From humble beginnings in 1884 to the world's largest technical professional association
IEEE, an association dedicated to advancing innovation and technological excellence for the benefit of humanity, is the world's largest technical professional society. It is designed to serve professionals involved in all aspects of the electrical, electronic and computing fields and related areas of science and technology that underlie modern civilization.
IEEE's roots go back to 1884 when electricity was just beginning to become a major force in society. There was one major established electrical industry, the telegraph, which had come to connect the world with a communications system faster than the speed of transportation. A second major area had only barely gotten underway—electric power and light, originating in Thomas Edison's inventions and his pioneering Pearl Street Station in New York.
In the spring of 1884, a small group of individuals in the electrical professions met in New York and formed the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE). That October, the AIEE held its first technical meeting in Philadelphia, with founding President Norvin Green of Western Union. Early leaders included Thomas Edison from power and Alexander Graham Bell from the telephone industry.
A new industry arose with Guglielmo Marconi's wireless telegraphy experiments. The Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) was founded, modeled on the AIEE but devoted to radio and increasingly to electronics. The IRE furthered its profession through publications, standards, conferences, and promoting innovation in emerging products and services.
As electricity wove deeper into every corner of life—television, radar, transistors, computers—the interests of AIEE and IRE increasingly overlapped. The IRE had grown faster and became the larger group by 1957. On January 1, 1963, the AIEE and IRE merged to form the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), with 150,000 members at formation.
IEEE evolved into a truly global institution, serving members with 38 societies, 130 journals and magazines, over 300 conferences annually, and 900 active standards. Fields expanded beyond electrical/electronic engineering into micro- and nanotechnology, ultrasonics, bioengineering, robotics, and many others. By 2010, IEEE had over 395,000 members in 160 countries.
Through its worldwide network of geographical units, publications, web services, and conferences, IEEE remains the world's largest technical professional association, continuing to advance technology for the benefit of humanity.