About Us
A Place of Excellence
Pi Gamma Mu is the oldest and preeminent honor society in the social sciences. Our mission is to encourage and recognize superior scholarship in social science disciplines and to foster cooperation and social service among its members. Pi Gamma Mu serves the various social science disciplines which seek to understand and explain human behavior and social relationships as well as their related problems and issues. Currently, there are around 150 active chapters in the United States and overseas.
Pi Gamma Mu’s constitution defines the social sciences to include the disciplines of history, political science, sociology, anthropology, economics, psychology, international relations, criminal justice, social work, social philosophy, history of education, and cultural/human geography. Membership is also extended to interdisciplinary social science areas that build on the core social science disciplines, such as business and society, education, minority studies, public administration, international studies, public finance, leadership studies, consumer behavior, public policy and organizational behavior. (From http://www.pigammamu.org/ )
The Mother Chapter (Winfield, Kansas, USA)
Pi Gamma Mu was founded in 1934 by Dean Leroy Allen from Southwestern College in Kansas and Dean William A. Hamilton of the College of William and Mary in Virginia. Seventeen founding chapters were organized simultaneously. It is the oldest, largest, and most significant of the honor societies concerned with the Social Sciences. There are currently 170 active chapters located in various colleges and universities throughout the U.S. and the Philippines, with more than 200,000 members scattered around the world. The society was incorporated under the name “The National Social Science Honor Society, Pi Gamma Mu, Inc.” on April 5, 1929, as a non-profit corporation in Colorado. To acknowledge its chapters outside the U.S. the Board of Trustees took action in 1980 to change the name of the Society to “Pi Gamma Mu, International Honor Society in Social Science” The official journal, Social Science, was established in 1925. in 1982, the name of the journal was changed to International Social Science Review. The society’s 1987 constitution provides for triennial conventions with each chapter eligible to send a delegation. The convention is vested with the supreme authority of the Society. During the convention, delegates elect two student representatives to the conventions. Members of the Board of Trustees are elected by the chapters for three-year terms. Five chancellors oversee regions made up of several provinces. The provinces are headed by governors who lend support and assistance to the collegiate chapters under their jurisdiction. Each chapter, under the direction of faculty officers, plans its own programs and specific areas of service. Pi Gamma Mu is a member of the Association of College Honor Societies, on whose council it has a representative. It is also affiliated with the American Association for the Advancement of Science which classifies Pi Gamma Mu as a constituent organization of Section K – Social, Economic and Political Sciences.
The Philippine Alpha Chapter (U.P. Chapter)
The Philippine Alpha Chapter (U.P. CHAPTER) was proposed and installed on May 7, 1932 by Dr. W. Leon Godshall, a distinguished alumnus (BS 1919, MA 1921, PhD. 1923), professional of political science and Pi Gamma Mu member of the University of the Philippines. Dr. Godshall later became Pi Gamma Mu’s third president, ascending to the post in 1951. The Philippine Alpha Chapter became inactive from 1942 to 1948 as a result of the destruction of the old University of the Philippines campus in Manila during World War II and was restored after the Second World War and the Japanese Occupation with the support and assistance of the Mother Chapter, the Pi Gamma Mu International Honor Society in Social Scieces under the leadership of Dr. S. Howard Patterson, Pi Gamma Mu’s longest serving national president (1937-1951), founder the Pennsylvania Delta Chapter (1927) and professor of economics (1921-1958) at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
The U.P. Alpha Chapter is active in upholding the seven ideals of Pi Gamma Mu – scholarship, science, social science, social idealism, sociability, social service and sacrifice. The UP Pi Gamma Mu Alpha Chapter has consistently been cited, by the mother chapter, in its roll of distinction and, later, the roll of merit for the quality of its members and the scope of its activities.
In the 1970’s, the chapter had a scholarship fund for undergraduate students in the social sciences as well as a Professional Chair in the Social Sciences, th Pi Gamma Mu Professorial Chair for Social Science, initially launhed during the presidency of Prof. Ofelia R. Angangco to encourage scholarship among the faculty. After two recipients, the Chair was discontinued due to fund insufficiency. With the improved financial standing of the U.P. Chapter, the Chair was revived during the leadership of Dr. Elizabeth R. Ventura and Dr. Ma. Luisa T. Camagay. The scholarship grant was also transformed into thesis and dissertation writing grants.
Among the Alpha Chapter’s activities have been essay writing contests, symposia, discussions and lecture series, continuing the tradition of seeking knowledge for illumination in the social sciences. The chapter also publishes an annual newsletter which details the activities of the society for the year, usually available and distributed during the annual induction of new members.
Annually, the society invites to its fold, junior and senior students (GWA of 1.75 or higher) or graduate students (GWA is 1.25 or higher) in the upper 10% of their class who have completed at least twenty (20) units in the social sciences. Outstanding professionals in the field of social sciences have also been nominated for membership.
The society has granted distinguished service awards to members who, until now, continue to uphold the vision of Pi Gamma Mu through their outstanding work and achievements. Among the illustrious members of the alpha chapter are two presidents of the Republic, several Supreme Court Justices, and a number of Cabinet Members. Within the University of the Philippines administration, the Pi Gamma Mu counts as members six university Presidents, several Vice-Chancellors, and countless deans.
Latest Updates
INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL SCIENCE REVIEW VOLUME 97 ISSUE 1
