[citation needed] In 1980, Charlie Wolf, Fred Rossini, and Alan Porter chaired an all-day session on integrated impact assessment for the American Association for the Advancement of Science's (AAAS) annual conference in San Francisco.
[citation needed] During one of the sessions at the 1980 AAAS conference, Rossini, Porter, and Wolf discussed creating an impact assessment association.
The piece of paper inside Wolf's cookie read "you will do well to expand your business" – and the decision to begin the International Association for Impact Assessment was made.
Maurie Voland of Belhaven, North Carolina, US, took over as executive director in 1988 and served in a part-time position until 1995.
In 1999, the IAIA Headquarters moved off of the NDSU campus to its current independent location at 1330 23rd Street South, Suite C, Fargo, North Dakota, US.
[3][19] IAIA prepared a monograph on social impact assessment for the National Marine Fisheries Service in 1993/1994.