Iota Sigma Pi
| Iota Sigma Pi | |
|---|---|
| ΙΣΠ | |
| Founded | 1902 |
| Scope | National honor society for women in chemistry |
| Members | 10,100 lifetime |
| Homepage | http://www.iotasigmapi.info/ |
Iota Sigma Pi (ΙΣΠ) is a national honor society in the United States. It was established in 1902 and specializes in the promotion of women in the sciences, especially chemistry. It also focuses on personal and professional growth in the same. As with all honor societies they create professional networks along with recognizing achievements of women in chemistry.
The society was formed during a period when women gained little recognition for their work. Therefore, women began to set up their own awards to highlight their abilities on their resumes.
The national society was formed in 1902 by Agnes Faye Morgan. She was appointed department chair of the Department of Household Science and Arts at the University of California and was one of the first to integrate chemistry into the curriculum of home economics. She continued to participate in the society throughout her professional life and had a particular focus on research. She also founded a local honour society for women in home economics named Alpha Nu.
The society goals were to encourage women to pursue chemistry academically, to "stimulate personal accomplishment in chemical fields" and to promote the academic, business and social lives of its members.
Early chapters opened at the University of Washington around 1910 and continued to spread across the country, and eventually held meetings for the American Chemical Society. In the 1930s there was an offer of amalgamation from the Phi Lambda Upsilon honor society for male chemists but this was refused.
The highest award from the society is the National Honorary Member which is given to female chemists who have made an exceptional and significant achievement in the field. The certificate is awarded with a prize fund of USD1500. Some of the previous winners include: Marie Sklodowska-Curie, Gerti Cori and Dorothy Hodgkin.
The Violet Diller Professional Excellence Award, named after a previous member (treasurer and president), is awarded for "accomplishments in academic, governmental, or industrial chemistry, in education, in administration, or in a combination of these areas". The award consists of a certificate and USD1000 prize fund.
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