Gamma Iota Sigma

Gamma Iota Sigma (ΓΙΣ) is a college academic fraternity, founded on April 16, 1966 at Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.

Gamma Iota Sigma is an international professional fraternity organized to promote, encourage and sustain student interest in insurance, risk management and actuarial science as professions. It aims to encourage high moral and scholastic attainments and to facilitate the interaction and cooperation of educational institutions, industry, and professional organizations by fostering research, scholarship, and improved public relations.

History

The idea of a national scholastic insurance fraternity actually started to become a reality when the Griffith Foundation for Insurance Education filed for incorporation in 1965. The following year, the OSU Insurance Society, which started at The Ohio State University in the early 1960s, petitioned and was chartered as the first Gamma Iota Sigma Chapter, thereafter called Alpha Chapter. At Bowling Green State University, Beta Chapter received its charter in 1967, and in 1969, the University of Cincinnati was chartered as Gamma Chapter. There's the beginning of what has now grown into a nucleus of 48 chapters located from California to Washington, D.C., and from Canada to Florida. In October 2001 with the chartering of our 41st chapter at Fanshawe College, London Ontario, Canada, Gamma Iota Sigma became an international fraternity.

A Grand Chapter or Executive Committee of Gamma Iota Sigma was formed from the original fraternity planning committee, appointed by the Griffith Foundation.

The first Grand Chapter President was Warren L. Weeks, then a Griffith Foundation trustee. It was his commitment to the concept of a national student organization that lead to the eventual formation of Gamma Iota Sigma. (There currently exists a Warren L. Weeks, Sr. Scholarship presented each year to a student member. Nominations for the award are made by local chapters.)

Symbols

Gamma Iota Sigma Emblem

The Emblem is a shield in the shape of inverted triangle. Inside a narrow border are Greek letters for Gamma Iota Sigma. Each of three sides symbolizes three of four fraternal ideals.

Gamma Iota Sigma Coat of Arms

The Coat of Arms for Gamma Iota Sigma is in the shape of what is known as a fire mark. Fire marks were made of iron and placed on the exterior of the buildings on insured properties so as to identify the specific fire company that, in the event of a fire, would serve to extinguish it. The fire mark is decorated with the symbol of the four clasped right hands. Each hand is representative of one of the four ideals upon which the fraternity is based: friendship, knowledge, integrity, and fidelity. Beneath clasped hands are the Greek letters for Gamma Iota Sigma.

Chapters

• ALPHA (The Ohio State University, 1966)
• BETA* (Bowling Green State University, 1967)
• GAMMA* (University of Cincinnati, 1969)
• DELTA* (Orange Coast College (CA), 1970)
• EPSILON* (University of Alabama, 1972)
• ZETA (Georgia State University, 1973)
• ETA (University of Georgia, 1975)
• THETA* (Louisiana State University, 1975)
• IOTA (Florida State University, 1975)
• KAPPA* (Arizona State University, 1975)
• LAMBDA (University of South Carolina, 1976)
• MU (University of Mississippi, 1976)
• NU (Central Michigan University, 1977)
• XI (University of Connecticut-Storrs, 1978)
• OMICRON (Arkansas State University, 1978)
• PI (Mississippi State University, 1978)
• RHO (Appalachian State University, 1979)
• SIGMA (Temple University, 1980)
• TAU (Howard University, 1981)
• UPSILON (Ferris State University, 1981) (reactivated in 2013)
• PHI (Ball State University, 1982)
• CHI (Drake University, 1982)
• PSI (Eastern Kentucky University, 1983)
• OMEGA (Middle Tennessee State University, 1984)
• ALPHA ALPHA (Olivet College, 1986)
• ALPHA BETA (Pennsylvania State University, 1989)
• ALPHA GAMMA (University of Pennsylvania, 1989)
• ALPHA DELTA (La Salle University, 1989)
• ALPHA EPSILON (Indiana State University, 1990)
• ALPHA ZETA* (The University of Memphis, 1991)
• ALPHA ETA (California State University, Sacramento, 1991)
• ALPHA THETA (St. Cloud State University, 1991)
• ALPHA IOTA (St. John's University, 1991)
• ALPHA KAPPA (Illinois State University, 1991)
• ALPHA LAMBDA (Missouri State University, 1993)
• ALPHA MU (Virginia Commonwealth University, 1994)
• ALPHA NU (Ohio University, 1996)
• ALPHA XI (Morgan State University, 1998)
• ALPHA OMICRON (University of Hartford, 1999)
• ALPHA PI (Baylor University, 2001)
• ALPHA RHO (Fanshawe College (Canada), 2001)
• ALPHA SIGMA (University of Louisiana at Monroe, 2001)
• ALPHA TAU (University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2003)
• ALPHA UPSILON (University of Houston, 2003)
• ALPHA PHI (Old Dominion University, 2003)
• ALPHA CHI (Bradley University, 2004)
• ALPHA PSI (University of Central Arkansas, 2005)
• ALPHA OMEGA (Saint Joseph's University, 2006)
• BETA ALPHA (University Of Iowa, 2007)
• BETA BETA (New Mexico State University, 2007)
• BETA GAMMA (California State University/Fullerton, 2008)
• BETA DELTA (Utica College, 2008)
• BETA EPSILON (University of Central Oklahoma, 2008)
• BETA ZETA (University of North Texas, 2012)
• BETA ETA (Northern Michigan University, 2013)
• BETA OMICRON (Columbia University, 2014)
• BETA TAU (University of Pittsburgh, 2016)

*Indicates Inactive Chapter

Executive committee

• President – John Hammond, CPCU
• Executive Vice President – Meg Allwein
• Immed. Past President – Alan F. Hoffmann
• Secretary – Lance Lancour
• Treasurer – Brian Bowerman
• Vice President – Christopher Place
• Vice President – Jason Wells
• Vice President – Jeff Lamb
• Vice President – Cyndi Hornby
• Vice President – Noelle Codispoti
• Vice President – H. Ross Totten
• Vice President – Steve Marohn
• Faculty Representative – R.B. Drennan, PhD
• Student Representative- Saquib Cheema
• Executive Director – Melinda Vance