Metropolitan Section Junior Branch Meeting Notice Card (November 4, 1953)

Perhaps the most significant change in the corpus of ASCE was brought about by Joseph Simeon Ward, who later served as Section President in 1964 and National President in 1980. He felt "Junior" was not a title sufficiently professional for young graduate CE's. Sucessfully he moved ASCE to add the rank of Fellow, shifting the other grades, changing "Junior" to "Associate", "Associate" to "Member", and "Member" to "Fellow". This doubtless encouraged more graduates to join ASCE.

In 1966, the Metropolitan Section's Associate Member Forum sponsored two field trips to the Bethlehem Steel Plant in Pennsylvania on May 13th and 26th. A total of 270 people participated.

In 1959, M.D. Morris became the first Junior ever on a Section Nominating Committee. That resulted in Brother Austin Barry's becoming the first Junior to be elected to Section’s Board of Directors. Another Junior, Robert K. Lockwood was on the staff of Civil Engineering magazine. He founded and published the first Section newsletter in October 1953.

A few Juniors from separate firms got involved with sharing their specialty: Vernon Smoots, Stephen Olko, Martin Kapp, and M.D. Morris, later joined by J.P. Gould and E.A. Richards started the Soil Mechanics Seminars. That was taken over by the elders and became Foundations and Soil Mechanics Group, the first of the technical groups that now provide the basis for many of the Section's current activities.

In its turn the Associate Member Forum set up continuing education courses for P.E. review, computer orientation, structural and foundation innovations, field trips, and work for the Office of Civil Defense. The Associate Member Forum was renamed as the Younger Member Forum in 1992.

Past Presidents: