International Congress on Glass 2010
History
The close collaboration between the Society of Glass Technology in Sheffield and the German Society of Glass Technology in Frankfurt/Main which was established in the mid-twenties can be viewed as a forerunner and nucleus of ICG. Both societies held their first joint meeting in 1928 and furthermore entered systematic technical committee work in the fields of important definitions and terms used in the technological literature, of standardizing methods relating to the determination of thermal expansion, chemical durability of glasses and of testing refractory materials.
The driving forces of this first international collaboration were Prof. William E.S.Turner (1881-1963), Head of the Department of Glass Technology in Sheffield, a position which he held from 1915 until 1945, and Prof. Georg R. Gehlhoff (1882 -1931), Member of the Board of Directors of OSRAM in Berlin and Head of the Glass Laboratory at Weiswasser. After Gehlhoff's early death in 1931, Dr. Heinrich Maurach, Managing Director of the German Society of Glass Technology (DGG), together with Turner continued to pursue the idea of initiating a larger body of international collaboration.
The ICG constitution was finalized in conjunction with the first ICG Congress on Glass held at Venice in September 1933 and was signed by the following representatives: J. Antonio De Artigas (Spain), J.C. Hostetter (USA), B. Long (France), H. Maurach (Germany), A. Mauri (Italy) and W.E.S. Turner (England). Prof. Turner was elected as the first President of the ICG, a position which he held until 1953; Dr. Maurach served as the first Honorary Secretary until 1950. Prof. Turner and Dr. Maurach are considered to be the founding fathers of the ICG. Dr. Maurach had hoped to organize the III. ICG Congress in Berlin in September 1939. Due to the outbreak of World War II the planned congress never took place. The venue of the first ICG Congress after the War was Venice in 1953.
II. International Congress on Glass in London and Sheffield, 1936
First role: Dr. J.M. Mühlig (CZ), F.C. Flint (USA), Dr. H. Maurach (Germany), Dr. K. Mey (Germany), Prof. W.E.S. Turner (UK), B.P. Dudding (UK), Prof. J.A. de Artigas (Spain), E. Meigh (UK), Dr. J.C. Hostetter (USA), Dr. B. Long (France) (from left to right)
