The IAWS 50th Anniversary Meeting was held at l’Académie d’Agriculture de France in Paris on June 1–3 with 51 participants from 21 countries. IAWS President Uwe Schmitt opened the meeting together with Patrick Ollivier, Permanent Treasurer of l’Académie d’Agriculture. There were 34 inspiring and wide-ranging presentations, including the excellent IAWS Academy Lecture delivered by Fellow Gerd Wegener on the subject: “1966–2016: Science and use of wood in a changing world.”

Following the Meeting, there was a 2-day tour beginning with ENSTIB (École Nationale Supérieure des Technologies et Industries du Bois, http://www.enstib.univ-lorraine.fr/en/) at the University of Lorraine. On the second day, we visited the Inra Research Center, Nancy-Lorraine (http://www.nancy.inra.fr/en), including extensive educational and training facilities and the system M-POETE (mobile platform for observation and experimentation in terrestrial ecosystems). We found the French commitment to wood science and technology to be impressive and highly commendable.

The meeting and subsequent visit to Nancy owed their success to the extraordinary efforts of Fellow (and former President) Xavier Deglise. The Executive Committee thanks Professor Deglise, l’Académie d’Agriculture de France for hosting this important milestone meeting.

Future meetings

IAWS Executive Committee Meeting and “Cell Wall” Symposium, Scion, Rotorua, New Zealand, February 20–22, 2017.

IUFRO Division 5 Meeting on “Forest Sector Innovations for a Greener Future,” Vancouver, Canada, June 12–16, 2017.

9th Pacific Regional Wood Anatomy Conference will be organized by IAWA/IAWS, Denpasar, Indonesia, September 26–29, 2017.