Pi Gamma Mu - Social Sciences Honor Society

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 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.

Pi Gamma Mu is a member of the Association of College Honors Societies, on whose council it has a representative. It is 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 Science.

Mission

The mission of Pi Gamma Mu at UC Irvine is to foster and honor superior scholarship in the Social Sciences and to encourage cooperation and social service among its members.

The organization champions its members to pursue further education in their field and provides information, insight, and opportunities to help them achieve this.

Pi Gamma Mu further recognizes the many benefits of networking and strives to promote relationship building between its members and also with individuals in the local community.

History

Pi Gamma Mu was founded in 1924 by Dean Leroy Allen from Southwestern College in Kansas and Dean William  A. Hamilton of the College o William and Mary in West Virginia. Seventeen founding chapters were organized simultaneously. 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 Sciences.” The official journal, Social Science, was established in 1925. In 1982, the name of the journal was changed to International Social Science Review.

In 1993, the Society moved its headquarters in Winfield, Kansas to the Carnegie Building, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Buildings.

Membership

Membership in Pi Gamma Mu is a valuable asset and may increase the Civil Service rating at which a person enters federal service.  In addition, other employers look for honor society status on resumes.

As a member of Pi Gamma Mu, you will receive great benefits such as:

• A gold-plated key pin
• A certificate worth framing
• A valuable item for your resume
• Furtherance of professional career
• Advancement in Government Service rating
• Invitation to regional meetings and triennial conventions
• Opportunities to work closely with those who share common interests
• An opportunity to compete for scholarships for the first and second year in graduate school
• A one year subscription to International Social Science Review
• An email subscription to the Pi Gamma Mu Newsletter
• Access to a Lectureship Fund Program

Application Deadline: Deadline: Friday, May 31, 2024

APPLY NOW
 

Contact

Social & Behavioral Sciences Gateway, Room 1501 | ucipgm@mail.ss.uci.edu