3. The first 2 decades (1946-1969)
1946 A precursor to AIESEC, called AIESE, is formed at an international meeting of students in Liege, Belgium
1949 Official statutes of AIESEC adopted at Stockholm Congress Exchange of first 89 students
1951 First international study tour (Scandinavia)
1953 Co-operation established with International Chamber of Commerce and UNESCO
AIESEC in the United Kingdom is founded
1955 Traineeships break the 1000 mark
1957 United States joins as first non-European country
1958 First International Presidents' Meeting
South Africa joins AIESEC as first African country and Venezuela as first in South America
1961 Establishment of permanent secretariat in Geneva
1963 First Congress in North America, Princeton 1963, ends with White House reception by President Kennedy
AIESEC extends to Asia with the inclusion of Korea and Japan
1964 Pope Paul VI receives the delegates of the 16th International Congress in Rome
1965 With Australia joining, AIESEC is now on all inhabited continents.
Czechoslovakia joins as first country behind the "Iron Curtain"
1966 Co-operation with Swiss Bank Corporation starts
AIESEC co-sponsors "Education for International Business" conference in Switzerland, forerunner for the
International Theme Programme
1967 First Seminar Traineeship Programme is held
1969 First time a computer is used to exchange students
ITOMS (International Transfer of Management Skills) world conference is held in Turin, Italy
AIESEC Norway organized the International Presidents meeting in BERGEN
5. 1970 - 1990
1970 Lufthansa joins AIESEC International as official carrier
1972 "Extension and Consolidation" programmes begin as aid from developed to developing countries in AIESEC
1974 Minimum allowable length on AIESEC traineeships is increased to six weeks to ensure quality
1976 "Management Education in the 80's" is adopted as the first International theme for 1976-78
President of AIESEC International is Arnstein Endresen from Norway
1977 Concept of the "Leadership Development Seminar" is formulated
First "Export Mission" is undertaken by France
1980 Theme of "Energy: A Factor in the World Economy" is chosen at the World Conference in 1980
1982 "Meeting the Challenges of the Information Age" is chosen as international theme for 1982-1984
In 1983, in Randsvangan, AIESEC Norway organized International Presidents Meeting
1985 AIESEC decides to improve the relationship with the People's Republic of China
"Services: a Dynamic Forces in Tomorrow's Economy" chosen as international theme 1985-87
1986
Refusal by the Swedish authorities to grant visa for the South African delegation to
International Congress feeds debate on non-political nature of AIESEC
1st AIESEC Alumni congress held in Hungary.
1987 International theme - "Towards a global economy: The Challenge of co-operation" chosen for the years 1987 to
89.
1988 Launch of AIESEC Global Seminar Series( AGSS) under theme of "Our common future: The challenge of co-
operation"
7. 1990 – 2000s
1990 Launch of the first "Global Theme Programme" with theme "Entrepreneurship and Corporate
Responsibility"
1991 New global logo is introduced
"Youth Action Guide on Sustainable Development" is published
1992
The Global Theme for the year 1992-1994 is adopted: "Education towards International and Cultural
Understanding"
AIESEC sends a delegation to the Earth Summit in Brazil (UNCED)
1993 "Corporate Responsibility & Entrepreneurship, A Youth Insight" is published
1994 "Education and the 21st Century Citizen - A Youth Action Guide" is published
1995 AIESEC attends the World Social Summit (WSSD) in Copenhagen
1996
Lufthansa sponsors an exclusive flight for over 300 delegates to travel for Congress in Warsaw, Poland
First paperless matching of traineeships
Global Theme is adopted: "Interdependence–Learning and Acting for a Shared Future"
AIESEC attends Habitat II meeting in Istanbul
1997 Matching of traineeships goes online with launch of "Insight" global information system
1998 AIESEC International relocates to Rotterdam
Launch of AIESEC Learning Tool
1999 At International Congress in South Africa the "AIESEC 2005" is formalised, a shared medium-term vision
for the organisation
9. Exchange during these times
If you have been involved in exchange administration
of AIESEC at any time during the past 50 years, you
will have contributed to managing some of the
estimated 20 million pieces of paper and 350,000
different exchange forms, that have passed through
the different matching processes.
10. A 1953 document recalls the following about how exchange was
done:
• "In November or December every school or committee starts
preparation of the exchange by asking commercial and industrial
enterprises whether they want to offer openings for foreign
students during the following summer.
• The offers made by the enterprises on special forms are bought
to the Annual Congress and exchanged in accordance with the
number of students having applied for traineeship in the various
countries. These students are selected carefully by local
committees composed of professors and students. Each student
working in a country as a trainee should have a particular
scientific interest in it, he should try to perfect his knowledge of
the language, to study the economic structure of the country and
to learn to see the problems of business administration in foreign
trade and industry. After their stay abroad, the students are
obliged to give exact reports on their experiences, from a
scientific point of view as well as from a human and social one"
Source: General Report to the 5th Annual Congress, Núrnberg, 1953
11. 2000s
The core of AIESEC is defined as:
1. Developing individuals for an impact on society
2. The full exchange process is a core to developing individuals
(with physical exchange being a fundamental part)
3. Our primary target audience are students of higher education
• External View
The internet years were a period where everything had to be
faster and better.
Globalisation causes governments to re-organise themselves
and companies to attempt large global mergers
12. • In the 2000's, the organisation saw a steady increase in
exchange performance with over 5000 students sent on
internship in 2008. The introduction of development
internships, as a distinct pool of exchanges, added to the
diversity of experiences offered. During this period of
time the introduction of further management and
measurement tools for exchange have supported
countries to increase the number of exchange
experiences they are providing.
The 60th anniversary celebrations of 2008 saw AIESEC
celebrating the history and achievements of 60 years of
activating youth leadership in over 100 countries and
territories.
