SWE Timeline

1950 - First honorary membership is presented. Lillian Moller Gilbreth, “First Lady of Engineering” and renowned pioneer in time-motion studies and industrial engineering, becomes SWE’s first honorary member.

1951 - First SWE National Convention 112 people attend the first official National Convention in New York City.

1951 - Journal of the Society of Women Engineers is published The first issue of SWE’s journal is published in the Spring and includes 14 pages of news and notes.

1952 – SWE is incorporated SWE is incorporated as a non-profit educational service organization on February 13.

1952 – The “Centennial of Engineering” is held. Along with 50 other engineering societies, SWE is invited to participate in the “Centennial of Engineering” in Chicago, IL in September. They share meeting space and a conference program with the Western Society of Engineers.

1952 – Margaret Ingels presents her “Pettiocats and Slide Rules” speech At the Centennial of Engineering, Margaret Ingels delivers her speech profiling early women engineering pioneers. It is soon after published by SWE as its first real career guidance publication.

1952 – The first Achievement Award is granted. The Society’s highest honor is bestowed on Dr. Maria Telkes “in recognition of her meritorious contributions to the utilization of solar energy.”

1953 – SWE becomes truly “national” SWE charters the Los Angeles section on February 7, expanding the society from coast to coast.

1954 – First student sections are chartered Student groups at Drexel University and Purdue University charter the first student sections of SWE.

1954 – SWE assists U.S. Department of Labor in ground breaking publication With assistance from SWE in its preparation, the Women’s Bureau of the U.S. Department of Labor publishes the first engineering career guidance publication for women.

1955 – SWE hosts its first Eastern Seaboard Conference More than 60 members and guests gathered on March 19-20 in Philadelphia for the first Eastern Seaboard Conference. Eight sections were represented in what was a precursor to SWE’s regional conferences.

1956 – SWE Board of Trustees is established 1958 - Lillian Moller Gilbreth scholarship established The first SWE scholarship, named for Lillian Moller Gilbreth, is awarded to Phyllis S. Gaylard of the University of California at Los Angeles.

1959 - The first Council of Section Representatives meets In June, the newly formed Council of Section Representatives meets for the first time. Along with the newly formed Executive Committee, the CSR replaces the Board of Directors as the governing bodies of the Society.

1960 – Membership reaches 650 The Society has 16 active professional sections and nine student sections.

1960 - SWE establishes a senior membership grade SWE’s first four senior memberships are awarded to Patricia Brown, Aileen Cavanagh, Ruth Dynes, and Shirley Holmgreen.

1961 – New headquarters building houses major engineering societies SWE moves its headquarters office to the newly built United Engineering Center in New York City and hires its first executive secretary, Winifred Gifford (White).

1961 – Bell Laboratories and General Electric become SWE’s first corporate members

1963 – Profile of a Women Engineer is published The Statistics Committee circulates statistics on women in engineering to educators, industry, other organized engineering and scientific societies, and the general public. The publication is updated occasionally through the 1970s and early 1980s.

1964 - The first International Conference of Women Engineers and Scientists is held SWE sponsors the first International Conference of Women Engineers and Scientists in New York City, which draws over 500 participants from 35 countries.

1967 - The Men's Auxiliary of SWE (MASWE) is established in the SWE bylaws.

1968 – The first Rodney D. Chipp Memorial Award is presented SWE chooses Col. Clarence E. Davies as the first recipient of the Rodney D. Chipp Award, named for the husband of Beatrice Hicks, SWE’s first president.

1970 – Membership tops 1,100 The society has 18 active professional sections, 30 active student sections.

1971 – The first Henniker Conference is held Sponsored by SWE, the first Engineering Foundation Conference relating to women in engineering is held July 12-16 in Henniker, New Hampshire and co-chaired by SWE president Olive Salembier.

1971 – SWE institutes a Certificate of Recognition Ruth I. Shafer becomes the first SWE member to be awarded the Certificate of Recognition for her efforts in raising funds to facilitate SWE’s move into the United Engineering Center.

1973 – SWE joins forces with the NSPE In February, 1973 signs a memorandum of understanding to affiliate with the National Society of Professional Engineers.

1973 – SWE endorses ERA The Council of Section Representatives votes to endorse the Equal Rights Amendment.

1976 – Men are admitted as full SWE members SWE admits male members, including all Men’s Auxiliary members, with full rights and privileges of the membership grade to which they are eligible.

1976 – Students gain representation on the CSR The Council of Section Representatives votes to add one representative from each student region as a voting member of the council.

1977 – SWE President appointed to the National Women’s Conference U.S. President Jimmy Carter appoints SWE President, Arminta Harness, as delegate-at-large to the National Women’s Conference.

1977 – CSR votes: convention to only be held in ERA states During the national convention, the Council of Section Representatives votes to not hold its national convention in any state that has failed to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment.

1979 – Convention attendance surpasses the 1,000 mark Over 1,000 people attend the national convention in San Francisco, CA.

1979 – Distinguished New Engineer Award established Four SWE members, Paula Loring, Karen Morrison, Carol Schamp and Linda Velez Rodriguez receive the newly created Distinguished New Engineer award.

1980 – SWE recognizes members’ contributions with Fellow membership status Eight members become the Society’s first fellows. The Fellow grade of membership is limited to five percent of the Society’s senior membership.

1980 – SWE Newsletter is replaced by U.S. Woman Engineer The newsletter of the Society becomes a full magazine and the name is changed to U.S. Woman Engineer.

1980 – National Leadership Conference debuts SWE hosts a National Leadership Conference with women engineers from the United States, Canada, Italy, and Puerto Rico to discuss “A View From the Top,” or how to make it up the corporate ladder.

1981 – Membership passes 10,000 The Society has 42 active professional sections and 178 active student sections. 1983 – Position of executive director created SWE hires its first executive director, Julie Gibouleau.

1983 – Board of Directors reestablished The Executive Committee and the Council of Section Representatives approve a plan to replace the committee with a Board of Directors.

1984 – SWE reorganizes its membership In order to better serve its growing membership, SWE adopts a regional structure, grouping sections into 10 different regions across the United States.

1984 – 7th ICWES held in Washington D.C. For the second time, SWE hosts the International Conference of Women Engineers & Scientists held in Washington D.C.

1988 – SWE receives NASA Grant SWE receives a five-year, $500,000 grant from NASA to encourage young women and minority students to pursue careers in engineering. The grant supports SWE initiatives such as the Higher Education Outreach Program, the Big Sister program, and NASA Space Camp.

1989 – Upward Mobility Award established Dr. Edith W. Martin receives the first Upward Mobility Award, presented to a woman engineer in a significant decision-making position within industry, academia or government.

1990 - SWE has more than 13,000 members The Society has 76 active professional sections and 237 active student sections.

1993 – SWE Archives established SWE moves into its new home at 120 Wall Street. Thirty-nine cartons of SWE archive materials are shipped to the newly established SWE Archives at the Reuther Library at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan.

1993 – Breakthrough survey is published A National Survey of Women and Men Engineers: A Study of 22 Engineering Societies is published. It is the result of four years of work on the part of SWE’s statistics committee with the cooperation of 21 other engineering societies.

1994 – SWE enters public policy debate In response to discussions of gender equity in the classroom in Congress, SWE issues a position statement in support of the Gender Equity in Education Act (GEEA). The statement is distributed to members of Congress, other technical and professional societies.

1998 – SWE visits space Dr. Bonnie Dunbar, NASA mission specialist, SWE senior member, and recipient of the Resnik Challenger Medal in 1992, carries SWE memorabilia into space aboard a January space shuttle mission.

1998 – SWE gains presence on Capitol Hill SWE sponsors a House bill to establish the Congressional Commission on the Advancement of Women and Minorities in Science, Engineering and Technology (CAWMSET).

1999 – SWE participates in the Summit on Women in Engineering SWE members convene with participants from academia, industry, engineering societies, foundations, and women’s organizations at the Summit on Women in Engineering in Washington, D.C. The summit is part of the Celebration of Women in

2000 – SWE celebrates 50! SWE celebrates its 50th anniversary with 88 active professional sections, 295 active student sections, and more than 14,000 members.

2002 – SWE assists in the formation of the International Network of Women Engineers and Scientists

2003 – Corporate Partnership Council created A Corporate Partnership Council (CPC) is established to facilitate frequent interaction among SWE leadership and representatives of the major corporate supporters of SWE.

2005 – 1,000 SWE members join women in other STEM (science, technology, engineering & math) professions in calling for enforcement of Title IX.

2005 – IBM forms new partnership with SWE SWE’s corporate partnerships reaches a new historic level with a new collaboration with IBM to advance a shared commitment to the recruitment, retention, and advancement of women in technology. A key component to the partnership includes an IBM

2005 – Joint Memberships with NSBE & SHPE offered For the first time in its history, SWE partners with two other engineering societies, the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) to offer joint membership.

2006 - The ExxonMobil Foundation presents to SWE a $1 million grant to support education programs.

2006 – SWE makes strides in public policy In partnership with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), SWE issues its first official position papers, “SWE General Position Statement on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education and the Need for a U.S.

2006 – SWE sponsors EWeek SWE and Northrop Grumman develop a legacy program, “Connecting Educators to Engineering” as first-time national Engineers Week society sponsors.

2006 – SWE launches new outreach program and web site SWE launches its “Wow! That's Engineering” outreach program and unveils a product of its partnership with IBM aimed at K-12 girls. Develop, design, discover - Women Innovating with Technology, or 3D WIT, encompasses a series of events throughout the U.S. as well

2007 – National Survey about Engineering results are revealed SWE publishes a 6-part series in SWE Magazine, discussing the results of the SWE National Survey about Engineering, which was commissioned in 2005.

2007 - The American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) partners with SWE to offer joint memberships.

2008 – SWE visits congressional representatives SWE sends three representatives to Washington, D.C. to discuss Title IX issues and legislation with congresspersons during Congressional Visits Day.

2009 – SWE reaches out to school counselors SWE launches SASS-E Girlz (the skills, attitude, science, smarts for engineering), a program to help SWE members partner with school counselors in educating girls about engineering careers.

2009 – The SWE Council of Representatives is replaced by the Senate. 2010 – SWE celebrates its 60th anniversary The society has over 18,000 members.

2010 – SWE introduces new conference features At the WE10 national conference, SWE debuts virtual conference participation online, continuing education units for professional development events, and launches the “Invent It. Build It” mega outreach event.

2011 – 60th anniversary edition of the Journal of the Society of Women Engineers is released Multidisciplinary scholars from around the country explore the history of SWE and women in engineering using materials in SWE’s archival collections.

2011 – SWE advocates for change Funded by a National Science Foundation grant, SWE partners with NSBE, SHPE, and AISES to hose the 4∆ (For Change) workshop “Together, Let’s Put Engineering Within Reach of All Girls.”