Honor Societies

There are at least 18 honor and course societies. The three best-known are:

Phi Beta Kappa. The oldest honor society in the United States is represented at Lehigh by the Beta chapter of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the 27th oldest chapter in the nation. The chapter’s council considers for invitation into its membership those students in each of Lehigh’s three undergraduate colleges who satisfy the following profile:

• At least 60 credit hours of coursework completed at Lehigh
• A minimum cumulative GPA of 3.75
• A minimum of 8 credit hours in the natural sciences (including a lab)
• A minimum of 8 credit hours in the social sciences
• A minimum of 8 credit hours in the humanities, especially textual analysis beyond first-year writing (the council typically does not recognize some courses that carry Humanities credit at Lehigh, such as Public Speaking, Stage Design, one-credit Music lessons, etc.)
• Calculus or advanced mathematics that requires calculus as a prerequisite
• Two years of college-level foreign language study or its equivalent (may be satisfied by four years of high school study with excellent grades)
• No disciplinary violations sufficient to warrant probation, suspension, or expulsion

Please note: Satisfaction of this profile guarantees consideration by the Phi Beta Kappa council; it does not guarantee election to Phi Beta Kappa. Any undergraduate who has questions about any of the items in this profile should contact Prof. Ziad Munson, Executive Secretary of Lehigh’s chapter. Office phone: 610-758-3821; e-mail: munson@lehigh.edu

Beta Gamma Sigma. Election to membership in Beta Gamma Sigma is the highest scholastic honor that a student in business administration can achieve. Beta Gamma Sigma is the only national honorary scholarship society in the field of business administration recognized by The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.

Tau Beta Pi. Tau Beta Pi recognizes engineering students who have a history of distinguished scholarship and exemplary character. The national organization was founded at Lehigh in 1885. A bronze marker in front of Packard Lab commemorates this event.

Among course societies are the following: Alpha Pi Mu, for those in industrial and systems engineering; Alpha Sigma Mu, materials science and engineering (http://www.alphasigmamu.org/). Beta Alpha Psi, accounting; Chi Epsilon, civil engineering; Eta Kappa Nu, electrical engineering; Lambda Mu Sigma, marketing; Omicron Delta Epsilon, economics; Omicron Delta Kappa, leadership; Order of the Omega, leadership in Greek activities; Phi Alpha Theta, history; Phi Beta Delta, international; Phi Eta Sigma, freshman scholastic excellence; Pi Tau Sigma, mechanical engineering; Psi Chi, psychology; Sigma Tau Delta, English; and Sigma Xi, research.