The profession: The secret society that never was: Founded in the fires of creative disagreement, Eta Kappa Nu soon found its niche, and this month celebrates its 75th anniversary

On Sept. 23, 1904, two students at the University of Illinois met on the steps of the campus engineering building to discuss forming Eta Kappa Nu, the national electrical engineering honor society. One of the students, Maurice L. Carr, later recalled that their one enthusiastic agreement had been that such a society was needed; their views on exactly what the organization would achieve varied widely. Two days later, this time in front of University Hall, Carr and his colleagues, by then numbering five, agreed to form the association.