Nearly 26 years ago three people had dinner at The Three Threes Restaurant, a small gathering place just a few blocks from the Philadelphia City Hall. It may have happened by chance, as a storm discouraged one of them from going directly to the airport after the day of work. While at dinner, they continued discussions that had been ongoing between Jim Snyder and Gordon Davis for several months. As a direct result of the discussion that evening, a small group of people decided that a new organization should be formed to provide a means for project managers to associate and discuss common problems.
Follow-on discussions resulted in a plan for the first formal meeting at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Georgia on October 9,1969, and the birth of the Project Management Institute. More details on these events are provided in “PM & PMI, Past &Present: Some Changes, Some Sameness, Some Surprises” in the January PMNETwork and other issues this year.
Articles of incorporation were filed in Pennsylvania, signed by five persons. Those five individuals are recognized as the founders of PMI. Three of those founders are still active members of PMI: Jim Snyder holds membership number 2, Ericenett number 3, and Gordon Davis number 4. A.E. “Ned” Engman and Susan C. Gallagher moved on to other career interests.
Jim Snyder has continued with Smith, Kline and French (now SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals) and is currently manager of finance and administration. He has served PMI in so many ways as to deserve the designation of “Father of PMI.” He has served, both officially and unofficially, as executive director. For years, PMI's headquarters was the kitchen table in Jim and Ann Snyder's home. Jim has received nearly every honor that has been bestowed by PMI. On a recent visit to Philadelphia, he shared with the editor in chief many of the details of the founding of PMI. Jim is still very concerned with the opportunities and future available to PMI. Anyone having the opportunity will enjoy talking to this very proud founder of PMI.
Eric Jenett, in addition to holding membership number 3, holds PMP number 1 and is a PMI Fellow. He retired in 1989 as corporate vice president of Brown & Root, having served in many engineering and project management capacities. After receiving a B.S. and M.S. in chemical engineering from Columbia University, he worked for Tennessee Eastman prior to joining Brown & Root. It is a great source of pride that he has finished every job he started as a project manager. He is almost apologetic for his tendency to treat PMI as his “baby,” or perhaps “grandchild.” His dedication to PMI can be matched by few other people.
J. Gordon Davis is president of Davis Consulting Group, located in Atlanta, Georgia. He earned a B.S. and M.S. in industrial engineering from the University of Florida. He continued his education, receiving a Ph.D. from Georgia Institute of Technology, staying on to teach there for several years. It was during this time that he became interested in project management and started teaching the subject. One of his students was Jim Snyder. Their mutual interest in this subject grew, with Jim arranging for Gordon to present a workshop in Philadelphia. That interest led to discussion of the dearth of opportunities for those engaged in project management to talk to others about common problems and opportunities. Thus, when it was decided that there should be a meeting of persons interested informing a professional society, Gordon's location at Georgia Tech became the obvious venue.
Gordon has served PMI in many capacities and received nearly every honor PMI bestows. He states that, “The one true professional challenge in my lifetime has been to help advance project management as a profession.” His interest in creating PMI was to provide “a forum for discussing the emerging concepts and practices in the field and to identify a profession of project management that wasn't otherwise perceived as a profession.” He wanted to “focus on the multi-disciplinary nature of project management in a way that simply was not being done.” Gordon created the concept of project management as the “accidental profession” (see September 1994 PMNETwork) and continues to challenge PMI members and leaders to “build professionalism in project management.”
A.E. “Ned” Engman was a sales person for the McAuto division of what is now McDonnell Douglas Corporation, representing the McAuto Project Management System. Clearly, among his interests in PMI was the ability to meet and communicate with potential users of his product. It is reported that Ned has since been a major executive in a manufacturing firm in Houston, Texas. PMNETwork has been unsuccessful in contacting Ned as of the close of this issue.
PMI Founders, clockwise from top right: Jim Snyder, Ned Eng-man, Eric Jenett, Gordon Davis, and Susan Gallagher (center).
Susan C. Gallagher worked in project management at Smith, Kline and French at the time of PMI's founding. She served as vice president of technical service, treasurer, director at large, and in many other capacities. She moved to G.D. Searle and then to MGI PHARMA, INC. in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she is currently director, clinical affairs. Efforts to talk with her have been unsuccessful to date.
Note: On August 6, 1994, several members of the PMI Board of Directors visited The Three Threes Restaurant. It was discovered that this building has an interesting history dating back to 1796, when it was constructed as servants quarters for a house behind it. PMI members may want to visit this site where it can truly be said that PMI was conceived. The Three Threes is located at 333 South Smedley Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103, phone (610) 735-0667. This location is 5 1/2 blocks south of City Hall and 2 1/2 blocks west of Broadway. If driving, it is convenient to go south on 18th Street to Pine Street. There is a parking lot at the northeast quadrant of that intersection. ❑