On June 15, 1983 a small group of comparative psychologists from countries around the world met in Toronto, Canada to establish a new Society. The International Society for Comparative Psychology (ISCP) was formally recognized by the Assembly of the International Union of Psychological Sciences at their meeting in Acapulco, Mexico in September 1984. This article describes the founding and organization of the ISCP, and traces the development of the Society over its first 15 years. It also examines the reception of the Society by the comparative psychology community at large and some of the problems it has faced in the past and may face in the future.