Pi Gamma Mu, International Honor Society in Social Sciences

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.

In 2004, student trustee Jamie Cooper drafted and the Board of Trustees approved a streamlined statement of purpose: “The mission of Pi Gamma Mu is to encourage and promote excellence in the social sciences and to uphold the ideals of scholarship and service.”