The SAA at 150
The Stevens Alumni Association has claimed mighty members over its 150 years: Nobel Prize winning physicist Frederick Reines ’39 M.S. ’41, artist Alexander Calder Class of 1919, Johnson Space Center director Aaron Cohen M.S. ’58, who helped guide six of NASA’s lunar landings. Today’s SAA, with some 62,000 members and alumni on six continents, expands its reach, while building on rich traditions: excellence in its members, thriving clubs and career networks, and a reunion weekend when alumni celebrate their enduring connection to their alma mater and to each other.
1. Alumni Day 1946
Stevens welcomed back alumni who had served in World War II with a carnival, dinner at the nearby Union Club and fireworks. More veterans joined Stevens that fall, boosted by the GI Bill, resulting in two graduating classes in 1950.
2. “Dink”
Affectionately known as a “dink,” this beanie belonged to a member of the Class of 1908. The tradition of freshmen wearing a dink lasted until 1969.
3. Class Picture
The Class of 1889, with Nicholai H. Hiller at far left. Hiller’s son, Paul W. Hiller, who entered Stevens in 1918 but graduated from Penn State, donated the photo.
4. Mug
A memento of Alumni Weekend 2026, which marked 150 years of the SAA this past June.
5. TV Moment
Deborah Naas O’Rourke ’75 M.S. ’80 speaks with NBC’s News 4 New York at Commencement 1975, as one of the first undergraduate women to receive a Stevens degree that day and formally join the SAA.
6. Program
The annual Alumni Banquet was an SAA tradition for decades. This 1918 gathering, held at the Hotel Astor in Manhattan, featured Stevens songs and cheers, with Cape Cod oysters, guinea hen and cigarettes.
7. Albums
“Songs of Stevens” from 1951 featured the Stevens Glee Club — founded in 1873 — with student and alumni singers. Some songs: “Russian Picnic,” “Pilgrims’ Chorus” and the Stevens Alma Mater.
8. Parade
The alumni parade — with elaborate floats such as this replica of the Wright Brothers’ flyer, in 1911 — kicked off annual Alumni Days of long ago.
– Beth Kissinger
Photo: Michael Marquand
Historic Items Provided By: Samuel C. Williams Library Archives & Special Collections