AESC was founded by five organizations, along with the US Departments of War, Navy, and Commerce: American Institute of Electrical Engineers (now IEEE), the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers (AIME) and the American Society for Testing and Materials (now ASTM International).
It changed names several times over the years: American Standards Association (ASA) in 1928, United States of America Standards Institute (USASI) in 1966, and finally the current name of American National Standards Institute (ANSI) in 1968.
They were also key to establishing the International Standards Association (ISA) in the 20s, which later became the International Organization for Standards (ISO).