National Academy of Engineering

The National Academy of Sciences was created by an Act of Incorporation dated March 3, 1863, which was signed by then President of the United States Abraham Lincoln^[1] with the purpose to "...investigate, examine, experiment, and report upon any subject of science or art..."^[1] No reference to engineering was in the original act, the first recognition of any engineering role was with the setup of the Academy's standing committees in 1899.^[1] At that time, there were six standing committees: (mathematics and astronomy; physics and engineering; chemistry; geology and paleontology; biology; and anthropology.^[1] In 1911, this committee structure was again reorganized into eight committees: biology was separated into botany; zoology and animal morphology; and physiology and pathology; anthropology was renamed anthropology and psychology with the remaining committees including physics and engineering, unchanged.^[1]


In 1913, George Ellery Hale presented a paper on the occasion of the Academy's 50th anniversary, outlining an expansive future agenda for the Academy.^[1] Hale proposed a vision of an Academy that interacted with the "whole range of science", one that actively supported newly recognized disciplines, industrial sciences and the humanities.^[1][2] The proposed creation of sections of medicine and engineering was protested by one member because those professions were "mainly followed for pecuniary gain".^[1] Hale's suggestions were not accepted.^[1] Nonetheless, in 1915, the Section of Physics and Engineering was recommended to be changed to physics only, and a year later the Academy began planning a separate section of engineering.^[1]


The Academy was requested to investigate the great slide in Culebra Cut late in 1913 which ultimately delayed the opening of the Panama Canal by ten months. The study group, commissioned by the United States Army Corps of Engineers and although composed of both engineers and geologists resulted in a final report prepared by two geologists Charles Whitman Cross and Harry Fielding Reid.^[1] The report, submitted to President Wilson in November 1917, concluded that claims of repeated interruptions in canal traffic for years to come were unjustified.^[1]


During this time, the United States confronted the prospect of war with Germany and the question of preparedness was raised. Engineering societies responded to this crisis by offering technical services to the Federal government such as the Naval Consulting Board of 1915 and the Council of National Defense of 1916. On June 19 of that year, then US President Woodrow Wilson requested the National Academy of Sciences to organize a "National Research Council" albeit with the assistance of the Engineering Foundation.^[1] (pg. 569) The purpose of the Council (at first called the National Research Foundation) was in part to foster and encourage "the increased use of scientific research in the development of American industries... the employment of scientific methods in strengthening the national defense... and such other applications of science as will promote the national security and welfare."^[1]


During the period of national preparations, an increasing number of engineers were being elected to the physics and engineering section of the Academy, this did not, however, resolve the long-standing issue of where to place applied sciences such as engineering in the Academy.^[1] In 1863, the founding members who were prominent military and naval engineers comprised almost a fifth of the membership.^[1] during the latter part of the 19th century, this engineering membership steadily declined and by 1912, Henry Larcom Abbot, who had been elected in 1872, was the sole remaining representative of the Corps of Engineers.^[1] With the Engineering Division in the wartime National Research Council being used as a precedent, the Academy established its first engineering section with nine members in 1919 with civil war veteran Henry Larcom Abbot as its first chairman.^[1] OF those nine members, only two were new members, the others had transferred from existing sections; "... of the 164 members of the Academy that year, only seven chose to identify themselves as engineers."^[3]


During this period of 1915-1916 activity by engineering societies, the National Academy of Sciences complained that there was a lack of scientists and the predominance of engineers on the Federal government's wartime technical committee, the Naval Consulting Board.^[3] One of the mathematicians on the Board, Robert Simpson Woodward, was actually trained and early on practiced as a civil engineer.^[3] The Academy's response was to move forward with the idea of achieving Academy control over the provision of technical services to the Government by means of formal recognition of the role played by the National Research Council (NRC) established the next year in 1916. Later in 1918, Wilson formalized the NRC's existence under Executive Order 2859.^[4][5][6] Wilson's order declared the function of the NRC to be in general:


In 1960, Augustus Braun Kinzel, an engineer with the Union Carbide Corporation and a member of the Academy, stated that the "..engineering profession was considering the establishment of an academy of engineering..."^[1] confirmed by the Engineers Joint Council of the national engineering societies to afford themselves of opportunities and services similar to those the Academy provided in science. The question being, whether to affiliate with the National Academy or set up a separate Academy.^[1]


During the past century of the Academy's existence, engineers had been part of the founding members and a sixth of its membership, the founding of the National Research Council in 1916 with the assistance of the Engineering Foundation, the contributions of the NRC Division of Engineering in the post-World War I period, the presidency of engineer Frank B. Jewett during World War II. In short, "...the ascendancy of science in the public mind since World War I had been partly at the expense of the prestige of the engineering profession."^[1] (See also.^[7])


The Academy worked with the Engineers Joint Council led by President Eric Arthur Walker as the prime mover,^[7] to make plans to establish a new National Academy of Engineering that's independent, with a congressional charter of its own.^[1] Walker noted that this moment offered a "...singular opportunity for the engineering profession to participate actively and directly in communicating objective advice to the government..." on engineering matters related to national policy.^[7] A secondary function was to recognize distinguished individuals for their engineering contributions.^[7]


Ultimately, the initial organizers decided to create the Academy of Engineering as part of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS).^[1] On December 5, 1964, marking, "a major landmark in the history of the relationships between science and engineering in our country," the Academy approved the Articles of Incorporation of the new academy and its twenty-five charter members met to organize the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) as an autonomous parallel body in the National Academy of Sciences, with Augustus B. Kinzel as its first President.^[1] OF the 675 members of the National Academy of Sciences at that time, only about 30 called themselves engineers.^[7] The National Academy of Engineering then were a "purposeful compromise" given the fears of the NAS of expanded membership by engineers.^[7]


The stated objects and purposes of the newly created National Academy of Engineering were to:^[1]


In 1966, the National Academy of Engineering established the Committee on Public Engineering Policy (COPEP).^[1] In 1982, the NAE and NAS committees were merged to become the Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy. In 1967, the NAE formed an aeronautics and space engineering board to advise NASA and other Federal agencies chaired by Horton Guyford Stever.^[8]


In 1971, the National Academy of Engineering advised the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey not to construct additional runways at JFK airport as part of a $350,000 study commissioned by the Port Authority. The Port Authority accepted the recommendations of the NAE and NAS.^[9]


In 1975, the NAE added eighty-six new engineer members including noted civil engineer and businessman Stephen Davison Bechtel Jr.^[10] In 1986, the NAE issued a report encouraging foreign investment, calling for stronger Federal action.^[11] That same year, NAE member Robert W. Rummel (1915-2009), space expert and aerospace engineer, served on The Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident.^[12]


In 1989, the National Academy of Engineering in conjunction with the National Academy of Science advised the Department of Energy on a site location for the then proposed Superconducting Super Collider (SSC) from a number of States proposals.^[13]


In 1995, the NAE along with the NAS and the National Academy of Medicine reported that the American system of doctoral education in science and engineering, while "...long a world model, should be reshaped to produce more 'versatile scientists,' rather than narrowly specialized researchers".^[14] Again in 2000, NAE returned to this education theme with its detailed studies of engineering education as part of its "Engineer of 2020 Studies" project.^[15][16] The reports concluded that engineering education must be reformed or American engineers will be poorly prepared for engineering practice. Soon after, the American Society of Civil Engineers adopted a policy advocating for the reconstruction of the academic foundation of the professional practice of civil engineering.

Formally, members of the NAE must be U.S. citizens.^[17] The term "international member" is applied to non-citizens who are elected to the NAE.^[17] "The NAE has more than 2,000 peer-elected members and international members, senior professionals in business, academia, and government who are among the world's most accomplished engineers", according to the NAE site's About page.^[18] Election to the NAE is considered to be among the highest recognitions in engineering-related fields, and it often comes as a recognition of a lifetime's worth of accomplishments. Nomination for membership can only be done by a current member of the NAE for outstanding engineers with identifiable contributions or accomplishments in one or both of the following categories:


Since its founding, the Academy has elected 2,634 members. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is associated with the most members, 199 or some 8% of the all-time total, while Stanford University is affiliated with 168 members and the University of California, Berkeley with 130. The top ten institutions account for over 30% of all members ever elected.^[19][20]

Outreach efforts[edit]

To publicize the work of both the profession and the NAE, the institution puts considerable efforts into outreach activities.


A weekly radio spot produced by the NAE is broadcast on WTOP radio in the Washington, D.C., area and the file and text of the spot can be found on the NAE site.^[49] The NAE also distributes a biweekly newsletter focusing on engineering issues and advancements.


In addition, NAE has held a series of workshops titled News and Terrorism: Communicating in a Crisis, in which experts from the National Academies and elsewhere provide reporters, state and local public information officers, emergency managers, and representatives from the public sector with important information about weapons of mass destruction and their impact. This project is conducted in collaboration with the Department of Homeland Security and the Radio and Television News Directors Foundation.


In addition to these efforts, the NAE fosters good relationships with members of the media to ensure coverage of the work of the institution and to serve as a resource for the media to use when they have technical questions or would like to speak to an NAE member on a particular matter. The NAE is also active in "social media," both to reach new and younger audiences and to reach traditional audiences in new ways.