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Celebrating the establishment of the IEEE Signal Processing Society

Established in 2023 and celebrated annually on 2 June, SPS Day commemorates the date that the IEEE Signal Processing Society (SPS) was established in 1948. Every 2 June, SPS calls on its members and Chapters around the world to gather at local events to connect and collaborate with their communities to advance the SPS mission and fields of interests.

Honoring IEEE’s first society

In October 1947, Raymond A. Heising recommended that IEEE – then called the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) – imagine a new technical division, called “groups,” to address burgeoning interest and focus in emerging areas of audio engineering. This new body would tailor to members’ specialized technical interests and respective meeting and publication needs, setting the stage for what we know as IEEE societies today.

On 2 June 1948, the first professional group of the IRE was formed. The Professional Group on Audio became a model for other groups within the organization, demonstrating strength and involvement at local and national levels. In time, the Professional Group on Audio would evolve into the IEEE Signal Processing Society (SPS) we know today.

SPS – IEEE’s first society – has continued to act as a bastion of innovation and collaboration, connecting a global community through a discipline that has swelled with the same speed and vigor that demanded its establishment in 1948, driven by passionate, dedicated leaders that make it the technical home to nearly 20,000 members today.