Phi Sigma Iota - History

History

Phi Sigma Iota was founded in 1922 at Allegheny College by Dr. Henry W. Church, members of his department of languages, and advanced students who were meeting to discuss linguistic and literary matters. PSI became a national society when Beta Chapter was established at The Pennsylvania State University in April 1925. Less than a year later, Gamma Chapter at the College of Wooster followed them. With these three chapters as the nucleus of the national organization, the first convention was held in May 1926, at Allegheny College. Since that time expansion has been steady.

In November 1935, Phi Sigma Iota was merged with Alpha Zeta Pi, a similar society west of the Mississippi. The merger took place at a National Convention held at Bloomington, Illinois. Dr. Etienne Renaud and his associates in the Department of Languages had organized Alpha Zeta Pi in October 1917 at the University of Denver.

In 1949, Phi Sigma Iota was granted membership into the U.S. Association of College Honor Societies, the first language society to receive that honor.

In 1978, under the Presidency of Dr. Santiago Vilas, the Society expanded into the National Foreign Language Honor Society Phi Sigma Iota to honor outstanding achievements in any foreign language including Classics, Philology, Applied Linguistics, Comparative Literature, and Bilingual Education.

In 1982, the Society became the International Foreign Language Honor Society by installing its first Chapter in a foreign country (Universidad Regiomontana, Monterrey, Mexico).

Every year Phi Sigma Iota awards several scholastic grants to its members. The first scholarship was established in 1939 in memory of the founder and first National President, Dr. Church. In 1970, another scholarship was established in memory of Dr. Anthony S. Corbiere, who for nearly thirty years was National Historian, Editor of the Newsletter, and Executive Secretary of Phi Sigma Iota. In 2000, two additional named scholarships were inaugurated. One to honor Dr. Cleon Capsus, professor of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of South Florida and one to honor the years of devoted work on behalf of PSI by Dr. Santiago Vilas. The Dr. Marie-France Hilgar Scholarship was established to honor former President Dr. Hilgar.