Vision: To advance global prosperity by fostering technological innovation, enabling members’ careers and promoting community world-wide.

More than 365 000 members in over 150 countries, almost 40% are from outside the USA

Over 68 000 student members

307 sections

1446 chapters

More than 1300 student branches in 80 countries

Over 300 student branch chapters

More that 147 affinity groups

39 societies and 3 technical councils

History: The IEEE and its predecessors, the AIEE (American Institute of Electrical Engineers) and the IRE (Institute of Radio Engineers), date back to 1884. In the 1930’s electronics became part of the vocabulary of electrical engineering. Electronic engineers tended to become members of the IRE, but the applications of electron tube technology became so extensive that the technical boundaries differentiating the IRE and the AIEE became difficult to distinguish. After WWII, the two organizations became increasingly competitive. Problems of overlap and duplication of efforts arose, only partially resolved by join committees and meetings. So, in 1961 the leadership of both the IRE and the AIEE resolved to see an end to these difficulties through consolidation. The next year a merger plan was formulated and approved and became effective on January 1, 1963 , thus creating IEEE as we know it today.