The American Society of Comparative Law was founded in 1951 "to promote the comparative study of law and the understanding of foreign legal systems . . . [and] private international law." The Society consists of approximately 100 institutional sponsor members, a growing number of individual members, and corresponding foreign institutional members. With more non-United States sponsor members joining, the Society has become an international forum for comparative studies. The Society publishes the American Journal of Comparative Law, awards prizes for comparative law scholarship, holds an annual meeting and other jointly sponsored scholarly programs thereby providing the essential forum for communication and education among active comparativists.