Historic Events by Decade

• 1954-1959

  April - May 1954	Founding meeting in New York City during annual meeting of the American Association for Health, Physical Education, and Recreation (AAHPER); originally called the Federation of Sports Medicine.  General Assembly of FIMS votes to invite the "American Chapter of FIMS" and its President, J.B. Wolffe for membership.
  January 1955	Name of organization changed to American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM).
  June 5, 1955	After ACSM incorporates in Washington, D.C., first Board of Trustees Meeting and official list of Charter Members set at 54 (included 11 Founders).
  October 1958	Internal Revenue Service grants College nonprofit status.

• 1960-1969

  July 1, 1961	Grover W. Mueller becomes the first Executive Secretary and establishes first permanent ACSM office at 4840 Pine Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
  March 1962	ACSM identifies Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness as its official organ.
  May 1962	Southwest Chapter becomes the College's first Regional Chapter;  D.B. Dill presents the first Valley Forge Heart Institute Lectureship at the 9th Annual Meeting, where ACSM first emphasizes athletic injuries and clinical issues.
  June 30, 1964	Henry J. Montoye becomes new Executive Secretary; National Office moves to University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
  July 1, 1965	Montoye resigns as Executive Secretary; and the Administrative Council. Approves moving the National Office from Ann Arbor to the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and approves the hiring of part-time Assistant Secretary Donald Herrmann for ACSM President Bruno Balke, a faculty member at Wisconsin.
  March 1966	College publishes first newsletter under the direction of Robert T. Clark, Jr., and Harding College, Searcy, Arkansas.
  May 1-4, 1968	15th Annual Meeting is first to have exhibitors (9), external financial support, an evening Annual Awards Banquet, and simultaneous sessions.
  March 1969	ACSM publishes the first issue of Medicine and Science in Sports; Bruno Balke is editor-in-chief.

• 1970-1079

  October 1971	Board decides to conduct all elections by a mail ballot rather than at annual business meeting; Board of Trustees of the Valley Forge Heart Institute agrees to provide $2,000 per year for an educational program; and, ACSM Board places money in the Joseph B. Wolffe Fund for Annual Meeting speakers.
  December 11-14, 1972	ACSM sponsors workshop led by John Faulkner in Aspen, Colorado, to develop "guidelines to ensure quality control in exercise testing and rehabilitation programs" for cardiac patients.
  Spring 1975	Medicine and Science in Sports publishes College's first Position Statement on "Prevention of Heat Injuries During Distance Running;" also published in ACSM’s own Sports Medicine Bulletin and in the McGraw-Hill commercial publication, The Physician and Sportsmedicine.
  May 1975	Lea & Febiger of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, publishes the first edition of ACSM's Guidelines for Graded Exercise Testing and Exercise Prescription in paperback.
  June 25-29, 1975	ACSM conducts first Exercise Program Director's Certification Conference at The Pennsylvania State University; 35 individuals become ACSM's first Certified Program Directors.
  Fall 1975	Medicine and Science in Sports publishes "Policy Statement Regarding the Use of Human Subjects and Informed Consent" and standardized vocabulary for exercise and work.
  September 27-October 4, 1975	ACSM conducts first Exercise Leader Workshop in Aspen, Colorado; 20 individuals become ACSM's first Certified Exercise Specialists.
  July 12-13, 1976	ACSM conducts first Exercise Technician Certification Workshop at the University of Wisconsin, LaCrosse; 83 individuals gain ACSM certification as Exercise Technicians.
  May 25-28, 1977	Swedish Covenant Hospital co-sponsors 24th Annual Meeting in Chicago, permitting 15 credit hours of Continuing Medical Education for attending physicians.
  October 22, 1977	American Medical Association authorizes College to grant CME credits for the Annual Meeting without co-sponsorship; ACSM removes all references to gender from the Constitution and Bylaws and changes the name of the Post Graduate Education Committee to Continuing Education.
  April 1979	ACSM assumes responsibility for the publication of Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews.
  Winter 1979	ACSM publishes first Opinion Statement, "The Participation of the Female Athlete in Long-Distance Running."

• 1980-1989

  April 1982	ACSM enters into first business agreement with industry — the Banana Bunch, an association of seven major U.S. Banana importers including Del Monte, Dole and Chiquita.
  December 15, 1983	ACSM conducts official ground-breaking ceremonies for the National Center at 401 West Michigan Street, Indianapolis, Indiana.
  March 2, 1984	American College of Sports Medicine Foundation, Inc., becomes a registered corporation in the State of Indiana.
  October 29, 1984	ACSM National Center opens in Indianapolis, Indiana.
  January 1985	For the first time Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise®* is published by an outside publisher, Williams & Wilkins of Baltimore, Maryland.  (*Journal name is changed in Spring, 1980)
  January 1987	ACSM Foundation begins first annual giving campaign directed toward the membership.
  May 1988	Lea & Febiger publishes ACSM's Resource Manual for Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription.
  March 19-24, 1989	ACSM conducts Part I of the three-part ACSM Team PhysicianSM Course in Orlando, Florida.

• 1990-1999

  November 14, 1990	ACSM Foundation establishes a research endowment fund and an educational endowment fund.
  May 1992	Board of Trustees approves the establishment of the ACSM Research Development Office at the National Center.
  1994-1996	ACSM jointly works with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the development of Physical Activity and Health: A Report of the Surgeon General.
  January 1996	ACSM and Williams & Wilkins establish the ACSM Certification Resource Center, operated out of Baltimore, Maryland.
  July 1996	The Surgeon General's Report on Physical Activity and Exercise is released, with ACSM members taking the prominent roles in authoring the report.
  January 1997	ACSM and Williams & Wilkins publish the first issue of ACSM's Health & Fitness Journal®; and, ACSM launches ACSM’s Alliance for Health & Fitness Professionals.
  April 17-20, 1997	ACSM conducts the first ACSM's Health & Fitness Summit & Exposition in New Orleans, Louisiana.
  September 1998	ACSM establishes the ACSM Office of Advancement to expand the College's presence in the corporate marketplace.
  March 1999	Renovation and expansion of the National Center in Indianapolis, Indiana is completed.

• 2000-

  2001-2004	ACSM influences world health, through its roles with the Active Aging Partnership/National Blueprint, NASCAR, Wheaties, Musculoskeletal Partnership, youth initiatives, and obesity initiatives.
  2002	ACSM partners with Current Science of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to publish the bimonthly physician review journal, Current Sports Medicine Reports.
  2004	ACSM Celebrates 50th Anniversary.
  2005	ACSM launches its Certified Personal TrainerSM  certification.
  June 3, 2005	ACSM and the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports announced the intent to collaborate as science partners to benefit public health by jointly promoting physical activity, fitness and sports, at ACSM’s 52nd annual ACSM meeting, held in Nashville, Tennessee
  January 2006	ACSM moves all of its certification exams to online testing.
  January 9, 2006	The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) announces the admission of ACSM into the Federation.