POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY ALUMNI ASSOCIATION HISTORY
Although an annual Alumni Banquet first was held in 1863, the Polytechnic Alumni Association wasn’t organized until 1872. Only holders of degrees were eligible for membership. Five years later, a separate group, the Polytechnic Reunion, was founded to meet the needs of the college’s non-graduates and its prep-school alumni. So many alumni became members of both organizations that many of the functions became jointly sponsored. In the mid-eighteen nineties both groups merged into the Polytechnic Club.
In 1901, the prep-school alumni broke away from the Polytechnic Club to form their own organization. Shortly thereafter the college group formed the Alumni Association of the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn. It met intermittently until 1908 when a constitution and bylaws were adopted and regular meetings and activities were instituted. On November 26, 1926 the executive committee voted to establish a permanent alumni office at the Institute and John R Brierley ’10 (author of the Alma Mater) was engaged as the first full-time alumni secretary.
The Association was officially incorporated under the laws of the State of New York in 1932, as the Brooklyn Polytechnic Alumni Association, Inc. Membership is now open not only to all Polytechnic graduates but also to former students who have completed a year of study, left in good standing and whose entering class has graduated.
The Association was a dues paying organization until the early 1960’s when the association ceased to charge dues in return for their support of Institute fundraising efforts. There is no membership fee to belong to the association and membership is automatic for those who graduate from the Institute.
The organization changed their name with each subsequent change of the Institute’s name. In 1973, the association opened membership to all alumni from the New York University School of Engineering and Science.
In 1996, the Association went through a comprehensive reorganization and re-chartered as the Polytechnic University Alumni Association, Inc. The Association currently has just over 30,000 living members living in 64 countries.
by Donald N. Ivanoff
Director of Alumni Relations
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY ALUMNI ASSOCIATION MISSION
(from the Polytechnic University Alumni Association Bylaws - 1996)
ARTICLE III
Section 1. The purpose of POLYTECHNIC ALUMNI shall be to promote and maintain the welfare of the MEMBERS and the UNIVERSITY.
Section 2. The principle activities of POLYTECHNIC ALUMNI to achieve the purposes set forth in Section 1 shall include, but not necessarily be limited to:
a) supporting continuing education of ALUMNI in the areas of technical, managerial, financial, and cultural education;
b) providing ALUMNI with information and assistance in job placement and other career advancement opportunities;
c) involving ALUMNI and others in University fund raising;
d) involving ALUMNI in student recruitment and retention;
e) furthering the growth and functions of POLYTECHNIC ALUMNI and promoting fellowship among ALUMNI and between ALUMNI and the UNIVERSITY; and
f) fostering communication with and between ALUMNI.
Polytechnic Alumni Technical Memories
We are creating a slide show of Poly Alumni's technical memories. Please send us photos of your favorite devices or books from your Poly days, and we will include them in our show. Click here to see it!