History of the International Corrosion Council and the International Corrosion Congress 

    The first attempt to promote a forum for the exchange of corrosion information occurred in Great Britain in the early 1960. Under the auspices of the International Union for Pure and Applied Chemistry and the Minister of the British Council for Science, Sir Henry Melville, a plan was conceived to hold an International Congress on Metallic Corrosion. Lord Melville, with the assistance of U.R. Evans, T.P. Hoar and other British scientists, solicited participation from corrosion specialists throughout the world, which resulted in the first International Congress on Metallic Corrosion (ICMC) being held in April 1961 in London. The meeting proved to be a great success.

    cheap cigarettes The second International Congress on Metallic Corrosion was organised in connection with the 1963 annual NACE conference and took place in March in New York City. Dr. Greco served as president with F. La Que and H. Uhlig as vice-presidents. At this second conference a “draft” charter and by-laws for a permanent council for the ICMC were presented to key people from the participating countries. Reactions were favourable so a meeting with all of the world corrosion scientists was arranged.

    The draft charter and by-laws were adopted with some minor changes. It was decided that a congress would be held every three years and that each member country would have two voting representatives on the permanent council. Dr. Greco was elected the first president, and Dr. Pourbaix the first vice-president. T.J. Hull of NACE was appointed secretary of the council. It was also agreed that the third congress would be held in the USSR in 1966.

    Dr. Greco served as president of the permanent council until the fourth congress held in Amsterdam in 1969, at which time Dr. Pourbaix assumed the presidency of the permanent council, and held that position for the fifth congress in Tokyo and the sixth in Sidney.

    At the Sidney conference, Bill Hewes of Canada, Dr. Stewart Leach of Great Britain, and T.J. Hull of the United States completed a much-needed revision of the by-laws. Dr. H.H. Uhlig of the United States was elected president of the permanent council and served as such through the seventh congress held in 1978 in Rio de Janeiro.

    Dr. Leach served as president of the council through the 8th congress in Mainz, Germany. At this conference, Dr. Paul Lacombe of France assumed the presidency of the council.

    At the 9th ICMC, hosted by the Canadians in Toronto, Dr. G. Trabanelli was elected president and served through the 10th congress in Madras, India.

    Dr. Jerome Kruger of the United States assumed the presidency in Madras and led the congress through the 11th International Corrosion Congress (ICC) held in Florence, Italy.

    Dr. Einar Mattsson of Sweden served as president of the council through the 12th congress held in Houston, Texas, in 1993. At this conference, Dr. Wood of Great Britain assumed the presidency of the council.

    Dr. Graham of Canada assumed the presidency in Melbourne and led the congress through the 14th ICC held in Cape Town, South Africa.  At this conference, Dr. Landolt of Switzerland assumed the presidency of the council.

    The 16th congress is being held in Beijing, China in 2005.  

    As has been noted, distinguished scientists from around the world have served as president of the permanent council.  The present council president is Dr. J.H.W. DE WIT .

    The success of each congress has been assured by the unselfish work of the conference committee chairmen. The host nation chairmen have been:

Dr. Melville	London	1961
Dr. Greco	New York	1963
Dr. Kolotrykin	Moscow	1966
－	Amsterdam	1969
Dr. Okamoto	Tokyo	1972
Dr. Keys	Sidney	1975
Dr. Dutra	Riode Janeiro	1978
Dr. Engell	Mainz	1981
Dr. Godard	Toronto	1984
Dr. Vasu	Madras	1987
Dr. Mazza	Florence	1990
Dr. Payer	Houston	1993
Dr. Whitby	Melbourne	1996
Dr. White	Cape Town	1999
Dr. Costa	Granada	2002

    Through the years, the International Corrosion Council and the International Corrosion Congress have been very successful in promoting and maintaining its objectives. These are:

    1. To stimulate, at an international level, research in corrosion science and engineering, and to encourage the broad dissemination of the results of research.

    2. To promote cooperation among and between corrosion scientists and engineers in every country.

    3. To provide an organisation within whose framework corrosion scientists and engineers can meet to exchange ideas, discuss the results of their studies, and publish their findings for the common good.

    4. To conserve equipment, materials, and natural resources by focusing the attention of all countries on the waste which is the result of unrecognised and uncontrolled corrosion.

    5. To focus the attention of agencies in every country on the importance of providing for and supporting research in corrosion science and engineering.

    6. To provide a means by which colleagues from every country can associate on a common ground and become better acquainted.

    The interest in corrosion worldwide is attested to by the increase in the number of countries who are now members of the permanent council (total 73 in 2002). This assures that the ICC will be perpetuated, and that its influence on a broad area of corrosion and engineering will be continued for the mutual benefit of all countries.