A group of historians of geology was organized within the Geological Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences in 1949, with Vladimir Vladimirovich Tikhomirov (1915-1994) as leader for many years. He made the importance of the study of history of geology widely recognized in Russia and other countries. The International Committee (now Commission) on the History of Geological Sciences (INHIGEO) was founded in 1967, with Professor Tikhomirov elected as its first President.
The Department on the History of Geology has been part of the Vernadsky State Geological Museum (of the Russian Academy of Sciences) since 1991.