The Society for Industrial Microbiology's programs, publications and members have made significant contributions toward advanciing the science and technology of microbial production of food, food ingredients and industrial chemical products since the early days of the Society, 50 years ago.In the 1960's and 1970's, papers presnted at SIM annual meetings and published in Developments in Industrial Microbiology covered large scale production of algae and bacteria as sources of food and water recovery during future long term space exploration missions.Subsequently, this research area was broadened to include production of yeasts, molds, and higher fungi for human food or as food flavoring ingredients. Starting in the 1980's, in addition to SIM's annual meeting, the Journal of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology has included papers on cultivation of lactic acid bacteria for dairy starter cultures, production of microbial polysaccharides, immobilized cell processes for continuous organic acids production, and high cell density processes for producing bacteria and yeasts. From the 1990's to the present time, processes have included production of microbial surfactants, biodegradable polymers, and specialty chemicals by genetically modified organisms.SIM's sponsorship of the Recent Advances in Fermentation Technology (RAFT) conferences and the annual Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals have provided for reports of advancements in these fields. In the future, SIM will continue to advance the science and technology leading to important commercial products for food and chemical industry applications.