Howard NSBE Wins Region II Large Chapter Award
The Howard University chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers (Howard NSBE) was presented the 2024-2025 Large Chapter of the Year Award by the NSBE Region II Executive Board at the annual national convention earlier this month.
The chapter is recognized for outstanding leadership, commitment to the NSBE mission and exceptional impact on Region II. Region II includes Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Washington D.C., Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, as well as Europe, Northern Africa, and the Middle East. For the award, the NSBE National Executive Board annually assesses chapters in each of its six regions, scoring them based on factors such as volunteer service, interaction with and impact on other chapters, unique programming and conference participation.
Since its inception in 1975, NSBE has become one of the largest student-governed international organizations based in the United States. According to its website, with more than 24,000 members and 800 chapters in the U.S. and abroad, NSBE supports and promotes the aspirations of collegiate and pre-collegiate students and technical professionals in engineering and technology.
NSBE’s mission is to increase the number of culturally responsible Black engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally and positively impact the community.
Howard NSBE president and graduating senior Michael J. Johnson has been a committed member since his freshman year. Johnson has served in various leadership roles including vice president and programs chair. He also currently holds the Howard University Royal Court title of Mister College of Engineering and Architecture.
“I aspire to be the NSBE CEO one day. The mission of the society aligns with my personal goals, and I intend for my involvement to be long-lived and highly impactful,” says Johnson.
Johnson contributes this year’s win to the chapter’s continued efforts to expand and recruit members who share his passion to fulfill NSBE’s mission and serve the community well. Howard NSBE has grown to over 350 dedicated members since the last time they received this honorable distinction in 2017. Johnson has been actively recruiting since 2022.
With a large pool of skills and talents, the chapter has established an impressive social media following that highlights chapter events, informing members in a timely manner and showcasing the work being done.
Citing the impressive turnout of CEA engineering students from this year’s freshman class, Johnson urges architecture students to consider joining as well and take advantage of the many opportunities available for architecture students.