A pre-committee was formed at the meeting to develop a constitution, plan elections and launch a new association, consisting of Tony Slaven, Geoff Jones, Terry Gourvish, Derek Oddy and Oliver Westall.
The first elections were held in September 1990, and the first council was formed of Derek Oddy (President), Geoff Jones (Vice President), Tony Slaven (Secretary Treasurer), Terry Gourvish (Newsletter Editor), Mary Rose (Membership Secretary) and David Jeremy as Council Member.
The association's Ph.D. prize was introduced in 1997 at the joint British/American conference held in Glasgow.
Each year the prize winner joins the council to ensure that new researchers become embedded in the networks and practices of the association.
Discussions began in 1993 between Geoff Jones, Tony Slaven and Hans Pohl, and were extended to include Mary Rose, Keetie Sluytermann, Rolv Petter Amdam and Per Boje at a meeting in Glasgow in the autumn of 1993.