Chicago Section History

The first preliminary meetings were held on September 13th and October 21st, 1924 in the Chemists Club Room at the City Club in downtown Chicago. A petition to form a section was submitted to National on October 29 and the first organizing meeting was held November 25th,

  1. There were nine members in attendance. The National Council unanimously approved the application for a Chicago Section on December 15, 1924 and all national members within a 150 mile radius of Chicago were made members of the Section. Those members within a 30 mile radius were asked to pay Section dues. The Chicago Section was the first section in AIChE.

The first regular meeting of the Section was held on January 16, 1925 at the Western Society of Engineers office with six members present. A motion passed that a copy of the Petition of Chicago Members for a local section be included in the minutes.

Petition of the Chicago Members of the AIChE for a local section dated October 29, 1924

"To the Council of AIChE. We, the undersigned members of the AIChE, do hereby petition the Council for its approval of the formation at Chicago, IL of a Local Section, in accordance with the proposed Amendment to the Constitution of the Institute, as set forth on page 12 of Bulletin No. 25 – the Proceedings of the Fourteenth Semi-Annual Meeting.

Respectfully Submitted,

Dr. Edward Gudeman Lewis I. Birdsall W. A. Converse E. E. Follin G. M. Davidson
Frank Bachmann Herbert N. McCoy W. L. Gomery D. M. Flick Arthur Gillaudew
Wm. Hoskins B. B. Freud Glenn H. Pickard F. M. Mohlman H. S. Barnard
H. McCormack O. H. Wurster L. M. Tolman J. W. Bodman F. L. Dunlap
Garrett B. James Walter B. Brown W. D. Richardson C. F. Hagedorn B. G. Klugh
E. F. Buchanan F. D. Dodge      

Initially, dues were $3 per year (1925 dollars). The grandfather of the Chicago Section is Harry McCormack, a founder of the section and head of the Chemical Engineering department at the Illinois Institute of Technology.