View from the top: Preparing for the future: Electrical engineering graduates are expected to be prepared for a career in what is perhaps the fastest changing area of technology — Prepare now for technologies that haven´t yet been invented!

As the IEEE closed its Centennial year, we looked back at the century of giants who have shown us the way to become prepared for a career of change. The first President of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (one of the two predecessor founder organizations of the IEEE) was Norvin Green. Mr. Green was also the President of Western Union Telegraph Company, which was viewed by many as the foremost “high-tech” company of that day. Also, on the executive committee of the AIEE in 1884 were two people called Edison and Bell. Most of us recognize the names, Edison and Bell, but we hardly know what a telegraph was, much less remember Norvin Green.