Striving for Balance: A Hundred Years of the American Society for Engineering Education

This paper provides an overview of the history of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) from its founding in 1893 to the present. The authors see two major continuities in the organization's hundred year history: the search for methods of improving classroom instruction and the pursuit of national recognition as the spokesman for engineering education. An organization concerned with classroom teaching draws its strength from the ranks of teaching faculty; an organization seeking national visibility must draw its leaders from administrators, especially deans. ASEE's history is viewed as an continuing effort to balance these two broad purposes within a single organization.