What’s Your Legacy?

What's Your Legacy?

The legacy of the Society’s first 75 years is the sum of its individual members: their professional achievements, their advocacy for a diverse and inclusive engineering workforce, and their dedication to SWE. 

As SWE looks forward to the next 75 years, what will your legacy be?

Explore SWE's Legacy Below

Support Our Legacy

In honor of our diamond anniversary, consider making a donation this year in support of SWE’s ongoing mission. It can and will make all the difference.

Featured Merch

Showcase items such as commemorative shirts, pins, and other branded items celebrating the anniversary.

75 Years of Outreach

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The SWE Chicago Section awarded a $25 bond to high school senior Carolyn Gerhardt for her 1966 International Science Fair project, “Amminization of Transition Metal Sulfates.”
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Doris Bacon, center, receives the first Bertha Lamme-Westinghouse scholarship from SWE Faculty Advisor Helen Grenga, second from left, and SWE President Naomi McAfee, second from right, in 1973.
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Students display their project at SWE’s “Invent It. Build It.” outreach event at the WE18 annual conference.
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High school recipients of SWE’s 2019 SWENext Global Innovator Award are joined by SWE President Cindy Hoover at WE19.

75 Years of Connections

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Jeanette Piccard and Eva Hirdler Greene are introduced to attendees during the 1968 SWE national convention in Los Angeles.
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SWE President Sherita Ceasar, center, leads the board of directors in singing “Happy Birthday” before cutting the Society’s 50th anniversary cake during the 2000 national conference.
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Attendees gather at a networking reception during the 2023 WE Local conference in Bengaluru, India. SWE held its first India conference in 2016.
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Attendees and recruiters connect at the WE19 career fair.

75 Years of Diverse Engagement

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Longtime international SWE members Mahin Rahmani of Iran, Jacqueline Juillard of Switzerland, and Anna Amour of Italy reunite at the joint 1984 SWE national convention and Seventh International Conference of Women Engineers and Scientists in Washington, D.C.
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SWE created an informational brochure in the 1990s for Spanish-speaking prospective members.
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Panelists for the Women Defining the Future collegiate leadership luncheon at WE14.
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Attendees representing the Association of Professional Women Engineers of Nigeria enjoy the WE13 awards banquet.

75 Years of Professional Achievement

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Esther Conwell receives the SWE Achievement Award from SWE President Catherine Eiden at the 1960 national convention in Seattle.
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Della Roy, Alva Matthews, James A. Mason Jr., and Nancy Fitzroy plan the program for the 1973 Women in Engineering conference cohosted by SWE and the Engineering Foundation in Henniker, N.H.
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Judith Clapp and SWE President Gail Mattson admire Clapp’s 2001 Achievement Award plaque during the 2001 annual conference in Denver.
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A 2019 Distinguished New Engineer award recipient, Elaine Reeves, poses with her daughter in front of the WE19 Wall of Honor.

75 Years of Research & Advocacy

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SWE’s first Profile of a Woman Engineer reported data collected from a 1961 membership survey.
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U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, second from left, receives the first-ever SWE President’s Award from SWE Executive Director and CEO Betty Shanahan, FY09 President Virginia Connolly, and FY08 President Michelle Tortolani.
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An infographic summarized the Society’s 2024 research on the efficacy of SWE scholarships in retaining collegiate women in engineering.
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Clockwise from left, SWE members Deb Whitis, Korianna Rosenthal, Megan Sheth, Emily Smith, and Isabelle Rowell pose in front of the U.S. Capitol during the SWE Congressional Visits Day in March 2024.