History

History of Pi Tau Sigma

With the twentieth century came the realization that honor societies made a
d
efinite contribution to the department and that membership required active
pa
rticipation. Pi Tau Sigma came into being on March 16, 1915, at the University
of
Illinois. A similar organization embarked November 15, 1915, at Wisconsin,
an
d other local organizations (such as the Carzeuran of Purdue) were soon to
beco
me active.

The early leaders: Professors C. R. Richards, A. C. Willard, and O. A. Leutwiler
of
the University of Illinois; G. L. Larson of the University of Wisconsin; G. A.
Yo
ung of Purdue University; and J. V. Martenis of the University of Minnesota,
stand out for their early contributions.

In ten years Pi Tau Sigma grew to six chapters in the Midwest (Illinois Alpha,
Wisconsin Alpha, Purdue Beta, Minnesota Gamma, Illinois Delta, and Missouri
Epsilon). In 1925 the expansion continued to the east with the Penn State Zeta
Ch
apter being installed. Six years later the Texas Kappa Chapter, and the following
yea
r the Colorado Mu Chapter established chapters in the south and west.
Also in 1932, the expansion continued southeast to Georgia Tech Nu Chapter. It
was not until nine years later that the first chapter was installed on the Pacific
coast (Oregon State Omega). In twenty-six years, Pi Tau Sigma became truly a
national honorary mechanical engineering fraternity with a total of twenty-five
c
hapters. During the succeeding four years nine additional chapters were installed.

From 1947 to 1958 forty new chapters were installed. The Chapter-At-Large was
established in 1954. The installations completed through the spring of 2017 bring
the total established chapters to one hundred and seventy-eight.

CONDENSER

The Condenser was conceived at the eighth annual Pi Tau Sigma convention held at Illinois Alpha Chapter in Urbana, Illinois, in 1925 when National Secretary-Treasurer John V. Martenis was instructed to issue an annual publication for the fraternity. The issue was dedicated to serve as a common medium of exchange of ideas between chapters. In compliance with instructions, Volume 1, No. I of The Condenser was published in Minneapolis as of June 1926. It consisted of eight, 8 in. x 11 in. pages with white cover and included editorial notes and comments, the welcoming speech of President A. C. Willard to the preceding convention, and news from the Chapters.

Editor Martenis continued the publication each year through Volume VI. During this early period the Condenser grew from eight to sixteen pages as the number of chapters increased and contributions to copy increased. It served its purpose to the growing fraternity.

Because of the established policy of having National Secretary act as editor of The Condenser, National Secretary-Treasurer H. E. Degler took over with Volume VII. At this time the date of issue was established for March of each year. Volume VII, issued from Austin, Texas, was expanded in size to 9 in. x 12 in. and to 14 pages to accommodate increased growth. Pictures of college buildings, detailed convention minutes, and a cover plate of a halftone Condenser appeared for the first time. Again, fulfilling the requests of the convention, Volume VII contained a complete membership roll of the fraternity.

To assist in the work of the National Secretary-Treasurer, the National Vice President twice edited the Condenser. Volume X was edited by E. S. Gray from Columbia, Missouri, in 1936 and V. L. Maleev edited Volume XII in 1938 from Stillwater, Oklahoma. With these exceptions, H. E. Degler continued the editorship through Volume XIV, the Silver Anniversary Issue.

Notable among the issues of The Condenser was the Silver Anniversary Issue, commemorating the twenty- fifth anniversary of the founding of Pi Tau Sigma. It consisted of 52 pages with a cover of aluminum foil. The feature article was the history of 25 years in Pi Tau Sigma.

A revision of the Constitution was made at this time increasing the number of National officers by including two Vice Presidents. The duty of the First Vice President was to edit The Condenser. The first issue under this plan, Volume XV of 1941, was edited by T. G. Estep, Carnegie Iota, from Pittsburgh, Pa.

Volume XVI (1942) through Volume XX (1947) were edited by F. V. Larkin, Bethlehem, Pa., with assistance from the active members of Lehigh Theta Chapter.

Volumes XXI and XXII were edited by C. H. Kent, New York, NY, with assistance from the active members of C.C.N.Y. Pi Beta Chapter.

Volumes XXIII through XVI were edited by M. S. Gjesdahl, State College, Pa., with the assistance of active members of the Penn State Zeta Chapter and the Purdue Beta Chapter.

Volumes XXVII through XXXII were edited by M. J. Goglia, Atlanta, GA., with the assistance of active members of the Georgia Tech Nu and the Purdue Beta Chapters.

Volume XXXIII was edited by D. S. Clark, Lafayette, Indiana, G. B. Thom, Newark, NJ. J. W. Bayne, Urbana, Illinois edited the issued through 1971. H. C. Hewitt, Cookeville, Tennessee, edited issues from 1972 through 1983. E. I. Griggs, Cookeville, Tennessee, has edited issues since 1983.

The Condenser grew from an eight page pamphlet dedicated to an exchange of ideas to a magazine of sixty-eight pages (Vol. XXII) incorporating editorials and articles as well as the minutes and pictures of the preceding national convention, the biographies and picture of the recipients of the Pi Tau Sigma Gold Medal and Pi Tau Sigma Richards' Memorial Awards, the pictures and records of all honorary members, a story and picture of the Host University or College for the succeeding convention, and a resume of the activities of all chapters including the pictures of the mechanical engineering building.

With the increased cost of publications, all of which are paid by the national chapter out of the dues received from members, it became necessary to retrench so that effective with Volume XXIII the articles were omitted and effective with Volume XXV the pictures of the buildings were not repeated, as they appear in The Story of Pi Tau Sigma.

At the Thirty-first Annual Convention in 1951 recommendations were made to the editors of The Condenser and The Story of Pi Tau Sigma to avoid duplication.

A special 50th anniversary issue of The Condenser was published in 1965. The issue, edited by J. W. Bayne included several items of historical interest plus greetings from five past National Presidents.

 

National Presidents

A. C. Willard

1920-1922

 

 

G. A. Young

1923-1925

 

 

G. L. Larson

1926-1928

 

 

O. A. Leutwiler

1929-1931

 

 

J. V. Martenis

1932-1940

 

 

H. E. Degler

1941-1947

 

 

B. H. Jennings

1948-1950

 

 

F. L. Schwartz

1950-1953

 

 

M. S. Gjesdahl

1953-1956

 

 

C. M. Leonard

1956-1959

 

 

D. S. Clark

1959-1962

 

 

E.K. Springer

1962-1968

 

 

D.R.Haworth

1968-1971

 

 

J. W. Bayne

1971-1974

 

 

E. W. Jerger

1974-1977

 

 

S. Chandra

1977-1980

 

 

A. R. Peters

1980-1983

 

 

H. C. Hewitt, Jr.

1983-1986

 

 

W. B. Cottingham

1986-1989

 

 

J.R. Welty

1989-1992

 

 

S.P. Kezios

1992-

 

 

 

 

 

 

Victor Goldschmidt

-2004

 

 

Tom Burton

2004-2008

 

 

Mun Y. Choi

2008-2017

 

 

Darryl James

2017-

 

 

 

 

 

National Vice-Presidents

J. B. Wilkenson

1920-1922

 

 

G. L. Larson

1923-1925

W.W. Yuen

1989-

G. A. Young

1926-1928

D. Kadaba

1991-

C. A. Joerger

1929-1931

R. Gaither

1992-

Daniel Roesch

1932-1934

   

E. S. Gray

1935-1937

   

v. L. Maleev

1938-1940

   

T. G. Estep

1941

   

J. V. Martenis

1941-1944

   

F. V. Larkin

1945-1947

   

B. H. Jennings

1945-1947

   

E. S. Gray

1947

   

C. H. Kent

1948-1949

   

F. L. Schwartz

1948-1950

   

E. C. Baker

1948-1949

   

M. S. Gjesdahl

1949-1953

   

S. F. Duncan

1949-1955

   

C. M. Leonard

1950-1956

   

M. J. Goglia

1953-1958

   

J. W. Bunting

1955-1961

   

E. K. Springer

1956-1962

   

G. B. Thorn

1958-1964

   

E. C. Hoelscher

1961-1967

   

N. H. Barnard

1962

Gloria J. Wiens

-2017

D.R. Haworth

1963-1968

   

C. R. Hayleck, Jr

1964-1970

   

E.W. Jerger

1967-1973

Ed Griggs

 

E. L. Dowty

1968-1975

Massoud Kaviany

 

S. Chandra

1970, 1976

Hassan Ghazi

-2004

W.T. McKie

1973-1974

Tom Burton

2004-

G. C. Whitehouse

1974-1979

Ron D. Boyd

2004-2012

A. R. Peters

1975-1980

Dave Bayless

-2010

J. R. Gartner

1976-1982

Franco Capaldi

-2011

W. B. Cottingham

1979-1985

Chris Wilson

2010-1020

J. N. Crisp

1981-1984

Raghu Echempati

2011-2013

W. W. Walter

1982-1988

Antonios Kontsos

2013-2023

J. R. Welty

1984-1986

Altaf Khan

2014-2019

S. P. Kezios

1986-1991

Darryl James

2014-2017

       C. Spiekerman   1988-1992     Yolanda Mack        2017-2025
        Bogdan Epureanu      2020-
        Cynthia Mitchell    2023-
        Jacob McFarland

   2023-

       

 

 

 

 

National Secretary-Treasurers

G. L. Larson

1920-1922

J. V. Manenis

1923-1931

H. E. Degler

1932-1940

E. S. Gray

1941-1946

L. J. Bradford

1947

D. S. Clark

1948-1959

J. W. Bayne

1959-1971

H. C. Hewitt, Jr.,

1971-1983

Ed I. Griggs

1983-1995

Farrokh Mistree

1995-2008

Alex Moutsoglou

2008-2020

  Gregory Michna   2020-2023
  Arden Moore   2023-

 

 

 

 

 

National Conventions

 

Place

Year

Host Chapter

1

Chicago, IL

1916

Organization

2

Urbana, IL

1917

Illinois Alpha

3

Madison, WI

1920

Wisconsin Alpha

4

Urbana, IL

1921

Illinois Alpha

5

Madison, WI

1922

Wisconsin Alpha

6

Lafayette, IN

1923

Purdue Beta

7

Minneapolis, MN

1924

Minnesota Gamma

8

Urbana, IL

1925

Illinois Alpha

9

Madison, WI

1926

Wisconsin Alpha

10

Lafayette, IN

1927

Purdue Beta

11

Chicago, IL

1928

Armour Delta

12

Cincinnati, OH

1929

Cincinnati Eta

13

State College, PA

1930

Penn State Zeta

14

Columbia, MO

1931

Missouri Epsilon

15

Urbana, IL

1932

Illinois Alpha

16

Chicago, IL

1933

Armour Delta

17

Madison, WI

1934

Wisconsin Alpha

18

Lafayette, IN

1935

Purdue Beta

19

Austin, TX

1936

Texas Kappa

20

Bethlehem/Philadelphia, PA

1937

Lehigh Theta and Drexel Xi

21

Stillwater, OK

1938

Oklahoma Lambda

22

Atlanta, GA

1939

Georgia Tech Nu

23

Iowa City, IA

1940

Iowa Omicron

24

Pittsburg, PA

1941

Carnegie Iota

25

Minneapolis, MN

1942

Minnesota Gamma

26

Austin, TX

1946

Texas Kappa

27

Lafayette, IN

1947

Purdue Beta

28

Madison, WI

1948

Wisconsin Alpha

29

Bethlehem, PA

1949

Lehigh Theta

30

Cincinnati, OH

1950

Cincinnati Eta

31

Lexington, KY

1951

Kentucky Pi Lambda

32

Milwaukee, WI

1952

Marquette Pi Delta

33

Ann Arbor, MI

1953

Michigan Pi Rho

34

Blacksburg, VA

1954

Virginia Tech Upsilon

35

Stillwater, OK

1955

Oklahoma Lambda

36

State College, PA

1956

Penn State Zeta

37

Cambridge, MA

1957

MIT Pi Kappa

 

 

National Conventions

 

Place

Year

Host Chapter

38

Detroit, MI

1958

Detroit Pi Eta

39

Pittsburgh, PA

1959

Pittsburgh Tau

40

St. Louis, MO

1960

Washington Pi Chi

41

New York, NY

1961

C.C.N.Y. Pi Beta

42

Lincoln, NE

1962

Nebraska Pi

43

Chicago, IL

1963

Illinois Alpha, Illinois Tech Delta, and Northwestern Pi Theta

44

College Park, MD

1964

Maryland Tau Mu

45

Dallas, TX

1965

S.M.U. Tau Sigma

46

Chicago, IL

1966

Illinois Alpha and Wisconsin Alpha

47

Lawrence, KS

1967

Kansas Psi

48

Detroit, MI

1968

Detroit Pi Eta

49

Lafayette, IN

1969

Purdue Beta

50

Stillwater, OK

1970

Oklahoma State Lambda

51

Baton Rouge, LA

1971

L. S. U. Tau Zeta

52

Blacksburg, VA

1972

Virginia Tech Upsilon

53

College Station, TX

1973

Texas A & M Sigma Delta

54

Notre Dame, IN

1974

Notre Dame Sigma Beta

55

Houston, TX

1975

Houston Sigma Zeta

56

Atlanta, GA

1976

Georgia Tech Nu

57

Baton Rouge, LA

1977

Southern Delta Mu

58

Lincoln, NE

1978

Nebraska Pi

59

Columbus, OH

1979

Ohio State Pi Mu

60

Champaign/Urbana, IL

1980

Illinois Alpha

61

Santa Barbara, CA

1981

U.C.S.B. Delta Phi

62

College Station, TX

1982

Texas A & M Sigma Delta

63

Manhattan, KS

1983

Kansas State Rho

64

Columbus, OH

1984

Ohio State Pi Mu

65

Austin, TX

1985

Texas Kappa

66

Blacksburg, VA

1986

Virginia Tech Upsilon

67

Atlanta, GA

1987

Georgia Tech Nu

68

Raleigh, NC

1988

NC State Pi Alpha

69

Tempe, AZ

1989

Arizona State Sigma Gamma

70

Boston, MA

1990

Northeastern Tau Kappa

71

Champaign-Urbana, Illinois

1991

Illinois Alpha

72

Minneapolis, MN

1992

Minnesota Gamma

73

 

1993

 

74

 

1994

 

 

 

National Conventions

 

Place

Year

Host Chapter

75

 

1995

 

76

 

1996

 

77

Ann Arbor, MI

1997

Michigan Pi Rho

78

Tuskegee, AL

1998

Tuskegee Sigma Psi

79

Atlanta, GA

1999

Georgia Tech Nu

80

College Station, TX

2000

Texas A&M Sigma Delta

81

Madison, WI

2001

Wisconsin Alpha

82

College Park, MD

2003

Maryland Tau Mu

83

Lubbock, TX

2004

Texas Tech Sigma Epsilon

84

Clemson, SC

2005

Clemson Phi Kappa

85

Philadelphia, PA

2006

Drexel Xi

86

Lafayette, IN

2007

Purdue Beta

87

Atlanta, GA

2008

Georgia Tech Nu

88

Ann Arbor, MI

2009

Michigan Pi Rho

89

Lubbock, TX

2010

Texas Tech Sigma Epsilon

90

Chicago, IL

2011

UIC Alpha Sigma

91

San Jose, CA

2012

San Jose Phi Zeta

92

Columbus, OH

2013

Ohio State Pi Mu

93

College Station, TX

2014

Texas A&M Sigma Delta

94

Urbana, IL

2015

Illinois Alpha

95

Los Angeles, CA

2016

USC Tau Beta

96

Philadelphia, PA

2017

Drexel Xi

97

Coral Gables, FL

2018

Miami Sigma Upsilon

98

Fort Collins, CO

2019

Colorado State Tau Psi

99

        Rochester, NY

2020

                       Rochester Delta Pi

100

Virtual

2021

Organization

101

Chicago, IL

2022

UIC Alpha Sigma

102

Auburn, AL

2023

Auburn Chi

103

Ann Arbor, MI

2024

Michigan Pi Rho

104

 

2025

 

105

 

2026

 

106

 

2027

 

107

 

2028

 

108

 

2029

 

109

 

2030

 

110

 

2031

 

111

 

 

 

 

 

PI TAU SIGMA GOLD MEDAL AWARD

The Pi Tau Sigma Gold Medal is awarded to the young engineering graduate who has demonstrated outstanding achievement in mechanical engineering within ten years following receipt of the baccalaureate degree. Any person who, on July 1 of the year of the award, graduated not more than ten years from the regular engineering program of a recognized college or university shall be eligible for recognition.

PI TAU SIGMA GOLD MEDAL AWARD RECIPIENTS

1938

Wilfred E. Johnson

1969

Henry K. Newhall

2002

Assimina A. Pelegri

1939

John Yellot, Jr.

1970

Richard E. Barrett

2003

Bogdan I. Epureanu

1940

George A. Hawkins

1971

James R. Rice

2004

Kenneth A. Gall

1941

R. Hosmer Norris

1972

John F. Stephens III

2006

Nicholas Fang

1942

John T. Rettaliata

1973

Christian E.G. Przirembel

2009

A. John Hart

1943-46

No award due to war

1974

Jace W. Nunziato

2010

David L. Burris

1947

David Cochrane

1975

Ted B. Belytschko

2011

David Saintillan

1948

Walter G. Vincenti

1976

John S. Walker

2012

Amos G. Winter V

1949

Phillip S. Myers

1977

Richard E. Lovejoy

2013

Randy H. Ewoldt

1950

Arthur P. Adamson

1978

David A. Peters

2014

Ibrahim T. Ozbolat

1951

Warren M. Rohsenow

1980

Doyle D. Knight

2015

Neil P. Dasgupta

1952

Robert L. O'Brien

1982

Polychronis-Thomas

2016

David L. Hennan

1953

Merle Baker

1982

Pol D. Spanos

2017

Shannon K. Yee

1954

Emmett E. Day

1984

Michael R. Muller

  2018 Nenad K. Miljkovic

1955

Robert C. Dean, Jr.

1985

Wing Kam Liu

2019 Jesse Capecelatro

1956

John A. Clark

1986

Dimos Poulikakos

2020 David Kwabi

1957

Patrick McDonald, Jr.

1987

David L. McDowell

2021 Yangying Zhu

1958

Allison E. Simons

1988

Mark F. Hamilton

2022 R. Renee Zhao

1959

Donald F. Hays

1989

Steven M. Wilson

2023 Akanksha K. Menon

1960

George Hatsopoulos

1990

Dionissios N. Assanis

   

1961

Ernest T. Selig

1991

Yves H. Berthelot

   

1962

E. Bruce Lee

1993

Melany L. Hunt

   

1963

Herbert Richardson

1994

Zhigang Suo

   

1964

Richard L. Peskin

1995

Thomas R. Kurfess

   

1965

John Bollinger

1996

Gregory S. Chirikjian

   

1966

Jason R. Lemon

1998

Wei Chen

   

1967

William O'Donnell

1999

Margaret S. Wooldridge

   

1968

Randall F. Barron

2000

Connie J. Buynacek

   

 

 

PI TAU SIGMA GUSTUS L. LARSON MEMORIAL AWARD

The Pi Tau Sigma Gustus L. Larson Memorial Award is presented to the engineering graduate who has demonstrated outstanding achievement in mechanical engineering within ten to twenty years following graduation. Any person who, on July 1 of the year of the award, graduated not more than twenty years nor less than ten years from the regular engineering program of a recognized college or university shall be eligible for recognition.

The award, established in 1974, honors Gustus L. Larson, ASME Fellow and founder of Pi Tau Sigma at the University of Wisconsin. He was a recognized leader in heating, ventilating, and air conditioning and was a former president of the ASHVE.

GUSTUS L. LARSON MEMORIAL AWARD RECIPIENTS

1975

Chang-Lin Tien

1999

James H. Oliver

1976

John G. Bollinger

2000

Cristina H. Amon

1977

Nam P. Suh

2001

Arunava Majumdar

1978

Philip H. Francis

2002

Thomas R. Kurfess

1979

Gerald R. Seeman

2003

Yonggang Huang

1980

Arthur G. Erdman

2004

Suresh V. Garimella

1981

Terry E. Shoup

2005

Robert Parker

1982

Melvyn C. Branch

2006

Narayana R.V. Aluru

1983

R. Byron Pipes

2008

Andrew G. Alleyne

1984

Robert A. Altenkirch

2009

Anna G. Stefanopoulou

1985

Klaus-Jurgen Bathe

2010

Andrei G. Fedorov

1986

Bharat Bhushan

2011

Arvind Raman

1987

David L. Butler

2012

Nicolas G. Hadjiconstantinou

1988

Adrian Bejan

2013

William P. King

1989

Boris Rubinsky

2014

Wei Lu

1990

Dale E. Klein

2015

Nikhil Ashok Koratkar

1991

Pol D. Spanos

2016

Kenneth T. Christensen

1992

George P. Peterson

2017

Evelyn N. Wang

1993

Bahram Ravani

2018

Kripa K. Varanasi

1994

Salvatore Torquato

2019

Yong Zhu

1995

Wing Kam Liu

2020

Yuri Bazilevs

1996

David N. Ku

2021

Patrick E. Hopkins

1997

Suhada Jayasuriya

2022

Yihui Zhang

1998

Jamal Seyed-Yagoobi

2023

Devesh Ranjan

 

 

 

PI TAU SIGMA CHARLES RUSS RICHARDS MEMORIAL AWARD

The Pi Tau Sigma Charles Russ Richards Memorial Award is presented to the engineering graduate who has demonstrated outstanding achievement in mechanical engineering twenty years or more following graduation. Any person who, on July 1 of the year of the award, graduated twenty years or more from the regular engineering program of a recognized college or university shall be eligible for recognition.

The award, established in 1944 by Pi Tau Sigma in coordination with ASME, honors Charles Russ Richards, founder of Pi Tau Sigma at the University of Illinois, former head of mechanical engineering and dean of engineering at the University of Illinois and later president of Lehigh University. He was a member of ASME and served on its Board of Governors.

PI TAU SIGMA CHARLES RUSS RICHARDS MEMORIAL AWARD RECIPIENTS

1947

Jacob P. Hartog

1979

John H. Lienhard

2012

Pol D. Spanos

1949

Arthur M. Wahl

1980

Albert I. King

2013

A. Galip Ulsoy

1950

Burgess H. Jennings

1981

Shien-Ming Wu

2014

Suresh V. Garimella

1951

J. Kenneth Salisbury

1982

L. S. "Skip" Fletcher

2015

Zhang Xiang

1952

Jess H. Davis

1983

Peter A. Engel

2016

Kenneth E. Goodson

1953

Thomas M. Lumly

1984

Ferdinand Freudenstein

2017

Jian Cao

1954

Robert H. Hughes

1985

Ephraim M. Sparrow

2018

Kon-Well Wang

1955

Sylvan Cromer

1986

E. Kent Springer

2019

Pradeep Sharma

1956

Everett M. Barber

1987

Allen F. Rhodes

2020

Katepalli R. Sreenivasan

1957

Wayne C. Edmister

1988

Ward O. Winer

2021

Wei Chen

1958

Donald C. Burnham

1989

Ramesh K. Shah

2022

Norman Fleck

1959

M. Eugene Merchant

1990

Ranga Komanduri

2023

Robert O. Ambrose

1960

Ascher H. Shapiro

1991

Frederick F. Ling

 

 

1961

Harrison A. Storm, Jr.

1992

John H. Staehlin

 

 

1962

Dudley D. Fuller

1994

C. Dan Mote, Jr.

 

 

1963

George F. Carrier

1995

Junuthula N. Reddy

 

 

1964

Simon Ostrach

1996

Tsu-Wei Chou

 

 

1965

Leonard J. Koch

1997

Masayoshi Tomizuka

 

 

1966

J. Lowen Shearer

1998

Hong Thomas Hahn

 

 

1967

T. Cyril Noon

1999

Ephraim Suhir

   

1968

Bernard W. Shaffer

2000

Bharat Bhushan

   

1969

Robert E. Uhrig

2001

Adrian Bejan

   

1970

Ralph G. Nevins

2002

Salvatore Torquato

   

1971

Howard L. Harrison

2003

Roop L. Mahajan

 

 

1972

Charles E. Jones

2005

Warren R. DeVries

 

 

1973

Ali A. Seireg

2006

Ramesh K. Agarwal

 

 

1974

Richard J. Grosh

2007

Ricahrd O. Buckius

 

 

1975

Carl F. Zorowski

2008

Guruswami Ravichandran

 

 

1976

Ali S. Argon

2009

E. Daniel Hirleman

 

 

1977

Hassan A. Hassan

2010

Yonggang Huang

 

 

1978

John C. Chato

2011

Huajian Gao