Acoustical Society of America

The Acoustical Society of America (ASA) is an international scientific society devoted to the generation, dissemination, and practical use of knowledge about acoustics. Founded in 1929, it brings together researchers, engineers, educators, clinicians, architects, musicians, government specialists, and other professionals whose work involves sound and vibration. The Society is primarily a voluntary membership organization and has approximately 7,500 members, with participation extending beyond the United States. ASA covers acoustics as a broad interdisciplinary field rather than as a single technical specialty. Its interests include physical and engineering acoustics, architectural acoustics, noise control, underwater acoustics and oceanography, biological and medical acoustics, speech and hearing, auditory and psychological acoustics, music, and related areas of physics and technology. Its technical committees represent specialized fields, organize conference sessions, and help guide the Society's publication and professional activities. The Society's principal role is to provide infrastructure for scientific communication. It convenes technical meetings and conferences, publishes peer-reviewed research and conference proceedings, supports standards work, and provides magazines, podcasts, educational materials, and other channels for communicating acoustical research. Its flagship publication is the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, established in 1929. Other publications include JASA Express Letters, Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics, and Acoustics Today. ASA Publications also produces the Across Acoustics podcast, which presents research from the Society's publication portfolio in a more accessible format. Professional recognition is another central part of the ASA identity. The Society presents medals, prizes, fellowships, service citations, and communication awards for contributions to acoustics. Its honors span fundamental science, engineering, underwater acoustics, auditory neuroscience, education, mentoring, and public communication. Technical committees also sponsor awards for student and early-career conference presentations. ASA maintains a substantial student and early-career program. Students can receive reduced membership and conference rates, travel support, and access to dedicated meetings and social activities. Regional student chapters, introduced in 2004, provide a local structure for networking and professional development. Through these activities, the Society serves both established specialists and people entering the field. The organization originated from discussions among scientists interested in architectural acoustics. In 1928, Floyd R. Watson, Wallace Waterfall, and Vern Oliver Knudsen discussed forming a society for acoustical engineers. Waterfall subsequently contacted prospective participants, and Harvey Fletcher offered Bell Telephone Laboratories in Manhattan as the venue for an organizing meeting on December 27, 1928. Forty scientists and engineers attended and established the Society's initial structure. Harvey Fletcher became the first president, Knudsen the first vice-president, Waterfall the first secretary, and Charles Fuller Stoddard the first treasurer. ASA was formally established in 1929, the same year its journal began publication. Today, ASA's brand is associated less with consumer products than with scientific authority, professional community, standards, scholarly publishing, conferences, awards, and public understanding of sound. Its continuing relevance comes from connecting fundamental acoustical science with practical applications in buildings, communications, medicine, industry, environmental management, ocean research, hearing, and music.

The Acoustical Society of America emerged from efforts to create a professional organization for people working in acoustical engineering and related scientific disciplines. During the summer of 1928, Floyd R. Watson and his former doctoral student Wallace Waterfall met Vern Oliver Knudsen at Knudsen's beach club in Santa Monica. Their discussions focused on the need for a society that could bring together specialists, particularly those interested in architectural acoustics, and provide a durable forum for technical exchange. In December 1928, Waterfall contacted sixteen prospective participants to test support for organizing such a body. Harvey Fletcher offered the use of Bell Telephone Laboratories at 463 West Street in Manhattan for an initial organizational meeting on December 27. Forty scientists and engineers attended. They established the Society's initial framework, elected temporary officers, and began preparing a constitution and bylaws. Fletcher served as president, Knudsen as vice-president, Waterfall as secretary, and Charles Fuller Stoddard as treasurer. The organization became the Acoustical Society of America in 1929. The Society's scholarly identity was established early. The first issue of the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America appeared in October 1929. Over time, the publication program expanded to reflect the breadth of acoustics, including research in physics, engineering, architecture, environmental noise, oceanography, biology, speech and hearing, psychology, and music. ASA also developed technical committees representing specialized subfields. These committees organize technical sessions at meetings and provide subject-matter representation within the Society's publications and professional activities. ASA's publishing history includes both continuing and discontinued titles. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America remains its principal traditional peer-reviewed journal. Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics provides an online record of conference contributions, while Acoustics Today communicates acoustical science to a broader professional and interested audience. JASA Express Letters operates as an open-access peer-reviewed journal. Its immediate publishing lineage includes Acoustics Research Letters Online, which ran from 2000 to 2005, became a section of JASA from 2006 through 2020, and was replaced in 2021 by the current JASA Express Letters format. Earlier publications included Noise Control and its successor, Sound: Its Uses and Control. The quarterly newsletter Echoes was published from 1991 through 2013. The Society also built a recognition system covering many dimensions of acoustical achievement. Its honors include the Gold Medal, Silver Medal, Helmholtz-Rayleigh Interdisciplinary Silver Medal, R. Bruce Lindsay Award, Wallace Clement Sabine Medal, Pioneers of Underwater Acoustics Medal, von Békésy Medal, and other field-specific prizes. Additional recognitions address service, science communication, education, mentoring, oceanographic acoustics, and auditory neuroscience. Technical committees commonly add student and early-career presentation awards at conferences. Student participation became an increasingly visible part of ASA's professional model. Students receive substantially reduced membership and conference rates, may obtain travel subsidies, and can participate in formal and informal student activities. In 2004, the Society introduced regional student chapters, extending these services into local academic communities. In the 2020s, ASA continued to combine conventional scholarly publishing with newer communication formats. In 2021, its publications office began the Across Acoustics podcast, which features authors and research associated with the Society's journals and proceedings. The Society's continuing activities center on conferences, technical committees, publications, standards, awards, student development, and the practical application of acoustical knowledge. It remains a voluntary international scientific organization rather than a commercial product company.

• 2021

  JASA Express Letters launched in its current form

  [1]Acoustical Society of Americaen.wikipedia.org

  The open-access journal JASA Express Letters became the successor to the earlier acoustics research letters publication sequence.

• 2021

  Across Acoustics podcast introduced

  [1]Acoustical Society of Americaen.wikipedia.org

  ASA Publications began a podcast featuring research and authors connected with its publication program.

• 2004

  Regional student chapters introduced

  [1]Acoustical Society of Americaen.wikipedia.org

  ASA expanded its student support structure through regional chapters.

• 1929

  Society established and first journal issue published

  [1]Acoustical Society of Americaen.wikipedia.org

  The Acoustical Society of America was founded, and the first issue of the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America appeared in October.

• 1928

  Organizing meeting held

  [1]Acoustical Society of Americaen.wikipedia.org

  Forty scientists and engineers met at Bell Telephone Laboratories in Manhattan and created the initial structure for the future Society.

A multidisciplinary, member-led scientific society that connects acoustical research, professional practice, scholarly publishing, standards, education, and public communication.

• Peer-reviewed scientific journal · 1929

  Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

  Founded in 1929, JASA is the Society's principal scholarly journal. It publishes research spanning the physical science and practical application of acoustics, including engineering, architecture, noise, oceanography, biology, speech, hearing, psychology, and music. The journal uses a traditional subscription publishing model and has been central to ASA's role as a forum for scientific communication.

• Open-access scientific journal · 2021

  JASA Express Letters

  JASA Express Letters is a peer-reviewed online journal for acoustics research published through an open-access model. It represents the current continuation of ASA's acoustics research letters publishing line, following the earlier Acoustics Research Letters Online title and its period as a section within the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

• Conference proceedings · 2007

  Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics

  Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics is an online archive and publication venue for contributions presented at ASA-related meetings. It extends the Society's conference function by preserving and distributing technical work across the field's many subdisciplines.

• Professional magazine · 2005

  Acoustics Today

  Acoustics Today is a general-interest publication about acoustics. It complements ASA's specialist journals by presenting developments, applications, and professional topics in a format intended for a broad acoustics community rather than only specialist research readers.

• Science communication podcast · 2021

  Across Acoustics

  Across Acoustics is a podcast produced by the ASA Publications office. It highlights authors and research associated with the Society's journals and proceedings, providing an audio channel for explaining acoustical research and its significance.

• Professional recognition

  ASA awards and medals

  ASA administers a broad portfolio of awards recognizing contributions to acoustical science, engineering, service, education, mentoring, communication, underwater acoustics, oceanography, auditory neuroscience, and related fields. Technical committees also sponsor awards for student and early-career conference presentations.

• 2021

  Create JASA Express LettersProduct launch

  Background

  ASA's earlier acoustics research letters publication had evolved from a standalone title into a JASA section.

  Action taken

  The Society established JASA Express Letters as an open-access peer-reviewed journal.

  Aftermath

  The new title became the current outlet for this segment of ASA's scholarly publishing program.

  Source

• 2021

  Launch Across AcousticsProduct launch

  Background

  The Society's publications program sought additional ways to communicate research beyond written journals and proceedings.

  Action taken

  ASA Publications began producing a podcast featuring authors and research from its publication portfolio.

  Aftermath

  The podcast added an accessible audio format to ASA's scholarly and public communication channels.

  Source

• 2004

  Expand student support through regional chaptersStrategy

  Background

  The Society sought to strengthen participation and professional development for students in acoustics.

  Action taken

  ASA introduced regional student chapters alongside reduced student rates, travel support, and student-focused activities.

  Aftermath

  Regional chapters became part of the Society's continuing student engagement structure.

  Source

1. 1Acoustical Society of Americaen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Acoustical Society of America official websiteacousticalsociety.org