Higher grade IEEE membership has declined significantly in the six US IEEE regions, and much of this membership loss is from members working in industry. The four non-US regions have been increasing in higher grade IEEE membership, but the majority of these members are academic rather than from industry. Overall IEEE higher level private industry membership has fallen 53% since 2000.

IEEE is suffering from the loss of industry members. These are people involved in the practical application of technology to create wealth and satisfy human needs. We need them as well as our academic and other members for IEEE to truly reflect and represent the technologists who make the world work, create the future and in order to make the greatest impact on human civilization.

We need to look how we can bring industry members back into the IEEE. We should identify services and offerings that we currently have that are of interest to industry and engage with high level technology industry executives to find out what IEEE could offer them that would have real value and persuade companies to encourage and fund their employee”s membership in the IEEE.

I am planning to have a series of town meetings to discuss issues around IEEE membership and other topics. If you are interested in participating and talking with me about these topics please sign up to find out about these events at Tom's Town Halls