Chattanooga Engineers Club |
Club HISTORY
The first general meeting of the Chattanooga Engineers Club was held on March 24, 1924 at Chattanooga's Park Hotel. Among its order of business was the approval of its recently drafted Constitution and By-Laws. O. J. Miller, Hydraulic Engineer of the Tennessee Electric Power Company is credited with being the architect and the driving force behind this nascent group of 18 members. In that first year membership grew to 70 and the second it grew to 97. By 1996 the count had reached 320 members.
From the beginning, its goal has been for members to learn about current developments and trends in science and technology and to encourage the exchange of knowledge and idea among friends and fellow engineers. Today, the Chattanooga Engineers Club ranks as one of the oldest technical societies in the United States that holds presentation meetings on a weekly basis. According to Robert J. Bradshaw, the Club's Historian Emeritus, there have been few times throughout these years that the Club has not held a meeting on Monday of each week. In the early years during the summer months visits were made to various industrial plants in lieu of the regular meeting. This practice continued on an occasional basis in later years. In 1958, visits to industrial plants in distant cities were incorporated with football game excursions. Trips to Knoxville, Atlanta and Birmingham were made. Enthusiastic groups of up to 100 participated in 1925. Copies of some of the activity reports for 1925 to 1940 are on file. The weekly Bulletin was begun November 1948 to announce coming programs and report activities of the Club and the Members.
The Engineering Scholarship Fund was established in April 1972 with donations to the fund made by Engineers Club members throughout the years. This fund currently supports scholarships to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Chattanooga State Community College. Occasionally additional scholarships are awarded as funds become available. It is apparent that since the death of Robert Bradshaw in 1972 a lot remains to be done to bring the history of the Engineers Club up to date. But it is hoped that this brief overview would encourage some of the current Club member to pick up the banner and shed further light into this interesting society.
Here's a link to a Times Free Press article about our Engineers Club history entitled "How early engineers shaped Chattanooga". The article was written Jim Frierson, our 2010 Philip Sutton People to People award recipient. It appeared in the Times Free Press local history section to help kick off our 2014 E-week events.
2017 UPDATE
The Chattanooga Engineers Club was first established to promote the exchange of ideas and to learn about current developments and trends in science engineering and technology. In addition, the Club has participated in projects of interest to the public that require engineering/technical expertise. It has encouraged K-12 students to gain a better understanding of technology and to consider a career in a technical field. It has supported community and state efforts to improve the education system so that students get a better exposure and understanding of the world around them and that they are able see how science, math, engineering and technology can play a vital role in making the world a better place.
Through 2016 the Engineers Club met nearly every Monday from noon till 1:00 p.m. in a downtown location. Here speakers presented various topics related to engineering, science and technology as well as subjects in education, medicine, politics, community issues and other topics of general interest to the members. When a meeting date fell on the fifth Monday of the month the club held an area field trip to a processing or manufacturing plant or to any other site that the club members found interesting. You can get an idea of the meetings that have been held in the past by clicking here: Previous Meetings
During 2017 the Club began changing to the second & fourth Monday schedule as shown on our Home page.
And here is a list of all the presidents that have served the organization since its founding:
1924 O. J. Miller
1925 D. Hewitt Wood
1926 Harold C. Fiske
1927 Al F. Porzelius
1928 G. L. Davidson
1929 Emerson P. Poste
1930 J. W. Edwards
1931 H. H. Bailey
1932 W.G. Wilson
1933 L. G. Haller
1934 P. H. Wood
1935 William H. Sears
1936 Andrew J. Kelly
1937 W. Jess Brown
1938 C. E. McCashin
1939 Buford H. Martin
1940 Frank J. Stevens
1941 Richard B. Baston
1942 Edwin Harsh
1943 W. O. McCord, Jr.
1944 James M. Alexander
1945 Robert M. Farell
1946 Walter G. Davies, Sr.
1947 William O. Swan
1948 Rodney B. Rougelot
1949 A. R. McLain
1950 Edgar A. Rogers
1951 James F. Steffener
1952 John R. Kruse
1953 Charles P. Parsons
1954 John T. Maroney , Jr.
1955 L. F. Pohl
1956 Norbert Koch
1957 Robert V. Curtis
1958 Richard L. Culpepper
1959 Iley M. Barnes, Jr.
1960 Perry V. Lane
1961 Robert J. Bradshaw, Jr
1962 Paul H. Shoun
1963 Paul E. George
1964 Myron S. McCay
1965 Rufus G. Obrecht
1966 Paul H. Merriman
1967 James M. Anderson
1968 Roy E. McCollum
1969 Donald J. Mills
1970 Manville J. Mayfield
1971 George A. Rutledge
1972 H. Glenn Blocker
1973 Lawrence A. Hoenig
1974 Jack W. Anderson
1975 Lynn D. Russell
1976 J. Hampton Barnett
1977 J. William Brooks III
1978 Fred W. Lupton II
1979 T. Warren Newberry
1980 Ronald B. Cox
1981 Almeda M. Frazier
1982 James C. Stites
1983 Kenneth B. Garner
1984 Billy H. Pryor
1985 Charles T. Fox
1986 William Q. Gurley
1987 Thomas L. Lyons
1988 John M. Higgins
1989 William J. Hobbs
1990 Robert C. Tulis
1991 James R. Cunningham
1992 Jay E. Floyd
1993 Walter G. Davies, Jr.
1994 Ron A. Burton
1995 Ronald N. Fugatt
1996 Terry D. Reynolds
1997 Douglas L. Jacobs
1998 Jack A. Wagner
1999 Gregory A. Sedrick
2000 Ed Chapin
2001 Lulu Copeland
2002 Uwe Zitzow
2003 Steve McGuire
2004 Brad Baucom
2005 Tiffany Gibby
2006 Judy Driggans
2007 Stephen Smith
2008 Ron Bailey
2009 Jim Schwall
2010 Joe Robbins
2011 Ralph Boroughs
2012 Rebecca Balch
2013 Jerry McClanahan
2014 Tim Lee
2015 Harry Hawkins
2016 Stephen Stark
2017 Paul Snyder
2018 Julie Alcantara
2019 Al Curtis
2020 Grady Stout
2021 Steve Poteet
2022 Gabe Kurtz
2023 George Aslinger