A brief account of Ronald Mickens' role in the formation of the National Society of Black Physicists (NSBP), formerly known as the Society of Black Physicists. Topics discussed include: Howard Foster (physics department chair at Alabama A&M University), James Young (Los Alamos National Laboratory and MIT), Joseph Johnson III (Southern University), and Harry Morrison (Howard University and UC Berkeley); Mickens' post-doctorate years at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); the selection and awarding of honors to mentors in the African-American collegiate physics community; details of the meetings held at Morgan State University and Morehouse College in 1977 and 1978 to form and inaugurate the National Society of Black Physicists, including a list of the first officers of the Society.