The Applied Probability Society of INFORMS (Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences) was established in August 1998 after the application for Society status of the INFORMS Section on Applied Probability was granted by INFORMS Council.

Previously, the Section on Applied Probability was the result of the merger of the Technical Section on Applied Probability of ORSA (Operations Research Society of America) and the College of Applied Probability of TIMS (The Institute of Management Science) in 1995.

The establishment of an applied probability group was first initiated in 1971. A formal proposal was submitted to ORSA in April 1973, and to TIMS in October 1974. The College under TIMS was established in May 1975. A Special Interest Group on Applied Probability under ORSA was established in November 1976, and was upgraded into a Technical Section in Spring 1981.

Biennial conferences on Applied Probability are held since 1981 (see APS Conferences Table), and Applied Probability prizes are awarded every year since 1994 (see Awards menu).