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History and Constitution

The Institution has its roots in a small group of enthusiasts that met at Cambridge during the early 1970’s. The present name was adopted in 1981, when Mr. Robert Charles, later the Institution’s first General Secretary, decided their society should seek a wider membership. Bob Charles was an aeronautical engineer and a mathematician. He was also a man of vision. During the 50’s and 60’s his work had brought him into contact with the earliest practical computers, and with the dedicated people who were struggling to develop them. He realized the need for a professional body to represent and promote the interests of these talented individuals. In 1981 he persuaded a group of influential friends to back his ideas for an Institution, and so turn them into reality.

Bob Charles’ Institution was a private venture. In its early years it relied heavily on subsidy from his engineering company. This could not go on; the Institution needed to be put on an independent footing. But Bob died before he could get to grips with the problem, so its resolution was left to his successor, Mike Ryan, who became Director General in 1990.

Since 1993 the Institution has been a Company Limited by Guarantee. This is a company that does not have shareholders and cannot distribute profits. Instead it has members who guarantee it, up to an agreed limit. Each person who joins the IAP automatically becomes a member of the company, and must accept the responsibility for guaranteeing its activities, up to a personal maximum of one pound.

The Institution is governed by a Council of 15, elected from the body of the membership. Members normally serve for a three-year term. Five places on the Council come up for re-election every year. The Council elects the President and Vice President of the Institution.

Meetings of the Council normally take place four times a year in London. There is an Annual General Meeting in the autumn that the general membership can attend.

It is the duty and responsibility of the Council, the directors of the company, to run the Institution in accordance with its Constitution and with company law. The Constitution sets out the aims and objects for the company, and the other things it is allowed to do.

Ordinary members of the Institution also have responsibilities. They are bound by a Code of Conduct that obliges them to co-operate in promoting the aims and objects of the IAP. It also sets out guidelines for the conduct of their professional lives. The Code is backed by disciplinary regulations.