International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering

The ISSMGE originated in the International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, held in June 1936 at Harvard University as one of many events held to mark the university's 300th anniversary. Arthur Casagrande of the Harvard faculty gained university support for an international conference on soil mechanics and successfully persuaded Karl Terzaghi, who was then working in Vienna, to preside. The conference attracted 206 delegates from 20 countries.{{cite book|last=Fatherree|first=Ben H.|title=The History of Geotechnical Engineering at the Waterways Experiment Station 1932–2000|year=2006|publisher=US Army Corps of Engineers Engineer Research and Development Center|location=Vicksburg, Mississippi|url=http://gsl.erdc.usace.army.mil/gl-history/Chap1.htm|access-date=29 July 2013|archive-date=2 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002163625/http://gsl.erdc.usace.army.mil/gl-history/Chap1.htm|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title=Proceedings of the International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, Table of Contents 1936–2001|url=http://cee.umass.edu/sites/default/files/cee/ISSMFE_Proceedings_Table_of_Contents_1936-2001.pdf|publisher=UMassAmherst|accessdate=29 July 2013}}{{cite journal|last=Malyshev|first=M. V.|title=Karl Terzaghi (1883–1963) – Translated from Osnovaniya, Fundamenty i Mekhanika Gruntov, No. 4, pp. 15–16, July–August, 1973|journal=Soil Mechanics & Foundation Engineering|date=July–August 1973|volume=10|issue=4|pages=257–259|doi=10.1007/BF01704946|s2cid=112250759}} The success of the five-day conference led participants to decide to establish a quadrennial International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering (ICSMFE) as a permanent institution. An executive committee was set up, with Terzaghi as the first president, Casagrande as its first secretary, and Philip Rutledge, also of Harvard, as treasurer.{{cite journal|title=News: Prof. Karl von Terzaghi|journal=Nature|date=6 May 1939| volume=143|issue=3627|page=753| doi=10.1038/143753c0|doi-access=free}} Due to World War II, the second ICSMFE was not held until June 1948. The 1948 conference, held in Rotterdam, had 596 delegates. After the third ICSMFE was held five years later in Zurich in 1953, the organization settled into a pattern of meeting every four years. In the meantime, a first regional conference was held in Australasia in 1952.

Terzaghi was first president of the ICSMFE, serving until 1957 when he was succeeded by Alec Skempton.{{cite web|title=Professor Sir Alec Skempton|url=http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/civilengineering/aboutus/departmentlibrary/siralecskempton|publisher=Imperial College|accessdate=10 September 2013}} Casagrande succeeded Skempton, holding the presidency from 1961 to 1965.{{cite web|title=Casagrande, Arthur (1902–1981)|url=http://www.asce.org/PPLContent.aspx?id=2147487314|archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20131211114546/http://www.asce.org/PPLContent.aspx?id=2147487314|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 December 2013|publisher=ASCE|accessdate=29 July 2013}}

A steering committee was established in 1981, and it became the Board in 1985. This meets annually; the Council meets every two years.{{cite web|title=ISSMGE Aims|url=http://www.issmge.org/en/the-society/aims|publisher=ISSMGE|accessdate=10 September 2013}}

The current name, the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, was adopted in 1997.

ISSMGE membership has increased through its history. There were 32 member societies and 2500 individual members by 1957, 50 societies and 11,500 individuals in 1977, and 71 societies and 16,500 individuals in 1998.{{cite web|title=ISSMGE History|url=http://www.issmge.org/en/the-society/history|publisher=ISSMGE|accessdate=29 July 2013}} As of 2012, ISSMGE's reported membership totaled 19,000 individuals in 90 countries.

ISSMGE is a member of the Federation of International Geo-Engineering Societies (FedIGS).{{Cite web|url=https://www.issmge.org/fedigs|title = The International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering}}

The ISSMGE Presidents over its history are as follows:

{{columns-list|

• Karl von Terzaghi (1936–1957)
• Alec Skempton (1957–1961)
• Arthur Casagrande (1961–1965)
• L. Bjerrum (1965–1969)
• Ralph Brazelton Peck (1969–1973)
• Jean Kérisel (1973–1977)
• M. Fukuoka (1977–1981)
• V. F. B. de Mello (1981–1985)
• B. B. Broms (1985–1989)
• N. R. Morgenstern (1989–1994)
• M. Jamiolkowski (1994–1997)
• K. Ishihara (1997–2001)
• W. Van Impe (2001–2005)
• P.S. Sêco e Pinto (2005–2009)
• J.L. Briaud (2009–2013)
• R. Frank (2013–2017)
• C.W.W. Ng (2017–2022)
• M. Ballouz (2022–2026).

}}

The secretaries general have been as follows:

{{columns-list|

• John K.T.L. Nash (1965–1981)
• John Burland (1981)
• Richard H.G. Parry (1981–1999)
• Prof R.N. Taylor (1999–2023)
• Andrew McNamara (2023–present).{{Cite web |title=The International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering |url=https://www.issmge.org/the-society/history |access-date=2025-01-06 |website=www.issmge.org |language=en}}

}}

The ISSMGE organises conferences on subjects including deep foundations, earthquake engineering and underground construction. Its main events continue to be the quadrennial International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ICSMGE), plus five quadrennial regional conferences, Young Geotechnical Engineers' Conferences, and specialist international conferences, symposia and workshops.

In addition to a bimonthly bulletin and various technical committee reports, the society publishes an official scientific journal in collaboration with Geoengineer.org, the International Journal of Geoengineering Case Histories.[http://www.issmge.org/en/resources/international-journal-of-geoengineering-case-histories International Journal of Geoengineering Case Histories], ISSMGE (retrieved 22 July 2013) This is a peer-reviewed online journal that presents reports of observations and data collected in the practice of geotechnical engineering, earthquake engineering, environmental geotechnics, and engineering geology.{{cite web|url=http://casehistories.geoengineer.org/ |title=website of International Journal of Geoengineering Case Histories|accessdate=10 September 2013}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://www.issmge.org/ ISSMGE website]
• [https://geoengineeringfederation.org/ Federation of International Geo-Engineering Societies]

{{Authority control}}

Category:City, University of London

Category:Geotechnical organizations

Category:International organisations based in London

Category:International professional associations

Category:Organisations based in the London Borough of Islington

Soil Mechanics

Category:Scientific organizations established in 1936

Category:Soil mechanics