Sigma Pi Sigma is an American honor society for physics and astronomy. It was founded at Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina on December 11, 1921. It became a member of the Association of College Honor Societies in 1949.
Notable members Following are some of the notable members of Sigma Pi Sigma.
Academia
Robert Ashford, law professor at the Syracuse University College of Law Stanley S. Ballard, chairman of the Physics Department at Tufts University and the University of Florida Vernon D. Crawford, professor, dean, and later interim president at the Georgia Institute of Technology Bascom S. Deaver, physicist and professor at the University of Virginia Homer L. Dodge, president of Norwich University; chair of the Department of Physics and dean of the Graduate school at the University of Oklahoma Virginia Griffing, first woman on the faculty of the physics and chemistry departments at Catholic University of America"Virginia Griffing, 46; Catholic U. Professor". The Washington Post. September 7, 1963. James P. Hamilton, professor in chemistry at the University of Wisconsin–Platteville Lawrence Paul Horwitz, physicist, mathematician, and professor at the University of Geneva, University of Denver Vivian Annabelle Johnson, physicist and professor at Purdue University Jean Krisch, theoretical cosmologist and astrophysicist at the University of Michigan Dan Lubin, research physicist and senior lecturer at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography Floyd K. Richtmyer, professor and dean of the Graduate School at Cornell University Willie Rockward, chair of the department of physics and engineering physics at Morgan State University Lydia Sohn (2004), professor of mechanical engineering and bio-engineering at the University of California, Berkeley S. Lynne Stokes, professor and chair of the Department of Statistical Science at Southern Methodist University Michael Duryea Williams, physicist and professor at Clark Atlanta University James Edward Young, first black tenured faculty member in the Department of Physics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Astronauts
Stephen Bowen, United States Navy submariner and a NASA astronaut Timothy Creamer, NASA flight director and astronaut Roger K. Crouch, NASA astronaut who was the payload specialist on two Space Shuttle missions Walter Cunningham, NASA astronaut who was the lunar module pilot on the Apollo 7 mission Steven Hawley, NASA astronaut who flew on five Space Shuttle flights Kathryn C. Thornton, NASA astronaut
Astronomy
Alan Hale, astronomer, co-discoverer of Comet Hale–Bopp Robert Hurt, astronomer at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC) of the California Institute of Technology
Literature and journalism
C. Dean Andersson, writer of fantasy fiction Aryeh Kaplan, Orthodox rabbi, author, and translator best known for his Living Torah edition
Public sector
Michael R. Anastasio, director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory and former director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Janet S. Fender, scientific adviser to the commander of Air Combat Command, Langley Air Force Base K. Renee Horton (2024), physicist and an Airworthiness Deputy at NASA W. Timothy Liu (1970) meteorologist and atmospheric scientist with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory John L. McLucas, United States Secretary of the Air Force and Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration Amy Simon, planetary scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Linton Wells II, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense
Private sector
H. Dean Brown, physicist who worked for DuPont, the Computer Usage Company, and Zilog John Call Cook, geophysicist who played a crucial role in establishing the field of ground-penetrating radar Tomas Dy-Liacco, electrical engineer and researcher with the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company Rex Geveden, president and CEO of BWX Technologies C. Harry Knowles, inventor and founder of Metrologic Instruments Yvette Richardson, meteorologist with the VORTEX projects Sam Zeller, neutrino physicist at Fermilab
Honorary members Arthur Adel, astronomer and astrophysicist Hannes Alfven, electrical engineer, plasma physicist, and Nobel laureate William P. Allis, theoretical physicist Aziza Baccouche, physicist and science filmmaker Robert Ballard, US Navy officer and professor of oceanography John Bardeen, electrical engineer and theoretical physicist Barry Barish, experimental physicist and Nobel Laureate Henry H. Barschall, physicist with the University of Kansas, and then at the Manhattan Project Benjamin Bederson, physicist with the Manhattan Project and Massachusetts Institute of Technology; dean at New York University Charles P. Boner, mathematician and academic Patrick Brady, United States Navy rear admiral Walter Houser Brattain, physicist who shared the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics Jocelyn Bell Burnell, astrophysicist who discovered the first Radio Pulsars; chancellor of the University of Dundee Yang Chen-Ning, theoretical physicist who shared the 1957 Nobel Prize in Physics Eric Allin Cornell, physicist who shared the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physics John P. Craven, chief scientist of the Special Projects Office of the United States Navy Karl K. Darrow, physicist with Western Electric and Bell Laboratories Persis Drell, dean of the Stanford School of Engineering and director of the US Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory Mildred Dresselhaus, professor of physics and electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lee Alvin DuBridge, president of the California Institute of Technology Freeman Dyson, theoretical physicist, mathematician, and professor emeritus in the Institute for Advanced Study William M. Fairbank, professor of physics and Stanford University Harvey Fletcher, physicist, known as the "father of stereophonic sound" Sigfried Flugge, theoretical physicist Paul D. Foote, director of research and executive vice president of the Gulf Research & Development; Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Felice Frankel, scientific photographer Sylvester James Gates, theoretical physicist; professor of physics and Theoretical Physics Center director at Brown University Richard Garwin, physicist known as the author of the first hydrogen bomb design John M. Grunsfeld, NASA astronaut and NASA Chief Scientist Eugene Guth, physicist at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Gaylord Harnwell, physicist and president of the University of Pennsylvania George R. Harrison, professor of experimental physics and dean of science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Banesh Hoffman, mathematician and physicist known for his association with Albert Einstein K. Renee Horton, physicist and an Airworthiness Deputy at NASA J. Allen Hynek, astronomer, professor, and ufologist Ernst Ising, professor of physics at Bradley University John Johnson, astrophysicist and professor of astronomy at Harvard University Donald William Kerst, physicist who worked on advanced particle accelerator concepts Young-Kee Kim, professor of physics at the University of Chicago Paul E. Klopsteg, physicist and director of research at Northwestern University Technical Institution Serge Alexander Korff, physicist and a pioneer of cosmic ray research Polykarp Kusch, physicist who shared the 1955 Nobel Prize in Physics Cornelius Lanczos, mathematician and physicist Edwin H. Land, co-founder of the Polaroid Corporation Neal Francis Lane, physicist, chancellor of the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, and provost and professor at Rice University Lederman Alan P. Lightman, physicist, writer, and novelist Robert Bruce Lindsay, chairman of the physics department and dean of the graduate school Brown University Per-Olov Lowdin, physicist and professor at the University of Uppsala John C. Mather, Nobel Prize in Physics laureate for his work on the Cosmic Background Explorer Satellite John Marburger, president of Stony Brook University and director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy John W. Mitchell, Academy Awards-nominated sound engineer Karl Z. Morgan, director of health physics at Oak Ridge National Laboratory Lloyd Motz, astronomer Margaret Murnane, professor of physics at the University of Colorado Boulder Homer E. Newell Jr., administrator at NASA Alfred O. C. Nier, physicist who pioneered the development of mass spectrometry A. Ray Oplin, president of the University of Utah Ernst Opik, astronomer and astrophysicist at the Armagh Observatory Douglas Osheroff, physicist who shared the 1996 Nobel Prize in Physics Linus Pauling, chemical engineer who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1954 Melba Newell Phillips, professor of physics at the University of Chicago William Daniel Phillips, physicist who shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1997 William G. Pollard, executive director of the Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies Martin A. Pomerantz, director of the Bartol Research Institute Herman Postma, laboratory director of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Norman Ramsey Jr., physicist who received the 1989 Nobel Prize in Physics Mercedes Richards, astronomy and astrophysics professor Floyd K. Richtmyer, professor of physics and dean of the graduate school at Cornell University John S. Rigden, physicist and editor Walter Orr Roberts, founder of the National Center for Atmospheric Research Eric M. Rogers, physics educator and textbook author Stuart Roosa, NASA astronaut, who was the Command Module pilot for the Apollo 14 mission Arthur Edward Ruark, physicist and academic known for his role in the development of quantum mechanics Vera Rubin, astronomer who pioneered work on galaxy rotation rates David Saltzberg, science consultant for film and television Vincent Schaefer, chemist and meteorologist who developed cloud seeding Roland W. Schmitt, president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute John Robert Schrieffer, physicist who shared the 1972 Nobel Prize in Physics Emilio Segrè, physicist who shared the 1959 Nobel Prize in Physics Robert S. Shankland, professor physics at Case School for Applied Sciences Harlan True Stetson. director of the Perkins Observatory James H. Stith, former vice president of the Physics Resource Center at the American Institute of Physics Verner E. Suomi, the father of satellite meteorology Jill Tarter, former director of the Center for SETI Research at the SETI Institute Joseph Hooton Taylor Jr., co-recipient of the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physics Gordon Kidd Teal, engineer who developed the first silicon transistor while at Texas Instruments Kip Thorne, theoretical physicist and writer who won the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics Virginia Louise Trimble, astronomer James Trefil, author and professor of physics at the University of Virginia and George Mason University Neil Turok, chair of theoretical physics at the University of Edinburgh Jami Valentine, patent examiner at the United States Patent and Trademark Office James Van Allen, space physicist at the University of Iowa Jearl Walker, physicist, professor, and author Alvin M. Weinberg, nuclear physicist who was the administrator of Oak Ridge National Laboratory Carl Wieman, physicist and educationist at Stanford University and Cornell University Gary White, co-founder of WaterPartners Harvey Elliott White, physicist and professor at the University of California, Berkeley Ellen D. Williams, chief scientist of BP Clarence Zener, theoretical physicist
References