History
The Dutch Society for Mass Spectrometry (NVMS) was founded as a Mass Spectrometry Discussion Group (MSDG) on 26th February 1964 by Piet van der Haak and Henk Hofman at the Laboratory of Organic Chemistry of the University of Amsterdam from the Chemical Society Infrared Discussion group. In 1992 the MSDG was renamed into NVMS and became a section of both the Royal Dutch Chemical Society (KNCV) and the Dutch Physics Society (NNV). However in legal terms the NVMS is an independent association having its own board, voting members, annual business meetings, financial reports, etc.
In 1964 the MSDG started with 38 members coming from the Universities of Amsterdam, Utrecht, Leiden and Eindhoven; R&D institutes like FOM-AMOLF and TNO; industrial R&D labs such as Shell, DSM, Philips, Polak Frutel and the uranium enrichment factory UCN. About 18 huge mass spectrometers were running and applied in the disciplines of physics, chemistry and geology.
Since then the following presidents served the NVMS:
| Piet van der Haak | 1964 – 1971 |
| Peter Korver | 1971 – 1972 |
| Bert Schram | 1972 – 1974 |
| Nico Nibbering | 1974 – 1976 |
| Henk van ‘t Klooster | 1976 – 1977 |
| Johannes de Ridder | 1977 – 1979 |
| Rowald Neeter | 1979 – 1981 |
| Piet Leclercq | 1981 – 1983 |
| Mike ten Noever de Brauw | 1983 – 1997 |
| Andries Bruins | 1997 – 2000 |
| Ron Heeren | 2001 – 2005 |
| Eric van Beelen (interim) | 2005 – 2006 |
| Michel Nielen | 2006 – 2010 |
| Sander Koster | 2010 – 2012 |
| Rob Vreeken | 2013 – 2016 |
| Manfred Wuhrer | 2016 – 2022 |
Nowadays the NVMS is having almost 700 registered members and probably the Netherlands is still having the highest density of mass spectrometers per square kilometer. Since several years the membership of the NVMS is free of charge, but at most of its scientific meetings an entrance fee has to be paid to cover the lunch expenses. NVMS members will receive announcements for both the one-day Spring and Fall meetings and can apply two times per year for the NVMS Poster Award and the NVMS Conference Attendance Fund.
Every 5th year the NVMS organizes a 2-day international conference on mass spectrometry, the most recent 2009 edition together with the Belgium Society for Mass Spectrometry. Several of these events have been -and hopefully will be- organized at the Rolduc venue, a former monastery in the southern part of the country. Thanks to the remote location, its serenity and the informal atmosphere for discussing mass spectrometry and other good things in life, these ‘Rolduc-meetings’ became very famous, both for the participants and the most distinguished invited guests, among them Fred McLafferty, Richard Caprioli, Michael Karas, Graham Cooks and many others.
Definitely a highlight in the NVMS history is the organization of the 12th IMSC in 1991 in Amsterdam, having 1500 participants, a record at that time. More recently the Human Proteome Organization meeting was organized in Amsterdam, 2008, having ‘proteome biology’ as its theme, but of course with mass spectrometry as its core technology. A large dedicated metabolomics conference was organized in Amsterdam, 2010, highlighting hyphenated mass spectrometry techniques as core technology. Last year the organization of the 24th IMSC in 2022 was awarded to Maastricht, which the NVMS will organize in close cooperation with Ron Heeren of Maastricht University and Albert Heck of Utrecht University.
The Montreux LC/MS Symposia have Dutch roots as well: they were founded by the late Roland Frei (Free University of Amsterdam) in 1980 and are still biannually organized by Jan van der Greef (TNO and Leiden University) in Montreux, Switzerland.
