This article provides a brief history of the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES). The CIES, initially the Comparative Education Society (CES), evolved from annual conferences at New York University begun in 1954 by William W. Brickman. CES was founded at the close of a subsequent conference (April 27, 1956), with Brickman as President and Gerald Read of Kent State University, Secretary-Treasurer. During the first six years of its existence, the CES led study tours on five continents and in twenty-four countries. It also inaugurated a new journal, "Comparative Education Review," and it drafted and ratified a Constitution calling for annual elections and a nine member Board of Directors. From the beginning it courted an international membership. In addition to Americans, scholars from Canada, England, France, Germany, Switzerland, Chile and the Netherlands served on its Board of Directors or on the Editorial Board of its journal. During the years that followed, CIES established societal markers that reflected an emerging maturity. The modern era has given rise to particularly contentious issues, both epistemological and practical. A significant recent development is a trend toward decentralization through committees and Special Interest Groups. (Contains 1 note.)