The Society was organized in 1982 and incorporated in 1991. On December 2, 1982, at the Entomological Society of America meetings in Toronto, Canada, a large group of hymenopterists met to discuss formation of an organization devoted to the study of all aspects of the Hymenoptera. From that embryonic meeting emerged The International Society of Hymenopterists.
In 1990, an editorial board, composed of Arnold Menke, John Huber, Mark Shaw, and David Rosen, was elected to search for an editor and in 1991 David R. Smith was selected. The first issue was published in August 1992.
In 1991, the Society held a contest to create a logo. The winning design was submitted by Michael Prentice.
The society has grown since those early days and now meets regularly (and from 2020, in a new virtual way!) Below is a picture taken of society members at the 2016 International Congress of Entomology in Orlando, Florida, USA.
Endowment Committee
- James Woolley
- Andrew Austin
- Brad Vinson
Past Presidents
- Lubomir Masner (1985 to 1987, acting president 1982 to 1985)
- Paul Marsh (1988 to 1992)
- George Eickwort (1992 to 1994)
- Donald Quicke (1994 to 1996)
- Jim Carpenter (1996 to 1998)
- Andrew Austin (1998 to 2000)
- John LaSalle (2000 to 2002)
- Lynn Kimsey (2002 to 2004)
- Denis Brothers (2004 to 2006)
- Mike Schauff (2006 to 2008)
- Jim Woolley (2008 to 2010)
- John Heraty (2010 to 2012)
- Mike Sharkey (2012 to 2014)
- Jim Whitfield (2014 to 2016)
- Andy Polaszek (2016 to 2018)
- Barbara Sharanowski (2018 to 2020)
- Lars Krogmann (2020 to 2022)
Past Vice Presidents
- Charles Michener (1985 to 1988)
- Zdeněk Bouček (1988 to 1991)
Past Secretaries
- Bob Wharton (1985 to 1988, acting secretary 1982 to 1985)
- Jim Carpenter (1988 to 1992)
- Mike Schauff (1992 to 1996)
- James Woolley (1996 to 2004)
- Michael Gates (2004 to 2008)
- Andrew R. Deans (2008 to 2012)
- Lars Krogmann (2012-2016)
Past Treasurers
- Henri Goulet (acting treasurer 1982 to 1985)
- Jim Woolley (1985 to 1988)
- Gary Gibson (1988 to 1994)
- John Huber (1994 to 2004)
- Justin Schmidt (2004 to 2008)
- Joe Fortier (2008 to 2010)
Past Student Representatives
- Rebecca Kittel (2013-2014)
- Katherine Nesheim (2014-2017)
- Amber Bass (2017-2019)
- Shelby Kilpatrick (2020-2022)
Past Archivist and Webmasters
- Susanne Schulmeister (2008 to 2010)
- Katja Seltmann (2010 to 2017)