Kansas Alpha Chapter - Pittsburg State University
Kappa Mu Epsilon is a specialized honor society in Mathematics.
Its chapters are located in colleges and universities of
recognized standing which offer a strong mathematics major.
The chapters' members are selected from students of mathematics
and other closely related fields who have maintained standards
of scholarship, have professional merit, and have attained
academic distinction.
The society is more than a group of chapters devoted solely to
the election of honor students to membership. Each chapter is
encouraged to be a working organization throughout the academic
year, functioning as an integral part of the mathematics
department in the promotion of a large number of worthwhile
extra-curricular activities.
Kappa Mu Epsilon was founded and continues to exist as a
students' mathematics honor society. The society has grown
steadily since its founding in 1931. It has over one hundred
chapters and approximately sixty-six thousand members nationwide.
Brief History of Kappa Mu Epsilon
The rapid growth of universities and colleges in the United States
during the latter part of the 19th Century led to the development of professional
societies in every field. Local clubs were formed in educational institutions
to promote professional interests, and the desire for affiliation with other groups
of similar ideals led to the organization of these local clubs into national
and state societies. Various fields, such as law, medicine, science,
engineering, and teaching, eventually developed societies with large
memberships.
In mathematics, Pi Mu Epsilon became the national fraternity for
instructors and advanced students in educational institutions offering
graduate work. Since the first fraternities open to mathematics students on the
undergraduate level were organized by science departments, the need
for a national fraternity that would attract such students through their
mathematics departments was recognized. Kappa Mu Epsilon, was
organized to fill this need, and Dr. Emily Kathryn Wyant is considered
to be its founder.
Dr. Wyant was a graduate of the University of Missouri and a member of
Pi Mu Epsilon. In 1930, she went to Northeastern Oklahoma State Teachers College, as a professor of mathematics.
Her vigor and enthusiasm helped to transform the mathematics club, which had been in existence since 1927, into the first
chapter of Kappa Mu Epsilon, Professor L.P. Woods, who was head of the Department of Mathematics
and Dean of Men at the time, became a valuable co-worker concerned with many details pertaining to the project,
including the first rituals used for the initiation of members and installation of officers.
Together Dr. Wyant and Professor Woods along with twenty-two other faculty and students became charter members of
Oklahoma Alpha, Northeastern Oklahoma State Teachers College, Tahlequah, April 18, 1931. Since Dr. Wyant maintained an
extensive correspondence with faculty members at other institutions, the second chapter of Kappa
Mu Epsilon, Iowa Alpha, was installed at Iowa State Teachers College, Cedar Falls,
May 27, 1931. Kansas Alpha, the third chapter, was installed January 30, 1932, at Kansas State
Teachers College, Pittsburg. Then came Missouri Alpha, Southwest Missouri State College, Springfield, May 20, 1932.
Today Kappa Mu Epsilon has become a specialized honor society with one hundred fifteen or more active chapters,
located in colleges and universities of recognized standing, which offer a strong mathematics major, in thirty-four states.
The chapters' members are selected from students of mathematics or closely related fields, who have
professional merit and attain academic distinction. Approximately sixty thousand students have been
initiated so far, and since Kappa Mu Epsilon was founded, they have helped it to become
more than a group of isolated chapters devoted solely to the election of honor students to membership.
Indeed, each chapter is encouraged to be a working organization throughout the academic year,
functioning as an integral part of the mathematics department through worthwhile extra-curricular activities.
Organization and Purposes
The Association of College Honor Societies, which serves as a general coordinating agency, maintains high standards for the recognition and
promotion of academic excellence in higher education. Kappa Mu Epsilon
became a member of this Association in 1968 and
is pleased to be counted among the sixty cooperating societies, representing many different areas of knowledge,
that have joined so far. Dr. J.A.G. Shirk of the Kansas State Teachers College of Pittsburg, now
Pittsburg State University, who succeeded Dr. Wyant as the second president of Kappa Mu
Epsilon, aptly said, "History renders the ultimate verdict as to the value of any movement, and the
growth and the influence of Kappa Mu Epsilon in a little over a decade give a portent of its greater contributions in the decades yet to come."
Official business of Kappa Mu Epsilon is transacted at the national conventions by
delegates from each chapter and members of the National Council: the National President, National President-Elect,
National Secretary, National Treasurer, and the National Historian. A national convention is held during odd numbered years for the
purpose of receiving student papers, electing officers, voting on motions to amend the constitution or by-laws,
voting on motions relating to establishment of new chapters, and deciding matters concerning the society.
Since 1972, regional conventions are also held during even numbered years under the sponsorship of a regional director in
cooperation with the national council. When a chapter decides to host a regional convention,
the chapters in the region as well as those from surrounding states are invited to attend.
Student papers are featured at regional as well as national conventions,
and by the time a paper reaches a convention its academic level is sufficiently good to be
considered for publication in The Pentagon. The Pentagon,
which is published twice each year, is the official journal of KME,
and it may have been named after the mathematics club that eventually became the first chapter of Kappa Mu Epsilon.
In addition to student papers, it contains news items about various chapters and their activities,
as well as interesting problems and book reviews that help to promote the following five-fold objectives of the society:
- to further the interests of mathematics in those schools which place their primary emphasis on undergraduate programs,
- to help undergraduate students realize the important role that mathematics has played in the development of civilization,
- to develop an appreciation of the power and beauty possessed by mathematics, due, mainly, to its demand for logical and rigorous modes of thought,
- to provide a society for the recognition of outstanding achievement in the study of mathematics at the undergraduate level, and
- to disseminate the knowledge of mathematics and familiarize its members with current progress in this important area of human interest.
Who May Be a Member?
A member
- must be or have been a faculty member or a regularly enrolled student
at an institution where a Kappa Mu Epsilon chapter is installed,
- must have completed at least three semesters or five quarters
at the institution ranking in the upper 35% of his or her class, and
- must have completed at least three college courses in mathematics
including at least one semester or two quarters of calculus or
attained an average of B or higher in all mathematics courses, and
- must have completed at least one semester or one quarter at the
institution, if having transferred from another institution, and
have completed at least one mathematics course with a B or higher at
the institution, prior to his or her induction into membership.
Election to membership in Kappa Mu Epsilon is independent of membership
in any other organization, and no one shall be disqualified by their
sex, race, creed, or color. Members may transfer their affiliation
from one chapter to another by presenting credentials of membership in
good standing.
PSU KME Officers 2009-2010
- President: Holden Kraus
- Vice President: Chad Hays
- Secretary: Krysten Fraley
- Treasurer: Shauna Wachter
- Corresponding Secretary: Dr. Tim Flood
- Faculty Advisor: Dr. Cynthia Woodburn
PSU KME Officers 2008-2009
- President: Tim McVey
- Vice President: Corey Base
- Secretary: Misty Peterson
- Treasurer: Emily Walters
- Corresponding Secretary: Dr. Tim Flood
- Faculty Advisor: Dr. Cynthia Woodburn
Upcoming Events
For more information, join the group Pitt State KME Math Honor Society on Facebook.
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Meetings will resume in the fall.
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