National Tau Beta Pi
The Tau Beta Pi Association, national engineering honor society, was founded at Lehigh University in 1885 by Dr. Edward Higginson Williams, Jr., "to mark in a fitting manner those who have conferred honor upon their Alma Mater by distinguished scholarship and exemplary character as undergraduates in engineering, or by their attainments as alumni in the field of engineering, and to foster a spirit of liberal culture in engineering colleges." -- Preamble to the Constitution
The national headquarters of Tau Beta Pi are located on the campus of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, where they have been since 1907. Created to provide engineering students with the same opportunity for distinction as afforded by the honor societies within the liberal arts, the Tau Beta Pi Association is recognized as the preemminent engineering honor society, and its members are acknowledged leaders in their fields.
In 1974, the Sigma Tau Fraternity, established at the University of Nebraska in 1904, merged its membership with that of Tau Beta Pi. The emblem of Tau Beta Pi is the Bent, a device (originally designed to function as a watchkey) fashioned in the shape of the bent of a railroad trestle. In keeping with tradition, each member receives the official badge which is a gold bent engraved with their name, chapter and class. The creed of Tau Beta Pi is "Integrity and Excellence in Engineering". The colors of Tau Beta Pi are seal brown and white.
Alabama Alpha Chapter
Our new Bent is about 4 feet tall and 1.5 feet wide. Our Bent was made outside of San Diego using the lost wax technique. A Bent was sculpted out of wax, and the wax was placed vertically in a bed of sand. Molten bronze was poured in to the sand, replacing the wax. Supports were placed in the metal before it cooled.
Learn More About Tau Beta Pi's History