Our History

Fostering the advancement of Microbiology and the interchange of ideas

Our Start & Early Years

The Society came into being at a time of microbiological ferment some seventy years after the microbiologists of the late 19th Century created a similar level of ferment showing that the microbial world is important. The interactions of new understanding brought a need for consultation, cooperation, and publication so specialized scientific societies were founded and burgeoned over the 20th Century.

The 1930’s brought changes and new areas of research and development despite the rigors of the depression years, e.g., increased awareness of bacterial physiology, the cultivation of influenza virus, and the sulfonamides. After 1945, research activities accelerated remarkably due in part to the stimulus from wartime and the solution of problems by interdisciplinary cooperation. A remarkable decade, 1945-1955, resulted with a burgeoning of novel researches and discoveries, to which we owe the present-day excitements in molecular biology, and an infusion of young scientists of varied backgrounds becoming aware of new biological fields to conquer.

Major Scientific Advancements (1945-1955)

This remarkable decade burgeoned with novel research and discoveries, including:

CSM-SCM Annual Meeting in Guelph, 1953
CSM-SCM Annual Meeting in Guelph, 1953

The first annual Meeting of the Society was held in Montreal in June 1952. They started with the promising support of the 175 persons who attended (including representation of seven provinces) and a meeting that showed a profit of $20.00. From this start we developed a formal membership of 182 by 1952 and of 380 by 1954. The prime objectives were encouraging membership, finding a way to start a journal, and organization of annual meetings. Incorporation of the Society required evidence of a degree of maturity and secure establishment, with a formally accepted constitution and a set of by-laws. This was finally attained in 1958, which marked the official year of foundation.

What we gained from these early years was the experience of warm and friendly gatherings with open and remarkably full discussions of high quality papers. Our meetings were held from coast-to-coast even if there were a few more in the central provinces than on the east or west coasts. They were lively events with a “family” feel to them, as there is still, and there was fun to be had at the banquets and social events. From the beginning Graduate Students and Post-doctoral Fellows were made welcome and indeed, more then ever now, laboratories sent as many as possible of their number to the meetings whether or not they were to give a paper. Also it was important that they could attend papers outside of their own specialties because of great symposia and few concurrent sessions. In fact, it was this “atmosphere” that had a lot to do with the success of the Society and we should hold on to the elements that encourage it.

Past Executives

Since 1952, the Canadian Society of Microbiologists has been led by microbiology researchers and experts throughout Canada. They have stepped into leadership roles as Presidents, Secretary-Treasurers, Meetings Secretary, and Graduate Student Representatives to help shape the future of our society. Please click on the following roles to view all past members who have served in these positions.

YearNameProvince
1952 – 1953R.G.E. MurrayOntario
1953 – 1954A.G. LochheadOntario
1954 – 1955A. FrappierQuebec
1955 – 1956G.A. LedinghamSaskatchewan
1956 – 1957R.G.E. MurrayOntario
1957 – 1958C.E. Van RooyenNova Soctia
1958 – 1959V. FredetteQuebec
1959 – 1960N.E. GibbonsOntario
1960 – 1961T.W.M. CameronQuebec
1961 – 1962E.H. GarrardQuebec
1962 – 1963C.F. RobinowOntario
1963 – 1964M. PanissetQuebec
1964 – 1965A.C. BlackwoodQuebec
1965 – 1966R. ReedQuebec
1966 – 1967N.A. HintonOntario
1967 – 1968J.C. WiltManitoba
1968 – 1969B.A. EaglesBC
1969 – 1970G. DempsterSaskatchewan
1970 – 1971J.F. MorganSaskatchewan
1971 – 1972J. de RepentignyQuebec
1972 – 1973F. SimpsonNova Soctia
1973 – 1974F.E. ChaseOntario
1974 – 1975J.J.R. CampbellBC
1975 – 1976V. PortelanceQuebec
1976 – 1977R.A. MacLeodQuebec
1977 – 1978J. RobinsonOntario
1978 – 1979C. VézinaQuebec
1979 – 1980K.F. GregoryOntario
1980 – 1981D.J. KushnerOntario
1981 – 1982D.A. BarnumOntario
1982 – 1983G.A. JonesSaskatchewan
1983 – 1984M.A. CherneskyOntario
1984 – 1985J.R. DillonOntario
1985 – 1986R.B. StewartOntario
1986 – 1987C. HamelinQuebec
1987 – 1988R. KnowlesQuebec
1988 – 1989L. NelsonSaskatchewan
1989 – 1990E.L. MedzonOntario
1990 – 1991W.W. KayBC
1991 – 1992P. BourgauxQuebec
1992 – 1993L. ViningNova Scotia
1993 – 1994T. TrustBC
1994 – 1995R. MarusykBC
1995 – 1996P. TalbotQuebec
1996 – 1997O. WardOntario
1997 – 1998D. SprottOntario
1998 – 1999R. IrvinAlberta
1999 – 2000G. VoordouwAlberta
2000 – 2001J. GermidaSaskatchewan
2001 – 2002R. LevesqueQuebec
2002 – 2003S. KovalOntario
2003 – 2004R. SparlingManitoba
2004 – 2005J. SmitBC
2005 – 2006R. VillemurQuebec
2006 – 2007P. KrellOntario
2007 – 2008C. BellNova Scotia
2008 – 2009M. HynesAlberta
2009 – 2010Trevor CharlesOntario
2010 – 2011Ed ToppOntario
2011 – 2012Ivan OresnikManitoba
2012 – 2013Nancy MartinOntario
2013 – 2014Daniel DubreuilQuebec
2014 – 2015Charles DozoisQuébec
2015 – 2016Christopher YostSaskatchewan
2016 – 2017Christine SzymanskiAlberta
2017 – 2018Andrew LangNewfoundland
2018 – 2019Marie ElliotOntario
2019 – 2020Janet HillSaskatchewan

YearNameProvince
1988 – 1989R.C. WyndhamOntario
1989 – 1990R.C. WyndhamOntario
1990 – 1991R.C. WyndhamOntario
1991 – 1992P. PeterkinOntario
1992 – 1993P. PeterkinOntario
1993 – 1994P. PeterkinOntario
1994 – 1995A. FraserOntario
1995 – 1996A. FraserOntario
1996 – 1997A. FraserOntario
1997 – 1998A. FraserOntario
1998 – 1999G. ArmstrongAlberta
1999 – 2000G. ArmstrongAlberta
2000 – 2001G. ArmstrongAlberta
2001 – 2002G. ArmstrongAlberta
2002 – 2003E. WorobecManitoba
2003 – 2004E. WorobecManitoba
2004 – 2005E. WorobecManitoba
2005 – 2006E. WorobecManitoba
2006 – 2007L. NelsonBC
2007 – 2008L. NelsonBC
2008 – 2009L. NelsonBC
2009 – 2010Jessica BoydNova Scotia
2010 – 2011Jessica BoydNova Scotia
2011 – 2012Ayush KumarOntario
2012 – 2013Ayush KumarManitoba
2013 – 2014Ayush KumarManitoba
2014 – 2015Mohan BabuSaskatchewan
2015 – 2016Mohan BabuSaskatchewan
2016 – 2017Mohan BabuSaskatchewan
2017 – 2018Mohan BabuSaskatchewan
2018 – 2019Mohan BabuSaskatchewan
2019 – 2020Mohan BabuSaskatchewan

YearNameProvince
1988 – 1989M. BrownOntario
1989 – 1990M. BrownOntario
1990 – 1991S. KovalOntario
1991 – 1992S. KovalOntario
1992 – 1993S. KovalOntario
1993 – 1994S. KovalOntario
1994 – 1995S. KovalOntario
1995 – 1996C. BellNova Scotia
1996 – 1997C. BellNova Scotia
1997 – 1998G. WolfaardtSouth Africa
1998 – 1999M. JacquesQuebec
1999 – 2000M. JacquesQuebec
2000 – 2001M. JacquesQuebec
2001 – 2002M. JacquesQuebec
2002 – 2003J. LawrenceSaskatchewan
2003 – 2004J. LawrenceSaskatchewan
2004 – 2005J. LawrenceSaskatchewan
2005 – 2006G. WolfaardtOntario
2006 – 2007G. WolfaardtOntario
2007 – 2008G. WolfaardtOntario
2008 – 2009G. WolfaardtOntario
2009 – 2010Jonathan Van HammeBritish Columbia
2010 – 2011Jonathan Van HammeBritish Columbia
2011 – 2012Russell HynesSaskatchewan
2012 – 2013Russell HynesSaskatchewan
2013 – 2014Russell HynesSaskatchewan
2014 – 2015Russell HynesSaskatchewan
2015 – 2016Russell HynesSaskatchewan
2016 – 2017Russell HynesSaskatchewan
2017 – 2018Christopher YostSaskatchewan
2018 – 2019Christopher YostSaskatchewan
2019 – 2020Christopher YostSaskatchewan

YearNameProvince
1996 – 1997H. VirionisOntario
1997 – 1998H. VirionisOntario
1998 – 1999A. AmerOntario
1999 – 2000A. AmerOntario
2000 – 2001J-P. PowersBritish Columbia
2001 – 2002J-P. PowersBritish Columbia
2002 – 2003J-P. PowersBritish Columbia
2003 – 2004M. ChénierQuebec
2004 – 2005M. ChénierQuebec
2005 – 2006M. ChénierQuebec
2006 – 2007Y. TremblayNova Scotia
2007 – 2008Y. TremblayNova Scotia
2008 – 2009Y. TremblayNova Scotia
2009 – 2010Shannon BrooksBritish Columbia
2010 – 2011Shannon BrooksBritish Columbia
2011 – 2012Josie LibertucciAlberta
2012 – 2013Josie LibertucciAlberta
2013 – 2014Josie LibertucciOntario
2014 – 2015Ryan BuensucesoOntario
2015 – 2016Ryan BuensucesoOntario
2016 – 2017Rhiannon WallaceBritish Columbia
2017 – 2018Olivia IhediohaSaskatchewan
2018 – 2019Olivia IhediohaSaskatchewan
2019 – 2020Olivia IhediohaSaskatchewan