HISTORY OF CALESS
Aggie Engineer: Humberto Rincon '78
Our Beginnings
In December of 1974, Humberto Rincon, a Chicano engineering student at UC Davis, recognized the need for unity among Chicanx and Latinx students in the sciences and engineering fields. He believed that by coming together, these students could address the lack of unity and representation they were experiencing on the UC Davis campus.
Recognizing these needs, Humberto Rincon with the support of former UC Davis Dean of Engineering Professor John Kemper, and five fellow study partners, founded the Chicanx and Latinx Engineers & Scientists Society. This initiative provided the necessary representation to begin increasing their number on the UC Davis campus.
CALESS AFFILIATIONS
MAES
MISSION
MAES aims to promote, cultivate, and honor excellence in education and leadership among Latino engineers and scientists.
VISION
MAES is the leading Latino organization dedicated to developing STEM leaders in academic, executive, and technical communities.
HISTORY
MAES was founded in Los Angeles in 1974 to increase the number of Mexican Americans and other Hispanics in technical and scientific fields. The idea to establish a professional society for Mexican American engineers originated with Robert Von Hatten, an aerospace electronics engineer with TRW Defense Space Systems in Redondo Beach, California. For several years, Mr. Von Hatten had volunteered in programs aimed at combating the alarming number of high school dropouts.
He envisioned a national organization that would serve as a source of role models, address the needs of its members, and become a resource for both industry and students. The society filed incorporation papers as a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization with the California Secretary of State in October 1974, receiving its charter on March 28, 1975.
SHPE
MISSION
SHPE transforms lives by empowering the Hispanic community to realize its fullest potential and make a global impact through STEM awareness, access, support, and development.
VISION
SHPE’s vision is a world where Hispanics are highly valued and influential as leading innovators, scientists, mathematicians, and engineers.
HISTORY
The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) was founded in 1974 by a group of engineers employed by the city of Los Angeles, California. Their objective was to create a national organization of professional engineers to serve as role models within the Hispanic community.
As networking was the key foundation of the organization, SHPE quickly established two student chapters, initiating a network that would expand across the nation and beyond, reaching countries outside the United States. Today, SHPE supports a strong, yet independent, network of professional and student chapters nationwide.
