The Commission was created in 2006, in response to an initiative by members of the international interferometry community, and as a natural expansion of the work of the earlier Working Group on Optical/Infrared Interferometry. At that time, optical interferometry had been in regular use in modern astronomy for approximately 20 years, primarily with first and second generation prototype and experimental facilities. Also at this time, the first observatory-scale user facilities were coming into operation at ESO, Keck, and CHARA.