[11] Also in the President's Room is an oil portrait of Alexander Lyman Holley (ASME honorary member), who was considered the primary founder of the Society and is listed in ASME's 1915 history as being its first president for the period before 1880, in that he presided over the preliminary meeting, drafted its first bylaws and policies, initiated nomination of officers and gathered its first papers for presentation. Having died within two years of the founding of ASME, he never served as president after the Society's founding. Holley's greatest technical achievements were in steel-making processes, including patented improvements to the Bessemer process. This portrait of Holley--as he appeared during ASME's organizing years--was a gift from his widow and was possibly the first oil portrait for ASME's "gallery."

Returning to the staircase and looking down at the landing is a massive bronze commemorating the gift of Andrew Carnegie (ASME honorary member), quoting his pledge on March 14th, 1904, for the first "union building" that was to become the United Engineering Center [11].