History of Chapter

The National Society of Black Engineers-Alumni Extension Greater Philadelphia Chatper (GPC) was chartered in February 1989. At its inception, the Chapter's General Body meeting were held in the dining rooms, living rooms, and basements of a dedicated group of founding members. As more and more members began to join the Chapter, a larger meeting place was needed. In 1990, the Chapter held several of its meetings at the Philadelphia Naval Yard, Westinghouse, and the University of Pennsylvania. Then, through the initiative of GPC member Sabra Townsend and the efforts of Kelly Woodland, former Director of the Franklin Institute's Future Careers Center, the Franklin Institue graciously provided its third floor Executive Board Room for the Chapter's General Body meetings. With the Institute's support of the GPC, the Chapter continued to hold its monthly meetings at the Franklin Institute through July 1995.

Since the chapter was chartered, it has provided 10 scholarships ranging from $500 to $1,000 to high school seniors and college students pursuing engineering or science-related degrees. Until 1991, the Chapter relied solely upon proceeds from its annual Scholarship Raffle to generate funds for the scholarship program. In the 1990/1991 program year, however, the Chapter began receiving annual donations from the FMC Corporation to help support the scholarship program.

Another show of support from FMC came in the form of office space. Prior to the 1993/1994 program year, the Chapter did not have a home base. Administrative activities and file storage changed yearly as business was conducted in the homes or offices of the Chapter's Executive Baord members. FMC provided the Chapter with office space and the use of their facilities on the 14th floor of the Mellon Bank at 1735 Market Street until July 1995.

In 1988, the Alumni Extension of NSBE (NSBE-AE) was established. Before local Chapters could be founded, a Regional body had to first be formedd. Through the efforts of several dedicated African-American engineers (most of which were from the Philadelphia area), NSBE-AE Region II Mid-Atlantic was quickly formed. The formation of Region II led the way fro the chartering of the Greater Philadelphia Chapter in February 1989. Today, NSBE-AE Region II Mid-Atlantic consists of 15 chapters and interest groups located throughout Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and the District of Columbia. GPC salutes those Philadelphia engineers who formed the backbone of the NSBE-AE Region II and subsequently founded the GPC. They are as follows: