The Louisiana Academy of Sciences was founded in 1927 at Centenary College of Louisiana (Shreveport, La.). Dr. Israel Maizlish, Associate Professor of Physics at Centenary, was instrumental in establishing the organization and served as its first president from 1927 to 1929. The organization produces annual meetings hosted by universities and other institutions in Louisiana, and these meetings typically include delivery of addresses, papers on research, and demonstrations. The organization also publishes a journal and bulletin. The journal, “Proceedings of the Louisiana Academy of Sciences," began publication in 1932 and includes “peer-reviewed manuscripts from all fields of the sciences and science-affiliated disciplines (namely science education and science and humanities), especially but not exclusively pertaining to Louisiana and the southeastern region of the United States” (Vol. 68, 2022). The bulletin, “Louisiana Scientist,” began publication in 2010 and includes abstracts of papers presented at annual meetings.

The goals of the organization are: “To unite scientists of Louisiana for the purpose of encouraging research and education in all branches of science. To encourage and conduct scientific discussions, to publish and disseminate scientific material, to conduct enterprises deemed to promote the causes of science, to foster applications of science to the problems of humanity. To encourage and assist teachers in Louisiana’s elementary and secondary schools with the caliber of instruction necessary to generate and maintain interest in all areas of science. To serve as an active voice representing science in both higher education and K-12 in Louisiana” (Vol. 68, 2022).

For more details about the organization’s history, see: Harry J. Bennet, “The First Half-Century of the Louisiana Academy of Sciences: 1927-1977” The Proceedings of the Louisiana Academy of Sciences, Vol. 45 (1982): 7-88.