Association of official analytical chemists: 1964-1988

TLDR: The AOAC not only changed its name to Association of Official Analytical Chemists but also underwent a striking expansion and transformation, the highlights of which are the subject of this account.

Abstract: In 1964, William Horowitz published the history of the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists (AOAC), of which he was the chief executive officer (Horwitz 1964). At that time the AOAC had existed for 80 years and had ventured very little beyond its stated purpose of validating and publishing standardized methods of analysis for substances important to agriculture and the public health through a highly structured system of interlaboratory testing and review. In the ensuing quarter of a century, however, the AOAC not only changed its name to Association of Official Analytical Chemists but also underwent a striking expansion and transformation. The highlights of that transformation are the subject of this account.