In 1956 the Wilmington Chapter of the American Society for Metals was chartered with William E. Lusby as its first chairman. In those days the chapter was very much the “DuPont” chapter since most of the membership were employees of the DuPont Company. In the late 50's a dinner meeting followed by a technical presentation was the usual meeting format. Meetings were held in such places as the Powder Mill Restaurant in Greenville, Sammy Green’s in the Merchandise Mart, and Fabian’s in Claymont.
The chapter began a transition in the 70's when a diversity of member backgrounds and company affiliations was evident. The result was a general strengthening of the chapter's leadership and active members through the early 80's, among them Fred Schmidt, a future Allen Ray Putnam Award winner, and Alex Wilson, a FASM award winner.
Of course, recognition of other FASM award winners from the chapter, including Mike Streicher, C. Ernest Birchenall, Norm Nielsen, and Don Warren, among others, indicates the technical expertise that has been a long strength of the chapter. We held MEI courses, as well as weekend symposia, on topics such as Corrosion, Friction and Wear, and Failure Analysis that were attended by members up and down the east coast.
The result of these efforts in the 70's and 80's was a five-star rating from national in 1981, our 25th anniversary. That year we celebrated the anniversary with a dinner dance for the membership at the Mendenhall Inn that was attended by Allan Ray Putnam and his wife. The year 1983 marked a major change when the Wilmington Chapter name was changed to the Brandywine Valley Chapter to more accurately describe the geographic area represented by our membership and to reflect the significance of this region to the growth of the steel industry in the U.S.
Our membership is no longer identified with one or two large companies. Rather the 21st century reflects the national trend toward diversity of membership. The stated purpose of the Brandywine Valley chapter is the promotion and dissemination of materials oriented technical information, to its members and to the public.
To this end the chapter continues to conduct a series of technical meetings, which are open to the public. Despite some ups and downs, the Chapter has achieved a five-star rating in the last several years and in 2007 the Chapter celebrated our 50th Anniversary with a special meeting attended by several founder members and ex-Chairmen.
Our continued vitality is a testament to the dedication and hard work of your officers and executive committee. Membership in the Brandywine Valley Chapter ASM International is open to any person, over the age of 18 whose interests lie in the field of materials technology. Persons interested in membership should contact any chapter member or the membership chairman.
Chapter Officers:
Chairperson: Fabrizio Marchegiani
Secretary: Tory Welsch
Treasurer: Jeff Ramberg
Ex-Officio: Lauren McCabe
Chapter Email: brandywineasm@gmail.com