The Indian Chemical Society:A Century of Performance and Promise in the Service of the Nation

The Indian Chemical Society (ICS), a premier Scientific Society of India, was founded in 1924 as a National Forum for the community of chemists and members of allied disciplines. It will enter the centennial year of its foundation on May 9, 2023. The driving force behind its establishment was the nationalistic spirit prevailing in India under the British rule. J. N. Mukherjee, J.C. Ghosh, and S.S. Bhatnagar while carrying out their research work in the University College, London, in 1919 for their D.Sc. Degree decided that after returning to India, they would endeavor to establish a Chemical Society like the Chemical Society of London, now the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). They dreamed of transforming it into a reality with the active cooperation of many of the country’s leading personalities. The Indian Chemical Society was founded on May 9, 1924, as a registered Society, with Sir Prafulla Chandra Ray, the doyen of Indian Chemists, as the founding President.Many of the distinguished personalities in Chemical Sciences at that time in India took an active interest in nurturing the newborn Society.