAAS builds trust among scientists and engineers and broader communities and is a valued source of accurate scientific information that is foundational to countering misinformation. - Catalyze progress where science meets policy
AAAS provides actionable evidence for public policy that serves society and promotes policies that enable quality science.
A Member-Focused Organization
The world's largest multidisciplinary scientific society and a leading publisher of cutting-edge research through its Science family of journals, AAAS has individual members in more than 91 countries around the globe. Membership is open to anyone who shares our goals and belief that science, technology, engineering, and mathematics can help solve many of the challenges the world faces today. You can lend your support to our efforts on behalf of scientists, engineers, educators, and students everywhere by becoming a member. Together we can make a difference: Join Us.
To learn more about our community and the many benefits of membership, visit the Membership section of the website.
150 Years of Advancing Science: A History of AAAS
Origins: 1848-1899
The formation of AAAS in 1848 marked the emergence of a national scientific community in the United States. While science was part of the American scene from the nation's early days, its practitioners remained few in number and scattered geographically and among disciplines. AAAS was the first permanent organization formed to promote the development of science and engineering at the national level and to represent the interests of all its disciplines. Participants in AAAS meetings, held in cities across the country, represented a who's who of science. The meetings were covered widely by newspapers, which sometimes reprinted their proceedings verbatim. However, AAAS's permanence was not preordained and, despite the many contributions it made during its first 50 years, the Association came close to extinction more than once. Ultimately, an alliance with Science magazine, which had failed as a private venture, rejuvenated both the magazine and AAAS.
'While science is without organization, it is without power.'AAAS and Science: 1900-1940
AAAS grew and changed in the first four decades of the 20th century as the American scientific enterprise began to take on its modern shape. Disciplinary societies, many of them spawned by AAAS, usurped many of the functions AAAS had formerly served, and the Association struggled to define itself as both a membership organization and an 'umbrella' for its disciplinary affiliates. Nonetheless, leading scientists of the era -- Thomas Hunt Morgan, Albert Einstein, and Edwin Hubble to name but three -- published in Science, presented their work at annual meetings, and in some cases received small grants or prizes from AAAS. The Association acquired its first permanent home, a suite in the Smithsonian Institution, and initiated its first programs in education and public understanding of science. It also sought, with varying degrees of success, to assert influence in national science policy, and, as the Great Depression deepened, to steer science toward greater social responsibility.
'The advancement of science should be the chief concern of a nation that would conserve and increase the welfare of its people.'
AAAS and the Maturing of American Science: 1941-1970
The Second World War brought vast changes in American science. AAAS responded, evolving from an organization primarily concerned with promoting communication among its members to one with a strong professional staff committed to the advancement of science and the relations between science and society. The postwar years saw many milestones for the Association: the acquisition of Science following the death of James Cattell; the construction of AAAS's own building; a new constitution; and the 1951 Arden House meeting, which laid the foundation for today's AAAS. The Association focused renewed attention and resources on science education. Scientific freedom became a major preoccupation as the Cold War intensified and McCarthyism reared its head. Out of the traditions and organizational culture established during the late 1940s and 1950s came AAAS's activism of subsequent decades on social issues such as racial justice, the environment, and the war in Vietnam.
'Science belongs to all the people.'
Change and Continuity: 1971 to the Present
Many of the activities for which AAAS is best known today emerged from initiatives taken since 1970. Drawing increasingly on support from foundations and federal agencies, the Association has built pioneering programs for bringing underrepresented groups into science; applying science to human rights; supporting the growth of science in the developing world; exploring issues of science, ethics, and law; tracking federal spending for R&D; and in bringing scientists and engineers to work in Congress and executive agencies of government. Project 2061 has taken on the ambitious task of reforming American science education from kindergarten to 12th grade. And Science has become the one of the world's most prestigious and widely-quoted scientific journals as well as a respected source of science news.
'...universities and scientists alike must find ways to influence and adjust to the political, organizational, and economic realities of America in transition.'
Advocacy for Evidence
AAAS provides opportunities for scientists and engineers to engage with decision-makers and inform policy decisions on local, state, and national levels. AAAS educates scientists about the role of science in policymaking and empowers them with ways to become a voice for science and engineering throughout their careers. The tools and resources AAAS provide help science advocates effectively communicate within their communities and with key decision-makers.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
AAAS strives to be a boldly inclusive, mobilized, and global scientific community that ignites, enables, and celebrates scientific excellence and science-informed decisions and actions. Our plan to achieve this vision includes four strategic goals, one of which is to foster the diverse, open, and inclusive scientific enterprise that is essential for scientific excellence.
Because our global membership touches all scientific disciplines, our actions matter in ensuring that everyone can participate in and benefit from the scientific enterprise. Publishing in our journals, earning an award or fellowship, or serving on our governing bodies provides credibility and stature to accomplished members of our community.
To unlock the STEMM workforce’s full potential in the face of global challenges, we must assemble teams that can provide a diversity of thought, experience, and identity and strengthen the intrinsic link with scientific excellence. Doing so requires that we revisit the systems that underpin these fields. Deeply embedded challenges impact our ability to broaden the scope of who is participating and leading in science and engineering. Learn more about our efforts across the scientific ecosystem.
Federal Science Budget Analysis
AAAS is a leading source for data and timely analysis of trends in U.S. federal research and development (R&D) funding. Since 1976, we have served as a go-to resource for those seeking to understand long-term changes and recent policy developments affecting federal science budgets. Each year we analyze the U.S. president's budget request, monitor Congressional debates and bills, and keep an eye on longer-term R&D budget trends in the United States and in other countries to provide timely and objective information and perspectives for policymakers and the science and engineering community.
Human Rights, Law & Ethics
AAAS has a long-standing commitment to cultivate responsible science in the service of society and build bridges between science and the greater public. It fosters and facilitates the responsible practice and application of science in the service of society and addresses legal, ethical, and human rights considerations to which science gives rise. Questions of values, ethics, human rights, and law are raised by the emergence of new technologies. AAAS provides a space for assessment and advocacy on the responsible development and application of science and technology, and communication and collaboration between the scientific communities and human rights and legal communities.
Public Engagement
Public engagement with science describes intentional, meaningful interactions that provide opportunities for mutual learning between scientists and the public. Mutual learning refers not just to the acquisition of knowledge, but also to increased familiarity with a breadth of perspectives, frames, and worldviews.
Goals for public engagement with science include civic engagement skills and empowerment, increased awareness of the cultural relevance of science, and recognition of the importance of multiple perspectives and domains of knowledge to scientific endeavors.
In order to “advance science and serve society,” AAAS engages the public and empowers scientists to engage the public on issues related to research, education, policy, and more.
Science Diplomacy
The AAAS Center for Science Diplomacy builds bridges between communities, societies, and nations through closer interactions between science and diplomacy and elevates the role of science in foreign policy to address national and global challenges
Since its establishment in 2008, the Center has been a leader in conceptualizing science diplomacy as a critical aspect of science and international relations. The Center demonstrates how science can build bridges between societies where official relationships may be strained, strengthens interactions and partnerships between the scientific and diplomatic communities, and develops the intellectual framework and training to support the practice of science diplomacy.
Science Education
A strong education in STEM is essential for all students, whether they grow up to pursue a STEM career or just apply scientific reasoning and knowledge in their day-to-day lives.
At a time when STEM education is struggling to produce graduates with the qualities and skills to keep the United States’ science and technology sectors competitive, AAAS provides a variety of programs to make sure talent and interest in scientific endeavors are nurtured.
AAAS also strives to help everyone become literate in STEM by conducting research and developing tools and services for educators, researchers, and policymakers to make critical and lasting improvements in education systems.
Shaping Science Policy
Science has never been more important for informing sound policy and ensuring progress for all citizens. AAAS leverages scientific evidence to engage policymakers and society at large. Through various programs, AAAS informs policymakers on current issues related to science and technology.
AAAS articulates positions on critical science-related issues in public statements and in news media commentaries and interviews. AAAS holds workshops, seminars, and events for scientists, policymakers, and the public to engage and communicate. AAAS programs help the public better understand science and its role in evidence-based policy-making. AAAS also works with global partners to strengthen advocacy for evidence beyond national borders.