IEEE Ithaca Section History
| IEEE Ithaca Section History | |
|---|---|
| Established date | 1902/10/15 |
| IEEE Region | 1 |
| IEEE Council | |
| Geographic region | Ithaca |
| Region area | |
| Principal cities | |
| Home page | |
| List of Subsections in this Section
| |
Section History
The Ithaca Section started as a Branch of AIEE at Cornell University, on October 15, 1902, and became an AIEE Section when the Institute changed the designation from Branch to Section in 1907. In 1909 a Student Branch of AIEE was formed at Cornell. AIEE formed a Geographical District Executive Committee, which first appeared in our Regional Archives in 1930. The archives are not available prior to 1904, therefore officers for 1904 are provided and were: Harris J. Ryan, Chairman; and George S. Macomber, Secretary. Starting in 1938 the archives show Ithaca had 47 members, which increased to 158 in 1949, the last year data was available. In 1947 Binghamton was made a Sub-Section of Ithaca.
The AIEE Geographical District Executive Committee had ten initial Districts; District 1 and 3 comprised about the same area as IEEE Region 1. Each of the Districts had three executive officers: Chair, which was also a Vice-President of AIEE; a District Secretary; and a Chair of the District Committee on Student Activities. Ithaca Section members were active in the District, and provided Chairs to the Committee on Student Activities.
Starting in 1938 the archives show Section membership, and Ithaca had 47 members that year. the membership grew to 158 in 1949, the last year information was provided. In 1947 Binghamton was organized as a Sub-Section of Ithaca.
Ithaca was also active in the IRE, and a Sub-Section of the Syracuse section was formed in 1953. They reached full Section level in 1954.
When the Ithaca Section of the AIEE celebrated it 50th anniversary in May 1952, it was a vigorous organization that consisted of members from the New York cities of Ithaca, Binghamton, Elmira, Corning, Endicott, Montour Falls, and Towanda, Pennsylvania. Regular monthly meetings were held throughout the Cornell University academic year in Ithaca, Binghamton, Elmira, and Corning in turn. Meetings were usually held on Friday evenings with a dinner followed by a short business meeting and an interesting talk by a specialist on some topic of current interest. On frequent occasions, members of the Ithaca Section IRE would have a joint meeting with the AIEE group. Total membership of the Section was about 250. Although a Subsection had been established in Binghamton in 1947 members of the subsection continued to participate in Ithaca Section Activities
This pattern of section activity was maintained for the next ten years. During this period the meetings featured many highly interesting topics including a demonstration of the first Xerox machine, a chess competition between members and the latest IBM computer, presentation of a new ceramic developed by Corning Glass that had the potential for satellite nose-cone material and was already being used for kitchenware (each member received a sample dish) a discussion of plans for the U.S. space-rocket program (before Sputnik) an early description of the Cornell radar telescope at Arecibo, Puerto Rico and many others.
In the summer of 1961, the Ithaca Section hosted the annual AIEE Summer Meeting in Ithaca. The entire Cornell electrical engineering faculty together with many members of the Section from organizations in the other cities, cooperated in the planning and execution of this major task. some 1500 attendees were on campus for five days, the weather was happily pleasant, and all participant agreed it had been a highly successful event. During the meeting a special committee of AIEE and IRE members began planning the combination of the two societies into the organization that became the IEEE in 1963.
In subsequent years, the Binghamton subsection became a separate full section of the IEEE to serve the Triple Cities, the membership of the Ithaca Section was confined to the faculty of university and residents of the Ithaca area, and most of the Section activities were combined with those of the active IEEE Student Branch. The chairman of the Section usually serves as the faculty advisor for the Student Branch in addition to their other duties.
The Arecibo Radio and Radar Observatory in Puerto Rico, the Cornell Nanofabrication Center, the Cornell Theory Center, the Power Systems Engineering Research Center, and the Plasma Studies Laboratory, are among the highly successful research groups that have been conceived and initiated by members of the Ithaca Section. Through the years, many Section members have served on national IEEE committees, have been editors of major IEEE publications, and have chaired innumerable IEEE conferences. Several have received prize paper awards.
The Ithaca Section has a long history of involvement with ongoing technical events in the School. For example, the regular EE/ECE Collopuium (established in 1945) is held throughout the academic year and occasionally doubles as an Ithaca Section activity.
AIEE Ithaca Section Officers
| Year | Chair | Secretary |
| 1907-1908 | E.L. Nichols | H.H. Norris |
| 1909 | E.L. Nichols | B.C. Dennison |
| 1910-1914 | E.L. Nichols | George S. Macomber |
| 1915-1916 | E.L. Nichols | W.G. Catlin |
| 1917 | F. Bedell | V.Karapetoff |
| 1918-1919 | Alexander Gray | John G. Pertsch |
| 1920-1925 | John G. Pertsch,Jr. | G.F. Bason |
| 1926 | R.F. Chamberlain | G.F. Bason |
| 1927-1928 | R.F. Chamberlain | H.H. Race |
| 1929-1930 | W.C. Ballard, Jr. | W.E. Meserve |
| 1931-1932 | W.E. Meserve | B.K. Northrop |
| 1933-1935 | B.K. Northrop | L.K. Burckmyer, Jr. |
| 1936 | R.F. Chamberlain | True McLean |
| 1937 | L.A. Burckmyer, Jr. | W.W. Cotner |
| 1938 | W.W. Cotner | True McLean |
| 1939 | True McLean | John P. Wood |
| 1940 | M.G. Northrop | John P. Wood |
| 1941 | J.P. Wood | H.G. Smith |
| 1942 | H.G. Smith | E.W. Jones |
| 1943 | A.B. Credle | W.E. Meserve |
| 1944 | E.M. Strong | H.G. Smith |
| 1945 | N.L. Platt | W.H. Erickson |
| 1946 | W.H. Erickson | P.D. Ankrum |
| 1947 | W.W. Perry | H.L. Livingood |
| 1948 | P.D. Ankrum | E.M. Guyer |
| 1949 | H.L. Livingood | S.W. Zimmerman |
| 1950 | E.M. Guyer | G.E. Dana |
| 1951 | S.W. Zimmerman | E.F. Wood |
| 1952 | G.E. Dana | W.R. Jones |
| 1953 | W.R. Jones | K. Personius |
| 1954 | J.R. Stover | J.L. Rosson |
| 1955 | D.J. Bechtold | C.J. Fitch |
| 1956 | J.L. Rosson | I.W. Keller |
| 1957 | Clyde Fitch | A.O. Kenyon |
| 1958 | A.O. Kenyon | Simpson Linke |
| 1959 | J.L. Cooney, Jr. | R.E. Markle |
| 1960-1961 | S. Linke | D.A. Florance |
| 1962 | D. Florance | D.A. Purdy |
IEEE Ithaca Section Officers
| Year | Chair | Vice chair | Secretary | Treasurer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Bradley Minch | Edwin Kan | J Thorp | J Thorp |
| 2001 | Bradley Minch | Edwin Kan | J Thorp | J Thorp |
| 2002 | Edwin Kan | Zygmunt Haas | Clifford Pollock | Clifford Pollock |
| 2003 | Zygmunt Haas | Michal Lipson | Clifford Pollock | Clifford Pollock |
| 2004 | Michal Lipson | Alyssa Apsel | Clifford Pollock | Clifford Pollock |
| 2005 | Alyssa Apsel | Clifford Pollock | Clifford Pollock | |
| 2006 | Sergio Servetto | Sunil Ashok Bhave | Clifford Pollock | Clifford Pollock |
| 2007 | Sergio Servetto / Ehsan Afshari | Sunil Ashok Bhave | Clifford Pollock | Clifford Pollock |
| 2008 | Ehsan Afshari | Sunil Ashok Bhave | Clifford Pollock | Clifford Pollock |
| 2009 | Ehsan Afshari | Sunil Ashok Bhave | Clifford Pollock | Clifford Pollock |
| 2010 | Ehsan Afshari | Sunil Ashok Bhave | Clifford Pollock | Clifford Pollock |
| 2011 | Ehsan Afshari | Sunil Ashok Bhave | Clifford Pollock | Clifford Pollock |
| 2012 | Hadi Hosseinzadegan | Ehsan Afshari | Clifford Pollock | Clifford Pollock |
| 2013 | Hadi Hosseinzadegan | Ehsan Afshari | Clifford Pollock | Clifford Pollock |
| 2014 | Peter Doerschuk | Alex Specker | Edwin Kan | Edwin Kan |
| 2015 | Peter Doerschuk | Alex Specker | Edwin Kan | Edwin Kan |
| 2016 | Alex Specker | Daniel Brown | R Kirkland Smith | James Groves |
| 2017 | Alex Specker | Hugh Philipp | R Kirkland Smith | James Groves |
| 2018 | Alex Specker | Hugh Philipp | R Kirkland Smith | James Groves |
| 2019 | Alex Specker | Hugh Philipp | R Kirkland Smith | James Groves |
| 2020 | Alex Specker | R Kirkland Smith | James Groves | |
| 2021 | Alex Specker | Olusegun Solomon | R Kirkland Smith | James Groves |
