2016 Issue

E ngineering has existed for thousands of years, and when we look back, we recognize them as the first civil engineer, first electrical engineer and so on. However, it was not until 1754 that John Smeaton, an English engineer, signed his drawings that we had the first self-proclaimed Civil Engineer. Starting in the late 18th century there was the founding of many learned societies and professional bodies. Three young engineers, Henry Robinson Palmer, James Jones, and Joshua Field, created the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1818. The goal was to support and promote professional learning, manage ethics, and represent the interests of the profession. These goals are similar to those of many of professional societies that exist today. In 1824, Samuel Vaughan Merrick and William H. Keating founded the Franklin Institute for Mechanical Arts in the State of Pennsylva- nia. Many scientists demonstrated ground-breaking technologies at those facilities. In 1848, the Boston Society of Civil Engineers was founded to en- hance the professional growth of itsmembers, advance engineering knowledge and improve the standards of practice. It is the oldest engineering society in the United States and merged with the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1974. In 1852, a dozen eminent civil engineers gathered in the office of Alfred W. Craven, Chief Engineer of the Croton Aqueduct in New York City to establish the American Society of Civil Engineers and Architects. In 1868, a few years after the architects formed their own professional organization the current name of American Society of Civil Engineers was adopted. The United States census of 1850 was the first to list “engineer” as an occupation and reported a count of 2,000. Education lagged behind with less than 50 engineering graduates before 1865. Many of the existing engineers became so by virtue of experience gained in the field. Colleges and universities began to divide into disciplines such as civil, mechanical, mining and electrical engineering fields. With the growth of the disciplines came to the creation of profes- sional organizations in those disciplines. The following information is about civil engineering, but similar histories are available for the other disciplines. It is reasonable that we should go back to our roots and honor those that came before us and built the platforms upon which we stand. Benjamin Wright was an American civil engineer, In 1969 ASCE declared him to be the “Father of American Civil Engineering. He was born in 1770 in Wethersfield, CT and served as the chief en- gineer for the construction of the Erie Canal and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. Mr. Wright was a country lawyer and surveyor but became an engineer by experience. In 1916, The Utah Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers was founded with Eugene Clyde LaRue (E.C. LaRue) as the first Recognizing Contributions toOur Profession and Society RECOGNITION | continued on page 30 29