You don't have to be a graduate EE to join. I entered as an undergraduate,
around 1967 (which is pushing 50 years),
and remember a special issue on the Fast Fourier Transform,
which was then coming into common use.

Absolutely true, and as I mentioned in my prior reply, I too
joined as a student, quite a few years before you, and actually
do remember the 'discovery' of the FFT in that same time period.

I learned later that the FFT had been known for quite some time earlier
(well-before 1967). It was the development of relatively cheap digital
computers that made its use practical.

With respect to telling students to "read" the textbook, it would probably be
more correct to tell them "work the problems". I found I often did not truly
comprehend the material until I'd worked through the problems.