Past and Present BESS Members Shine at 50th Anniversary Celebration

Main photo: Members of the 2024-2025 BESS executive board.
At its 50th anniversary celebration, BESS recognized students, alumni, faculty, and supporters who have helped make this student organization a source of community, education, and professional development for more than five decades.
The Black Engineering Student Society (BESS) celebrated its 50th anniversary with a gala that reunited former members with students and faculty, and paid tribute to distinguished alumni and supporters of the student group.
“BESS has given back on not only a national scale but on a global scale,” says Richard Harris, associate dean of diversity, equity, and inclusion, who also serves as the student organization advisor to BESS. “Out of BESS have come many captains of industry and students who pursued PhDs and now serve in academia.”
BESS was founded in 1974 by students Harold C. Hunte E’76 and Harold Blake. A year later, the National Society of Black Engineers was founded, and BESS became one of its student charter groups in 1976.
College of Engineering alumni from across the decades say that BESS provided a foundation on which they build successful careers. Quincy Allen, E’82, electrical engineering, who was recognized as a notable alumnus at the celebration, recalled the significance BESS had on his life more than 40 years ago.
“BESS created a sense of community for us, provided academic support, created networking opportunities with other engineering majors and helped us develop as engineers,” says Allen, who held several executive positions in the technology industry, including as president of Xerox Production Systems Group, which during his tenure was a $4.5 billion business.
Other graduates who were recognized as notable alumni included:
- Logan Jackson, E’16, civil engineering, the first Northeastern University student to win the Rhodes Scholarship
- Michele Lezama, E’88, industrial engineering, a past BESS president and president and CEO of the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME)
- Winslow Sargeant, E’86, electrical engineering, a successful CEO who served in the President Barack Obama administration and is currently a member of the Northeastern Board of Trustees
- Cassandra McKenzie, E’87, civil engineering, and MS’07, leadership in project management, who now serves as assistant vice president of real estate and capital projects at Northeastern
- Sarah Brown, E’11, electrical engineering, MS’14, electrical and computer engineering, and Ph’16, electrical engineering, an assistant professor of computer science at the University of Rhode Island

Franklin Ollivierre at the BESS celebration.
“I always knew that there was such a long history of excellence, but it was amazing to see all these people come back and talk about their experiences,” says Franklin Ollivierre, E’26, civil engineering, who attended the evening event. “It motivates me that there is a bigger picture that we are all striving for. They are a guiding light.”
Ollivierre is currently on BESS’s executive board as program chair, helping to coordinate a range of events and activities.
In addition, three individuals, including the late Marilyn Minus, who until May 2023 was professor and chair of the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, were recognized for long-standing support of BESS. Members of Minus’ family attended to receive the award in her memory.
“She had an impact on the institution and also directly on the students,” Harris says,

Richard Harris celebrates with Richard Scranton.
Two former College of Engineering associate deans, Richard Scranton and the late David Blackman, both of whom fostered inclusive environments for students from underrepresented communities and worked for decades on their behalf, were also recognized with awards.
When students Hunte and Blake founded BESS in the 1970s, they believed that providing a community of support to people of color would help them achieve success in engineering. Despite various societal changes and upheavals in the 50 years that followed, the core mission to support students and encourage success has not changed, says Harris.
“The mission has stayed true,” says Harris, noting the group’s motto of “Believing in Excellence and Striving for Success.”
“It’s about being part of something greater than just yourself and to have a sense of connectedness,” Harris adds. “What’s important is the students eventually reach back and help that next group move forward.”