PI GAMMA MU

Purpose 

     Collegiate chapters exist to accomplish the vision and mission of Pi Gamma Mu as an international honor society with an interdisciplinary approach to the study of the social sciences. 

    Throughout its 81 years of existence, our own chapter has contributed to the realization of Pi Gamma Mu's ideals of scholarship, science, social science, social idealism, sociability, social service, and sacrifice.

Establishment and Growth

     Our Pi Gamma Mu chapter is officially designated as Pennsylvania Delta, since it was the fourth to be chartered in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

     In late 1926, faculty members from the Wharton School led by S. Howard Patterson (right), professor (and later chairman), Department of Economics, and author of several classic books in microeconomics, supported by the Wharton dean, Emory R. Johnson, submitted a petition to Society headquarters for a Penn charter.  The charter was issued on April 4, 1927 to the following founding members who represented "the most famous social scientists of the University of Pennsylvania of those days" :

Herman Vanderburg Ames, Dean of the Graduate School 

     and Professor of American Constitutional History

James H. S. Brossard, Professor of Sociology

Thomas Allibone Budd, Assistant Professor of Accounting

     and Registrar of the Wharton School

Raymond T. Bye, Professor of Economics

Harry Thomas Collings, Professor of Commerce

Edwin Potts Cheney, Professor of European History

Waldo E. Fisher, Assistant Professor of Industry

Paul F. Gemmill, Assistant Professor of Economics

Lincoln Withington Hall, Assistant Professor of Economics

William W. Hewett, Assistant Professor of Economics

Solomon S. Huebner, Professor and Chairman,

     Department of Insurance

Emory R. Johnson, Dean of the Wharton School

     and Professor of Transportation and Commerce

Clyde Lyndon King, Professor of Political Science

Clifford Kirkpatrick, Assistant Professor of Geography

James P. Lichtenberger, Professor of Sociology

William Ezra Lingelbach, Acting Dean of the College

     and Professor of Modern European History

Austin Faulks MacDonald, Assistant Professor of Political Science

Roland S. Morris, Professor of International Law

Ernest Minor Patterson, Professor and Chairman,

    Department of Economics

S. Howard Patterson, Assistant Professor of Economics,

    Chapter President

Wilbur Clayton Plummer, Assistant Professor of Economics

Stuart A. Rice, Professor of Sociology and Statistics

Karl W. H. Scholz, Assistant Professor of Economics

Johan Thorsten Sellin, Assistant Professor of Sociology

W. Wallace Weaver, Instructor in Sociology

Joseph Henry Willitts, Professor and Chairman,

     Department of Geography and Industry

Donald Ramsey Young, Assistant Professor of Sociology 

     and Secretary of the Faculty of the Wharton School

       From 1927 until the 1960s, membership in Pi Gamma Mu was strictly limited to the top 30 juniors and seniors  in the social sciences at the College, Wharton School, School of Education, and the College for Women,  who were nominated by faculty representatives to the chapter Executive Committee (now Council).  Dr. Bradford W. West, former chapter president,  later established two sections of  the chapter (undergraduate and graduate). 

     Our chapter was housed for many years at Logan Hall (inset), which contained the Wharton School and the social science departments of Penn. The annual “candlestick” induction ceremony and banquet were traditionally held at the Christian Association Building (now known as the ARCH Building), and later at the theatre of Houston Hall, the Student Union Building.

      Dr. S. Howard Patterson, founder and first president of our chapter, served the longest as national president of Pi Gamma Mu  (1937-1951).  Dr. Edward B. Shils (PGM, 1937, bottom left) of the Wharton School was our longest-serving chapter president (1959-2000).   He established  the Sol C. Snider Entrepreneurial Center and held an unmatched record of six earned degrees from Penn.  A frequent contributor to the Pi Gamma Mu journal, our chapter observed its golden anniversary under his leadership with various activities  from 1977-1978.

     In 1978, our chapter made it to Pi Gamma Mu's One Thousand Club for having initiated over a thousand regular members..

 Editorial Offices of Social Science

      From 1948 to 1959, Steinberg-Dietrich Hall  housed the editorial offices of Social Science, the juried and indexed journal of Pi Gamma Mu (now the International Social Science Review). Its editor-in-chief, Dr. Edward W. Carter, and senior associate editor, Dr. Henry J. Abraham, were members of the Department of Political Science.  Under their editorship, the journal began to accept manuscripts from abroad.

Past Chapter Activities

     In December 1933, our chapter, led by Dr. William N. Loucks, hosted the three-day biennial convention of Pi Gamma Mu at the Benjamin Franklin Hotel, then Philadelphia's finest.

      Our chapter was among the most awarded chapters of Pi Gamma Mu until it became inactive in 2000 due to the retirement of its last faculty officer.  It received the Chapter Roll of Merit and Roll of Distinction from the international board of trustees for the effectiveness of sponsored activities and efficiency of operations.

      Among the regular activities held by our chapter were the monthly Executive Committee  meetings, luncheon lectures, awarding of medals and prizes to outstanding social science students and faculty, a coffee hour for faculty and student paper presentations held at Houston Hall, the presentation of two rotating plaques to fraternity and sorority houses whose members received the highest median GPA in the social sciences, and a few social service projects.  It also held its annual induction ceremony followed by a wine and cheese reception and/or banquet in May.  Our chapter was actively represented by faculty and student officers at regional and local meetings as well as the governing conventions of the Society.

     Today, many of these traditions have been restored by our chapter Executive Council and we encouraged our members to actively participate in them (please click on Events Schedule).

 Chapter Reactivation 

      In December 2006, a small group of Pi Gamma Mu alumni, students and faculty led by Dr. Henry Teune (left) of the Department of Political Science  formed a council to reactivate our Penn chapter.  The present Executive Council, which is responsible for chapter governance, is larger and more diverse than its predecessor, the Executive Committee.  It consists of Penn social science faculty, alumni and students.  Such a structure, as provided under our chapter Constitution and ByLaws, promotes shared responsibility and broader representation in chapter stewardship. 

     With the restoration of our chapter, outstanding Penn students in the social sciences may once again receive the recognition and benefits of membership in Pi Gamma Mu that they deserve.

    Current Activities

     The reactivated chapter of Pi Gamma Mu at Penn has sponsored several activities since early 2007. These included a chapter lecture on bioethics by Dr. Paul Wolpe held in March 2007, the orientation and induction ceremonies for newly elected members in April, 2007 the chapter booth at the annual organizational fair in September 2008, the annual session for designated and multi-awarded partner organizations in October 2008, and the restored Houston Hall Coffee Hour in February 2008. 

     Executive Council meetings are held at least once every two months during the school year. 

     Please check this website periodically for forthcoming chapter events and activities (please click on Events Schedule).

Prominent Chapter Members

      Through the years our chapter has produced its own share of notable Pi Gamma Mu members.  Emory Johnson (PGM, 1927), a co-founder of our chapter, was America's “first specialized business professor” and “a towering figure in early transportation studies.”   Roy F. Nichols (PGM, 1932, right) represented the History Department in our chapter's Executive Committee (now Council)  and in 1949 became the first Penn professor to receive the Pulitzer Prize.   Simon S. Kuznets (PGM, 1937, left), another member of our chapter Executive Committee, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Science in 1971 for developing measurements of national output.  Economic historian and MIT professor Charles P. Kindleberger (PGM, 1931) served as a student chapter officer from 1931 to 1932 and was the chief architect of the Marshall Plan for the postwar rehabilitation of Europe.  Oscar-winning songwriter Ray Evans (PGM, 1937) composed the classic songs, Mona Lisa, Tammy, Que Sera Sera, and Silver Bells.    Former U.S. Secretary of Transportation William T. Coleman, Jr. (PGM, 1941,  right) wrote the legal brief of the NAACP and, along with Thurgood Marshall, represented it before the U.S. Supreme Court in the landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education (1954), which decreed the desegregation of public education.  Henry J. Abraham (PGM, 1949), an internationally recognized authority on American constitutional issues and the James Hart professor of Government and Foreign Affairs at the University of Virginia, served for 15 years as associate editor of the Pi Gamma Mu journal and as  our chapter secretary in the 1950s.   Arlen Specter (PGM, 1950, bottom right) is incumbent U.S. senator from Pennsylvania.   Groundbreaking experimental psychologist Judith S. Rodin (PGM, 1965, left) became Penn’s first female president (1994-2004) and is currently president of the Rockefeller Foundation.  Paul Finkelstein (PGM, 1963) is the incumbent president and CEO of Regis Corporation, a Fortune 500 corporation and the world's largest hair salon industry.

      Chapter Presidents

      The following have led our chapter as presidents in the last 81 years:

   

1927-1931    S. Howard Patterson, Professor of Economics

1931-1932    Wilbur C. Plummer, Professor of Economics

1932-1938    William N. Loucks, Professor of Economics

1938-1942    Edward Carter, Professor of Political Science

1942-1944    Bradford W. West, Professor of Political Science

1944-1948    Edward Carter, Professor of Political Science

1948-1958    Arleigh P. Hess, Jr., Professor of Economics

1959-2000    Edward B. Shils, Professor of Management

2006-            Henry Teune, Professor of Political Science