The ICHM is an inter-union commission composed of representatives of some fifty-five nations. ICHM's objectives are:

To promote and encourage international cooperation in the history of mathematics.

To sponsor, or co-sponsor, symposia at the International Congresses of the History of Science and of Mathematics, and at other international conferences in the history of mathematics.

To celebrate excellence in the history of mathematics through the awarding of the Kenneth O. May Medal and the Montucla Prize.