Institutional membership in the Universities Space Research Association has grown from 49 colleges and universities, when it was founded, to nearly 100 institutions. The association was incorporated in 1969, as a private, nonprofit corporation under the auspices of the National Academy of Sciences. All member institutions have graduate programs in space sciences or technology. Besides the institutions members in the United States, there are two member institutions in Canada, three in Europe and two in Israel. One of the many institutes and programs connected with the association is the Center for Advanced Space Studies, a major research and conference facility built in Houston by the Universities Space Research Association in 1991. The Universities Space Research Association s president office is located in Washington, D.C.