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The Lehigh Valley Section
started as a subsection of
SWE’s Philadelphia Section.
Co-founders Haunani Kekuna
and Carol Bloch generated
enough interest at a
September 18, 1979 kick-off
meeting in Allentown to
pursue seeking full section
status. The proposed
section would be able to
take advantage of the large
concentration of
professionals, industrial
facilities, and educational
institutions located in
Lehigh and Northampton
Counties. Once started, the
process quickly gained
momentum. By May 1980 a
President-elect (W. Anne
Stocker) was selected for
the proposed new section,
bylaws were developed and a
petition for charter was
endorsed by the parent
Philadelphia Section. The
Lehigh Valley Section was
chartered on June 25, 1980
with an initial group of
thirteen members and became
the 37th active
section of SWE.
The Section grew in
membership and varied
activities, many with other
engineering societies, but
by May 1995 was in danger of
being dissolved due to
dwindling involvement. New
officers rallied and the
Section was reactivated in
1996.
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