HOME - PHOTO - OTHER LINKS

History of KME

The rapid growth of colleges and universities 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.

Today Kappa Mu Epsilon has become a specialized honor society with one hundred twenty-nine 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 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.

Who May Become a Member?

A member (a) must be or have been a faculty member or a regularly enrolled student at an institution where a Kappa Mu Epsilon chapter is installed, (b) must have completed at least three semesters or five quarters at the institution ranking in the upper 35% of his or her class, and (c) must have completed at least three college courses in mathematics including at least one semester or two quarters of calculus and attained an average grade of B or higher in all mathematics courses, or (d) 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 grade of B or higher at the institution, prior to his or her induction into membership.