Helen Fein, Robert Melson and Roger Smith at the Remembering for the Future Two conference, held at Humboldt University in Berlin in 1994. With over 500 persons in attendance and numerous panels and presentations, there was only one three-hour session on the comparative study of genocide. Hence, there was discussion of the need to create an organization that focused on the study and prevention of genocide. The Association of Genocide Scholars (AGS) was established in 1994. During this initial period, the AGS shared a website and affiliation with the Institute for the Study of Genocide. The organization's first conference was held in 1995 at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, US, with about 45 persons attending. Helen Fein served as the association's first President. Subsequent biennial conferences were held at Concordia University (Montreal) in 1997, the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1999, and the University of Minnesota in 2001. With the rapid growth and global interest in genocide studies, a number of scholars pushed for a more international perspective and argued that conferences should be held outside North America. The organization revised its by-laws in 2001 and was renamed the International Association of Genocide Scholars. The revised bylaws provided that at least one officer be from outside North America, and that biennial conferences regularly be held outside North America. The International Association of Genocide Scholars The IAGS conference at the University of Galway, Ireland in 2003 was the first held outside North America. There were over 200 participants, with a significant increase in participation by European scholars. The increase also reflected growing scholarship in comparative genocide studies. In 2005, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida, hosted the IAGS conference. Israel Charny was elected president. In 2006, the IAGS, in partnership with the Zoryan Institute, an Armenian organization in Toronto, Canada, began publication of Genocide Studies and Prevention. It became an on-line publication, free to all, in 2012. At that time, the Zoryan Institute withdrew its co-sponsorship of the IAGS Journal in favor of publishing its own journal. In 2007, Gregory Stanton became President of the International Association of Genocide Scholars. Stanton incorporated the IAGS and obtained its non-profit status. The IAGS launched the organization's listserv and website and revised its bylaws. Its financial practices were reformed. The 2007 IAGS biennial conference was held in Sarajevo, Bosnia. It was the first IAGS conference to be held in a