Sir Keith Murdoch, the father of
Rupert Murdoch, is credited with being the main instigator of the AAA. It was founded in 1948 at a meeting that included co-founders: •
Randal Heymanson, of Australian Newspaper Service Ltd • Alick McLean, of the Hanover Bank •
Russell Leffingwell, chairman of
J.P. Morgan •
Juan Trippe, founder and chairman of
Pan American Airways •
James A. Farley, Postmaster General • Edward Riley, of
General Motors Overseas Corporation •
Ogden Reid, publisher of
The Republican and the
New York Tribune •
Neal Dow Becker •
Herbert Bayard Swope • Charles Gamble of the Standard Vacuum Oil Co. • E.C. Dyson of Dyson Kissner Corp. • Floyd Blair of
First National City Bank • Harry B. Van Sinderen, president of
C. Tennant, Sons & Co. • John M. Young, founding partner of
Morgan Stanley & Co. The inaugural president was
Edward E. Robbins. The association functioned under voluntary leadership with a part-time executive sectretary for many years, receiving significant administrative support from Morgan Stanley & Co. In late 1995 it engaged a full-time executive and established an independent office. In 1996, the AAA merged with The Australia Society, which had been founded in 1989 by the
Australian consul-general in New York,
Chris Hurford, and others, to promote economic, social, and cultural ties between the two countries. The merger made the organization the largest national not-for-profit in the US devoted to relations between the US, Australia, and New Zealand. In 2006, the AAA established its Sydney office. Craig Chapman was chair for six years between 2020 and 2025, and served a total of 23 years on the board. The president until December 2024 was
John Berry, who had been Australia's ambassador to the United States between 2012 and 2016. ==Structure and governance==