Founded in 1885 by Professor Edward H. Williams Jr. of Lehigh University, TBP honors those with exemplary character and distinguished scholarship as engineering students and alumni. Both undergraduate and graduate students are invited to become candidates of TBP based on their academic performances, recommendations from faculty, and their contributions to engineering and the society. The Mass Beta Chapter of Tau Beta Pi organizes many events on and off the MIT campus to expose those in the Greater Boston community to science/engineering and to introduce MIT students to socially conscious careers.