Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers centennial brochures

The origins of IEEE date back to 1884 when meetings in New York City and Philadelphia, the latter attended by such luminaries as Norvin Green Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell, led to the formation of a society intended to both support professionals in the newly arrived electrical industries and to apply innovation to the betterment of humanity By 1912 Marconi's experiments with wireless telegraphy gave rise to a new segment of electrical workers and the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) was created. On January 1, 1963 the two groups merged to form the present day IEEE - the largest professional association dedicated to the advancement of technology in the world.