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Tau Beta Pi (ΤΒΠ or TBP) is the national engineering honor society in the United States of America and the second oldest collegiate honor society in the US.
History
When Phi Beta Kappa sought to restrict its membership to liberal arts in the late 19th century, Edward H. Williams Jr., a member of Phi Beta Kappa and head of the mining department at Lehigh University, formulated the idea of an honor society for those studying technical subjects. Irving Andrew Heikes, the valedictorian of his class at Lehigh was inducted as the first student member of Tau Beta Pi, at the Pennsylvania Alpha chapter on June 15, 1885.
In 1892 a second chapter was established at Michigan State University. Since then it has grown to over 225 student chapters across the United States. Tau Beta Pi was a founding member of the Association of College Honor Societies. The national headquarters of Tau Beta Pi are currently located in Knoxville, Tennessee on the campus of the University of Tennessee.
In 1974 the Sigma Tau fraternity merged with Tau Beta Pi. Sigma Tau was an honor society for engineering much like Tau Beta Pi, except it initiated female engineers as well as male engineers, whereas Tau Beta Pi's membership was restricted to men only (although TBP did award a women's badge to exceptional female engineers). With the merger, Tau Beta Pi began offering full membership to females.
Insignia
The colors of Tau Beta Pi are seal brown and white, which are the school colors of Lehigh. The official badge is a watch key in the shape of the bent of a trestle. Originally the keys could be used to wind watches, but modern keys cannot, mainly because of the current lack of watches that require keys to wind.
Membership
Members initiated as undergraduate students must be junior-level (3rd year) students in the upper eighth of their engineering class, in terms of grades, or in the upper fifth of their class if they are senior-level (4th year). Graduate students can join, as well as others who have had a large impact on engineering and society through engineering.
Notable members
Tau Beta Pi's membership includes some famous figures in engineering and technology, including:
Seven astronauts who died on Apollo 1, Space Shuttle Challenger, and Space Shuttle Columbia were also members of Tau Beta Pi. In their honor a fellowship has been given out five times (1968, 1987, 1997, 1998, 2004). These astronauts and their chapters are:
- Gus Grissom, Apollo 1, Indiana Alpha 1950
- Edward White, Apollo 1, Michigan Gamma 1952
- Roger B. Chaffee, Apollo 1, Indiana Alpha 1957
- Ellison Onizuka, Challenger, Colorado Beta 1969
- Judith Resnik, Challenger, Pennsylvania Gamma 1970
- Dick Scobee, Challenger, Arizona Alpha 1965
- Rick D. Husband, Columbia, Texas Beta 1980
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