The society was formally founded following a meeting organized by Bernard Roizman of 40 prominent virology researchers at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago on June 9, 1981.
[2] Its first official annual meeting, organized by Milt Zaitlin, took place at Cornell University in August 1982—its membership had reached almost 1,000 scientists.
Other notable founding members who signed letters sent to members of the virology community soliciting opinions about the possible future society in advance of the O'Hare meeting were David Baltimore, Purnell Choppin, Harold Ginsberg, Thomas Merigan, Bernard Roizman, Peter K. Vogt, Bob Wagner, Julius Youngner, and Norton Zinder.
[4] The ASV continues to host an annual scientific meeting every summer on a selected university campus in the United States or Canada.
The society also hosts career and educational information—including an online jobs directory—and received a grant from the Alfred Sloan Foundation to support a website documenting the history of virology.