With the mentorship of that one black faculty member, Arthur Bond, a Ph.D. candidate in Purdue's School of Electrical Engineering, John Logan, Brian Harris, George Smith, Edward Coleman, Anthony Harris, and Stan Kirtley, (all of which became known as the Chicago Six) were provided the encouragement needed to get the organization started.

During the time in which SBE was formed, the number of African-American students at predominantly white institutions increased but their graduation rate did not. this prompted the Chicago Six to extend what was started at Purdue University to the entire nation. Thus, in 1974, The Society of Black Engineers became a national body.

In 1975 at the first national conference (which was held at the first national headquarters at Purdue University) 48 students representing 32 schools met and chose the organization's national symbol, wrote a rough draft of the national constitution, divided the organization into six geographic regions, elected John Carson as the first national chairperson, and most importantly, selected a name for the group, the "National Society of Black Engineers".

Today, the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) is the largest student-run organization in the country with well over 10,000 members and 190 chapters. Its purpose is to help increase the number of culturally responsible black engineers in the nation who excel academically, succeed professionally, and become positive and productive members in the black community. NSBE has grown to prominence across the nation as a model organization which others have begun to emulate.

As mentioned earlier, nsbe is organized into six geographic regions. These regions have numerous zones within them, and within these zones are the numerous individual chapters at universities across the nation and across the world. NSBE also has various alumni who help assist students through networking, mentoring, and in any other way they can. These alumni are organized into more than 100 alumni extension (a-e) boards. NSBE currently has such activities as group study sessions, pci (pre-college initiative) program for high school/junior high school students, workshops, seminars, and awards for deserving members. NSBE also has two national magazines (NSBE bridge and nsbe magazine), its own national communication network (NSBENET), internal newsletters, and a professional newsletter, the career engineer. NSBE members also participate in career fairs, banquets, and national, regional, and zone conferences.