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1AbriefhistoryoftheCommitteeofPresidents of Statistical Societies (COPSS)Ingram OlkinDepartment of StatisticsStanford University, Stanford, CAShortly after becoming Chair of COPSS in 1992, I collated some of theorganization’s archival history. At that time there was already a 1972document prepared by Walter T. Federer who was Chair starting in1965. The following is a composite of Federer’s history coupled withmy update in 1994, together with a review of recent activities.1.1 IntroductionIn 1958–59, the American Statistical Association (ASA), the Biometric Society(ENAR), and the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (IMS) initiateddiscussions to study relationships among statistical societies. Each of the threeorganizations often appointed a committee to perform similar or even identicalduties, and communication among these and other groups was not alwayswhat was desired. Thus, in order to eliminate duplication of work, to improvecommunication among statistical societies, and to strengthen the scientificvoice of statistics, the ASA, under the leadership of Rensis Likert, Morris H.Hansen, and Donald C. Riley, appointed a Committee to Study RelationshipsAmong Statistical Societies (CONTRASTS). This committee was chaired byFrederick Mosteller. A series of campus discussions was initiated by membersof CONTRASTS in order to obtain a broad base of opinion for a possibleorganization of statistical societies.A grant of $9,000 was obtained from the Rockefeller Foundation by ASAto finance a series of discussions on the organizational needs of North Americanstatisticians. Subsequently, an inter-society meeting to discuss relationshipsamong statistical societies was held from Friday evening of September16 through Sunday morning of September 18, 1960, at the Sterling Forest3