40 Years and More of Tire Science and Technology: A History of The Tire Society

In the late 1960s in the United States, public interest in motor vehicle safety was at an all-time high, resulting in the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, the Highway Safety Act, and the creation of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Around 1970, a group of industry scientists saw a need for a forum for creation of useful tire standards and dissemination of scientific knowledge about tires. This led to the formation of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Committee F-09 on tires in 1971. In 1972, the committee began publication of the journal Tire Science & Technology (TSTCA), the first peer-reviewed journal dedicated exclusively to scientific articles on tires. In 1979, ASTM ceased publication of the journal, and in 1980, members of F-09 incorporated The Tire Society to continue publication. In 1982, The Tire Society held its first annual Conference on Tire Science and Technology. Nearly 40 years later, the society has been through many changes, but the journal, the annual conference, and the core mission of encouraging and disseminating knowledge about tire science and technology remain. Through a review of documents and interviews with members of the society, this article seeks to comprehensively document the history of The Tire Society.