ASM has been in existence, under various names, since 1913, when it began as a local club in Detroit called the Steel Treaters Club. During World War I, the Steel Treaters Club became the Steel Treating Research Society, with groups in Detroit, Chicago, and Cleveland. After World War I, the Chicago group seceded and formed the American Steel Treaters Society. 
In 1920 the local chapters were reunified into the new American Society for Steel Treating (ASST). The society expanded its technical scope beyond steel during the 1920s. In 1933 it became the American Society for Metals (ASM). 
Gradually the society expanded its geographic scope beyond the U.S. and its technical scope beyond metals to include other materials. It became known as ASM International in 1986. , ASM claims 20,000 members worldwide.
ASM provides several information resources, including technical journals, books, and databases. ASM also hosts numerous international conferences each year, including ASM's Annual Meeting: International Materials, Applications, and Technologies Conference and Exposition (IMAT).