About IES

 
HISTORY OF THE IES
Established in 1906, the IES is the recognized technical and educational authority on illumination. For over one hundred years its objective has been to communicate information on all aspects of good lighting practice to its members, to the lighting community, and to consumers through a variety of programs, publications, and services. The strength of the IES is its diversified membership: engineers, architects, designers, educators, students, contractors, distributors, utility personnel, manufacturers, and scientists, all contributing to the mission of the Society: to improve the lighted environment by bringing together those with lighting knowledge and by translating that knowledge into actions that benefit the public.

The IES is a forum for the exchange of ideas and information and a vehicle for its members’ professional development and recognition. Through its technical committees, with hundreds of qualified members from the lighting and user communities, the IES correlates research, investigations, and discussions to guide lighting experts and laypersons via research-and consensus-based lighting recommendations.

HISTORY OF THE IES PORTLAND SECTION
HISTORICAL NOTES: Early Beginnings of the Oregon Section, IES By Eric A. Jordahl, Historian (Written in 1999)

On January 7, 1941, Frank A. Hansen, Regional Vice-President, I.E.S., and a director of the Western Institute of Light and Vision in Los Angeles, met with 44 members and prospective members of IES in Portland. Mr. Hansen was encouraging the formation of an Oregon Chapter of I.E.S. A committee was formed to complete the Chapter organization. The members of that committee were John C. Plankinton of Northwestern Electric Company (now PacifiCorp) Chairman, Walter E. Potter of the General Electric Co. Lamp Division, Francis H. Murphy Consulting Illuminating Engineer, and Theron (Ted) W. Fitch of Portland General Electric Co.

These persons were so efficient that on January 17, 1941, the I.E.S. Council Executive Committee in New York granted unanimous approval to a Charter for the new Oregon Chapter located in Portland. On February 18, 1941, the Oregon Chapter, I.E.S. elected J. C. Plankinton, Chairman, & T. W. Fitch, Secretary-Treasurer. W. E. Potter, Fred C. Baker of Baker- Barkon Co. & Prof. E. F. Wooster of Oregon State College were elected to the Board of Managers. At the same meeting, By-Laws were adopted, and the territory of the Chapter was set as the entire state of Oregon. Two days later the Chapter co-sponsored a 2-day Fluorescent Lighting School with General Electric Co. The final session on February 21 drew an audience of 385 people!

At the March 25, 1941 IES meeting, Professor Wooster spoke on Illuminating Engineering at Oregon State College, and three of his students spoke, each on a different topic. 29 persons were in attendance.

On April 28, 1941, at the Congress Hotel (now the location of the 1001 FIFTH AVE Building), a dinner meeting was held at which A. D. Cameron, National President of I.E.S. was the honored guest and main speaker. Mr. Cameron also presented the Charter to the Oregon Chapter. Mr. C. T. Bakeman from Seattle represented the Washington State Chapter (now the Puget Sound Section) the most recent new chapter prior to Oregon and presented an inscribed gavel to the Oregon Chapter. Unfortunately, this gavel has been lost over the years. Another notable attendee was Commissioner William A.Bowes of the City of Portland. Commissioner Bowes was still on the City Council in the 1960s.

By September 30, 1941, the Oregon Chapter had 26 members. This compares with Washington State Chapter (predecessor of the Puget Sound Section) which had 51, San Francisco Section (predecessor of the Golden Gate Section) which had 97, and Southern California Section which had 150. The California Sections had been chartered for many years. The total membership of the Society, both domestic and foreign, was 3242.

At the February 12, 1948 National Council meeting, a petition to change from Chapter status to Section status was approved, and we became the Oregon Section. This status was determined by the total membership and the number of members in MEMBER grade. In this respect, we “beat out” the Puget Sound Chapter even if they were chartered first. The territory included in the Section was enlarged to include five Washington counties along the Lower Columbia River. At the end of fiscal year 1947 (9/30/47), Oregon Chapter had 55 members. By the end of fiscal 1948 (9/30/48), Oregon Section had 101 members and was the largest chapter/section in the Pacific Northwest Region. Since that time, Oregon Section has been one of the more active sections on the West Coast.