The International Colour Association (Association Internationale de la Couleur (AIC), or Internationale Vereinigung für die Farbe) is a learned society

Learned society

A learned society is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline/profession, as well a group of disciplines. Membership may be open to all, may require possession of some qualification, or may be an honor conferred by election, as is the case with the oldest learned societies,...

 whose aims are to encourage research in all aspects of color

Color

Color or colour is the visual perceptual property corresponding in humans to the categories called red, green, blue and others. Color derives from the spectrum of light interacting in the eye with the spectral sensitivities of the light receptors...

, to disseminate the knowledge gained from this research, and to promote its application to the solution of problems in the fields of science

Science

Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...

, art

Art

Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....

, design

Design

Design as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan...

 and industry

Industry

Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...

 on an international basis. The AIC also aims for a close cooperation with existing international organizations, such as, for example, the International Commission on Illumination

International Commission on Illumination

The International Commission on Illumination is the international authority on light, illumination, color, and color spaces...

 (CIE), the International Organization for Standardization

International Organization for Standardization

The International Organization for Standardization , widely known as ISO, is an international standard-setting body composed of representatives from various national standards organizations. Founded on February 23, 1947, the organization promulgates worldwide proprietary, industrial and commercial...

 (ISO), and the International Commission for Optics

International Commission for Optics

The International Commission for Optics was created in 1947 with the objective to contribute to the progress and dissemination of knowledge in optics....

(ICO), regarding issues concerned with color. The AIC will neither duplicate the work of these bodies nor will it attempt to assume any of their responsibilities.

History

The AIC foundation occurred on 21 June 1967 in Washington DC, USA, during the 16th Session of the CIE (Commission Internationale de l’Éclairage). Its presidents have been, in chronological order:

• William David Wright (1967-1969, Great Britain),
• Yves LeGrand (1970-1973, France),
• Tarow Indow (1974-1977, Japan),
• C. James Bartleson (1978-1981, USA),
• Robert William G. Hunt (1982-1985, Great Britain),
• Heinz Terstiege (1986-1989, Germany),
• Alan R. Robertson (1990-1993, Canada),
• Lucia R. Ronchi (1994-1997, Italy),
• Mitsuo Ikeda (1998-2001, Japan),
• Paula J. Alessi (2002-2005, USA),
• José Luis Caivano (2006-2009, Argentina),
• Berit Bergström (2010-2013, Sweden).

Congresses

Every four years, the AIC organizes international color congresses. It is also responsible for arranging midterm meetings, which take place two years after the congress, and interim meetings, which take place at intervals corresponding to one and three years after the congress. Congresses feature original papers in all themes and fields related to color. Interim and Midterm Meetings, instead, are thematically oriented; each meeting concentrates on a specific aspect of color. The papers presented at congresses and meetings are published in the proceedings.

Members and Executive Committee

The regular members of the AIC are color associations of different countries or regions. In addition, it has individual members (persons), and associate members (other related international societies).

The executive committee of the AIC is made of seven persons: a president, a vice president, a secretary/treasurer, and four ordinary members. This committee, whose seven members must belong to different countries, is renewed every four years by means of elections that take place at the assemblies held during full congresses.

Deane B. Judd Award

Since 1975, every two years, the AIC gives an international prize to individual researchers or small groups of researchers to recognize outstanding work in the field of color science: the Deane B. Judd Award. The selection is an arduous procedure that includes nominations by AIC members and analysis of antecedents of the nominees by a committee composed of previous recipients of the award. The color researchers that have received this award are:

• 1975: Dorothy Nickerson (USA);
• 1977: William David Wright (Great Britain);
• 1979: Gunter Wyszecki (Germany, USA, Canada);
• 1981: Manfred Richter (Germany);
• 1983: David L. MacAdam (USA);
• 1985: Leo M. Hurvich and Dorothea Jameson (USA);
• 1987: Robert William G. Hunt (Great Britain);
• 1989: Tarow Indow (Japan, USA);
• 1991: Johannes J. Vos and Pieter L. Walraven (The Netherlands);
• 1993: Yoshinobu Nayatani (Japan);
• 1995: Heinz Terstiege (Germany);
• 1997: Anders Hård, Gunnar Tonnquist and Lars Sivik (Sweden);
• 1999: Fred W. Billmeyer Jr. (USA);
• 2001: Roberto Daniel Lozano (Argentina);
• 2003: Mitsuo Ikeda (Japan);
• 2005: John B. Hutchings (Great Britain);
• 2007: Alan R. Robertson (Canada);
• 2009: Arne Valberg (Norway);
• 2011: Lucia Ronchi (Italy).