1962
IPSA’s first executive secretaries encountered administrative challenges. Until the late 1960s, IPSA's operations relied on the efforts of individual figures such as François Goguel (Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques, FNSP, Paris, 1949-1950), Jean Meynaud (FNSP, Paris, 1950-1955), John Goormaghtigh (Carnegie Endowment, Geneva, 1955-1960), and Serge Hurtig (FNSP, Paris, 1960-1967), who also held the roles of secretary-general and treasurer.
They often humorously commented on the demanding nature of their responsibilities, which is understandable given their part-time status within IPSA. As political scientists, they were actively involved in teaching or managing institutions such as the Carnegie Endowment (John Goormaghtigh) or the Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques (Jean Meynaud).
Centralizing administration under one person linked IPSA's operational functions to the Executive Secretary's role at his home institution. Jean Meynaud used his secretary at the Fondation for IPSA tasks and even used FNSP's stationery for IPSA-related correspondence.
The Secretariat’s symbolic importance stemmed from its crucial historic role in the growth of the Association. The Executive Secretary played a proactive role in the development of international political science by sending vast numbers of letters to every corner of the world in search of “National Associations or simply groups representing specialists in political science.” The sea or ocean that lay between the IPSA President and Secretariat for the first nine years of its existence furthermore led the Executive Secretary to consult the President only on particularly sensitive or political issues and to de facto extend his own prerogatives.
It was not until the late 1960s and 1970s that the Executive Secretaries started to secure increased resources for fulfilling their mission. André Philippart (Université Libre de Bruxelles, 1967-1976), John Trent (University of Ottawa, 1976-1988), Francesco Kjellberg (University of Oslo, 1988-1994), John Coakley (University College, Dublin, 1994-2000), and Guy Lachapelle (Concordia University, Montreal, 2000-2020) had the title of Secretary-General. The role of Secretary-General was phased out in 2020, and the position of Executive Director was instituted with the appointment of Kim Fontaine-Skronski.
From 1962 on, they were assisted by a full-time administrator. This position has been held successively by Michèle David (1962–1967), Michèle Scohy (1967–1976), Liette Boucher (1976–1988), Lise Fog (1988–1994), Louise Delaney (1994–1998), Margaret Brindley (1998–2000), Christian Gohel (2001–2003), Stéphane Paquin (2003–2004), Aubert Descôteaux (2004–2007), Andrea Cestaro (2007–2018), Aubert Descôteaux (2018), Adrienne Jung (2018-2019) and Ekaterina Kuzmenko (2019-).
Photo (Participants of the 1967 IPSA World Congress): The 7th IPSA World Congress of Political Science was held in Brussels, Belgium from 18-23 September 1967. The participants included: 1) Georges Lavau (IPSA EC Member 1961-64, France), 2) Daniel Norman Chester (IPSA President 1961-64, United Kingdom), 3) Jacques Chapsal (IPSA President 1958-61, France), 4) Serge Hurtig (IPSA Secretary-General 1960-67) and 5) André Philippart (IPSA Secretary-General 1967-76, Belgium).
