To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the then-named Electron Microscopy Society of America, the Society published its first hardbound volume of proceedings papers in advance of the annual meeting in Chicago, August 29, 1967. Program Chair Claude Arceneaux edited the 375-page book that contained 186 extended abstracts in the familiar two-page format, the same style in use today. This respected annual proceedings series has continued in various formats under the leadership of Editors GW Bailey, S McKernan, J Shields, and G Celio.

In November 1971, the Society launched the EMSA Bulletin to consolidate various mailings and to encourage letters to the editor discussing problems and criticisms about electron microscopy. Editor RK Hart, followed by EL Thurston, LC Sawyer, R Anderson, and JM Harb, progressively improved this publication, later titled MSA Bulletin, into a highly successful communications vehicle. More recently, Society news and meeting information has been transferred to the email newsletter MSA Update and the MSA website (microscopy.org), which also contains the President’s Blog.

When I was MSA president in 1991, we decided the Society should have a peer-reviewed journal. Joe Harb helped me fashion a “demo journal” that we published as a special issue of the MSA Bulletin in March 1992. The success of that project led us to seek a publisher, and publication of what became Microscopy and Microanalysis began in 1995. Over the years our Editors, led in succession by J-P Revel, DE Johnson, CE Lyman, RL Price, and JF Mansfield, have made Microscopy and Microanalysis a leading international journal.

In 2002, the Society acquired Microscopy Today from Don Grimes who had self-published it since 1992. Ron Anderson was appointed Editor to continue self-publishing this magazine on behalf of MSA. Ron and his editorial team strengthened the magazine’s standing among readers and advertisers. My time as Editor began in 2009.

The MSA book series, under the leadership of MS Isaacson and P Calarco, has two volumes in print: Scanning Electron Microscopy for the Life Sciences (H Schatten) and Liquid Cell Electron Microscopy (FM Ross). Several other volumes are nearing completion.

Thus, MSA’s publications portfolio has been building for 50 years. Communications with microscopists continually expand through digital editions of publications and interactions via social media: Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. The Microscopy Society of America and our publisher, Cambridge University Press, have plans to expand our digital opportunities as we continue our tradition as a premier source for microscopy information.