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essentially answered by electronic publishing whereby read- ers could choose their own topics of interest without receiv- ing a split journal.
In 1972 the Society hosted the Conference on Acoustics and Societal problems at Arden House located in New York. John Johnson, the Conference Chair, began the report on the conference by stating: “The pervading and ascending influence of science and technology on our society has become a cause of public concern. While impressed by such triumphs as moon landings, the public has become increas- ingly critical of the scientific community
for its seeming apathy toward many of
society’s everyday problems.” The technical
areas focussed on the effects of noise and
improvements to biomedical acoustics.
Also improvements to the organization
were mentioned such as better relation-
ships with other technical societies and
with government. Thirty-two years later
most of the findings that emerged from
that conference are still applicable today.
The need to apply technical solutions to
everyday needs of society is a perpetual
concern.
All three of the ASA’s founding fathers died in 1974. Wallace Waterfall was Secretary of the Society from 1929 to 1969. Betty Goodfriend assumed the position of Secretary in 1969 and Wallace Waterfall continued as Treasurer of the ASA from 1969 to 1974. Betty Goodfriend was Wallace Waterfall’s assistant on the NDRC project. She served both ASA and AIP in a variety of positions until 1987, when Murray Strasberg, a long-time member of the Society and a past president, was appointed Secretary. In 1990 Charles Schmid was named the first executive director of the Society and the position of secretary was retired. Elaine Moran who joined the ASA staff in 1970, serves as divi- sion manager for the headquarters office.
6. Building diversity • 1991–2004
Diversity emerged in many forms in the beginning in the 1990s. The printed page started to give way to electronic publica- tions, and members began submitting papers via the Internet. The Society, through its meetings, authors and mem- bers, became much more international in scope, and the members elected women and African-Americans to leadership positions. Along with these changes, the role of stu- dents and public relations became much more prominent in the Society.
The methods by which information was delivered to and accepted from mem- bers changed drastically as a result of the
Internet revolution. Until the mid-1990's, ASA’s communica- tions were primarily at meetings or through the printed page. The decade that followed was truly a revolution in commu- nicating with members. E-mail, CD ROMs, online publica- tions, electronic submission of abstracts, manuscript man- agement, the World Wide Pressroom, and ASA’s web pages demonstrated the many diverse ways that the Society could communicate with its members and the public at-large. Before recalling the specific origins of these forms of Society communications, it might be of interest to note that two of

History of ASA 41