In 1972 several Societies came together to form the Federation of Analytical Chemistry & Spectroscopy Societies (FACSS). A copy of the original incorporation document can be accessed here. These Societies became founding member organizations of FACSS and combined their regional meetings into a US national meeting focused on advancing analytical chemistry and the allied sciences.

The statement of object of FACSS as written in FACSS’s bylaws is
“The object of this corporation shall be to disseminate technical information dealing with the applied, pure, or natural sciences. To this end the corporation shall:

Organize meetings, with papers presented in the fields of Analytical Chemistry and allied fields, conforming to the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, Section 501 (C) (3) 1954, and as may be amended (hereinafter referred to as IRC 501C3).
Present workshops, tutorial sessions, technical instrumentation exhibitions and short courses on topics of current scientific interest.”

The original statement of policy of FACSS notes
“FACSS is designed to be a cooperative of existing nonprofit scientific and educational organizations that are concerned with the development of chemical analysis by bringing together all facets of analytical problem solving. The expressed intent of FACSS is to bring these interested persons together in a common forum in an annual national conference. The discipline of analysis by chemical and physical means is rapidly becoming a paramount factor in all facets of society, such as health care, environmental pollution, industrial productivity, and crime. The analytical community must address itself to these problems; the establishment of a national forum is a concrete step toward the solution. ”

Over the last forty years FACSS has evolved but has maintained five critical objectives to realize the Federation’s goals; these are,

Education and Training
Advance Knowledge
Advance Technology
Social and Professional Peer Networking
Promote / Enable Interests of its Member Organizations.

A copy of the current bylaws of FACSS can be accessed here: Bylaws PDF.

From FACSS’s first meeting in Atlantic City in 1974 until the present, FACSS has promoted scientific exchange, promoted education, and highlighted technological advancement. Beginning with that very first meeting, the FACSS meeting has carried the designation as the National Meeting of the Society for Applied Spectroscopy (SAS). The 38th meeting of FACSS, held in Reno, NV, in 2011 corresponded to the 50th National Meeting of SAS.

In 2011, at the 38th FACSS meeting, FACSS announced that future north American meetings of FACSS would be branded as SciX – the Great SCIentific eXchange. More information on the background behind this rebranding can be found on the History page of the SciX website.