Centennial Celebration

Celebrating 100 Years of IAAP!

In celebration of the Centennial of IAAP, we present a special collection of lectures from members around the world, available to IAAP members during December. Topics include organizational psychology, the history of applied psychology, well-being, ethics, and more.

IAAP President Christine Roland-Lévy opens the collection with a special message:

The IAAP Centennial Anniversary booklet shows a great overview of the history of IAAP over the past 100 years, the challenges of applied psychology, and the organization's future goals. View it here!

For a more detailed resource, International Association of Applied Psychology: A Centennial History 1920–2020, our newly published book, includes the history of Applied Psychology during the first hundred years of IAAP as we celebrate our Centennial Anniversary in 2020. Access an online version for free here!

Applied Psychology Around the World, Volume 2, Issue 1 is devoted to the IAAP Centennial Celebration. Read for free now!

We have a series of special events during the Centennial Year in different parts of the world, including in connection to the United Nations, in New-York, Geneva, and Vienna where we have active teams working with the UN.

We had planned to conclude the year with our Centennial Congress of Applied Psychology (CCAP) which was scheduled for December 13-17, 2020 in Cancun, Mexico and has now been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

View the Centennial Collection

100 Years of IAAP

The International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP) was officially founded in 1920 in Geneva as the first international academic society within the field of psychology. It was initially called Association Internationale de Psychotechnique in French.

Some years later, during its congress, which took place in Paris, in 1953, Applied Psychology was added to the Association’s original name. And the name officially became in English the International Association of Applied Psychology in London in 1955.

Presidents of IAAP

Among the 16 first Presidents of IAAP, let us note that nine of them are European, five came from the USA and Canada, and one came from Australia. Only two were women, both from France - Claude Lévy-Léoyer became President in 1982, after 62 years of male leadership. Christine Roland-Lévy became President of IAAP, as the second woman President, some 28 years later.

Other Presidents of note:

• Edouard Claparède: the first President lead IAAP for 20 years, from 1920 to 1940 when he passed away.

• Henri Piéron: the second President of IAAP, from 1947 to 1953, was also the President of the International Union of Psychological Science from its beginning; 1951 to 1954, overlapping with his time as IAAP President for two years.

• Clifford B. Frisby: the third President of IAAP, was the first English speaking President and is the one who introduced the name of the International Association of Applied Psychology in English in 1955.

• Edwin A. Fleishman: 6th President (1974-1982), became President of IAAP after being the President of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, SIOP (1973-1974).
  
  

International Congress of Applied Psychology and Regional Meetings

View the Centennial Collection