Abstract :
The 2004 CDC provides the unique opportunity to celebrate the Control Systems Society´s 50th anniversary. Our society was founded in 1954, as the Institute for Radio Engineers (IRE) Professional Group on Automatic Control. The first issue of the Transactions on Automatic Control was published by the society in 1956. The Control Systems Magazine was added in 1981, and the Transactions on Control Systems Technology in 1993. A society initiative beginning in the late 1990s created the DVD collection containing all of these journal publications through 2001, and this material is now available on-line through IEEE Xplore. The Conference on Decision and Control began as the Discrete Adaptive Processes Symposium and Panel Discussion, held as part of the 3rd JACC at New York University on June 29, 1962. The name of the symposia or conferences evolved from 1962 through 1982, becoming the Conference on Decision and Control (with no additional modifiers) in 1982. Several of us hope, in future years, to digitally capture all of these conference materials and add them to the IEEE Xplore archive, completing the preservation of all materials published by the society for future generations. The society´s Executive Committee, Board of Governors, and Editors-in-Chief have worked throughout 2004 to prepare both activities and publications that celebrate our society´s 50th year. The December 2004 issue of the Control Systems Magazine is a special anniversary issue that includes an article showcasing the past presidents of the society, a history of all past CDC (or predecessor) conferences, recollections by past presidents, conference organizers, and other members of our society, a photo essay capturing some ofthe memories, a gallery of past Control System Magazine covers, and a retrospective article on the history of the society. The 2004 Conference on Decision and Control will host a variety of activities commemorating and celebrating our 50th anniversary, including a much more ex- ensive collection of photographs from past society activities, and culminating with a special closing celebration. Many of our members and several others at the annual SICE meeting in Japan and at the CCA/ISIC/CACSD meeting in Taiwan have already received a special luggage tag invitation to celebrate this anniversary. All attendees of the 2004 CDC will receive this tag with their registration materials and other special commemorative items will also be available at the conference.
