Sigma Pi Sigma

Sigma Pi Sigma, founded at Davidson College on December 11, 1921, is the oldest and only American honor society for physics and astronomy. It is an organization within the Society of Physics Students and the American Institute of Physics and a member of the Association of College Honor Societies. The society's stated goals are "to honor outstanding scholarship in physics and astronomy; to encourage interest in physics and astronomy among students at all levels; to promote an attitude of service of its members towards their fellow students, colleagues, and the public; to provide a fellowship of persons who have excelled in physics and astronomy." The society has some 90,000 historical members. History Academic fraternity Sigma Pi Sigma was originally founded by a group of ten students and faculty members at Davidson College on December 11, 1921, as an academic fraternity. It was the first in the United States specifically dedicated to the study of physics. Historically, it has been associated with Gamma Sigma Epsilon, another academic fraternity founded in 1919 by Davidson students interested in chemistry. The first major expansion of Sigma Pi Sigma occurred in 1925 when a second chapter was founded at Duke University. Three years later, in 1928, the society held its first Physics Congress, a national gathering attended by members of the then six extant chapters.