ISHM is believed to be the oldest petroleum industry school in the world devoted to fluid measurement and control. The School dates from 1924 when the first three-day session was organized as the Southwestern Gas Measurement Short Course (SGMSC). Mr. W.H. Crutcher, then Chairman of the Oklahoma Utilities Association, proposed having the school in an effort to establish a better understanding of the problems of gas measurement and to better promote improved measurement practices in this area.
Sixty persons attended the Short Course, which met under the auspices of the University of Oklahoma College of Engineering on the campus at Norman, Oklahoma. Interest in the School was apparent from the beginning, and in 1926, Professor William H. Carson who organized the Committee Structure that is in use today assumed its leadership. Dr. Carson, who became Dean of the College of Engineering in 1937, continued as head of the SGMSC until 1968.
Since its inception, except for one year during the depression of the "thirties", one year during World War II and the recent cancelation of the 2020 and 2021 schools due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the School has met annually in the spring. Until 1972, the content of the Short Course was confined to Natural Gas Measurement, Flow Rate and Pressure Control.
As the supply and demand problems in the United States worsened and imports of petroleum liquids increased, it became apparent that improved measurement practices were of paramount importance. The decision was made to change the name to the International School of Hydrocarbon Measurement (ISHM), and to expand the curriculum to include measurement and handling of all petroleum liquids, ranging from liquefied natural gas (LNG) to tar sand slurries.
The response to these expanded offerings has been tremendous and many registrants from around the world now attend regularly.