History

In the 19th Century, copper was discovered in Michigan's Upper Peninsula - resulting in a "copper rush". Although the State of Michigan agreed in 1861 that a mining school would be beneficial to teach young men the fundamental technical knowledge for mining, the American Civil War delayed the school's official establishment.

In 1885, the State of Michigan was able to provide the necessary funds to formally establish the Michigan Mining School.

After the Michigan Mining School was established, curriculums expanded quickly and a campus began to form east of Houghton, Michigan.

The additional curriculums prompted the State of Michigan to improve the school's status as a college - resulting in the school being officially renamed as the Michigan College of Mines.

The Bent is a quarterly magazine that discusses current events and trends in the field of engineering and throughout Tau Beta Pi. The first issue was published in April 1906 by the Pennsylvania Alpha chapter.

The magazine is still published to this day, and current members can purchase a lifetime subscription for physical and/or electrical copies.

As the "copper rush" began to stop, the demand for competent men in all areas of engineering - both by the industry and the campus students - increased. In 1927, the Michigan College of Mines officially became the Michigan College of Mining & Technology. Intriguingly, the official seal wasn't changed until 1929.

After graduating from the Michigan College of Mining & Technology in 1931, Melvin Calvin would go on to receive a PhD in Chemistry at the University of Minnesota in 1935. Beginning in the 1950s, Calvin began researching and tracked - primarily with algae cells - where carbon molecules are during photosynthesis. His team used techniques including chromatography and using radioactive isotopes to track carbon in the plants.

This would revolutionize our understanding of plant metabolism and subsequently resulted in Calvin being awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1961. With this award, Melvin Calvin becomes one of the most notable members of Tau Beta Pi and joins the 21 other Tau Bates that have also received the award as of January 2025.

Since its previous official name change, even more programs were implemented at the Michigan College of Mining & Technology. To accurately reflect the diverse range of programs and curricula offered, the State of Michigan officially renamed the college to Michigan Technological University in 1964.

In 1969, the decision was made to begin initiating women as members of Tau Beta Pi - The Engineering Honor Society. Fittingly, Katherine Cleveland - who was the first person to receive the Women's Badge and had since gotten married - would become the first woman to be initiated into Tau Beta Pi. This honor would be extended to all recipients of the Women's Badge.

Each collegiate has a Bent Monument, often referred as "The Big Bent", somewhere on their campus, and Michigan Tech is no exception. Before 1957, chapters were required to create their own pattern to cast their own monument. 

In 1973, the Michigan Beta chapter would formally purchase and set up their Big Bent on campus. At the time, the monument was made of red brass (85% copper, 5% lead, 5% tin, and 5% zinc.)

Since then, Michigan Technological University grew even more and more buildings were constructed. Sadly, one of these construction projects forced the Michigan Beta chapter to remove the Big Bent monument to make way for a new building. It would remain in a faculty office for years.

Tau Beta Pi was not the only engineering honor society in the United States. Sigma Tau was the second such organization and was founded in 1904 at the University of Nebraska. This group had 34 chapters and over 40,000 members when Tau Beta Pi's 1973 Convention voted in favor of officially merging the two engineering honor societies.

In 1974, Sigma Tau members would be officially initiated as members of Tau Beta Pi as the latter expanded to 172 collegiate chapters nationwide. You can still find the official Sigma Tau pyramid monuments at their respective colleges to this day!