University of Maryland Chapter
of the Society of Sigma XiUniversity of Maryland, College Park and Baltimore
Historical Sketch
Charter Granted: 27 December 1927
Chapter Installed: 2 March 1928Shortly after the University of Maryland Graduate School was organized in 1918, a group of campus scientists initiated activities preliminary to the establishment of a chapter of Sigma Xi at Maryland. This group drew up a preliminary petition in 1923 and three years later successfully presented a formal petition to the Society of Sigma Xi, which resulted in a charter being granted on 27 December 1927.
The Maryland Chapter was formally installed 2 March 1928 by Dr. George B. Pegram, National Treasurer of Sigma Xi and a noted physicist of Columbia University. The following 16 of the 23 charter members of the petitioning group were present at the installation: C.O. Appleman, E.C. Auchter, V.R. Boswell, B.E. Carmichael, Tobias Dantzig, C.G. Eichlin, L.W. Erdman, M.O. Foreman, F.W. Geise, N.E. Gordon, M.M. Haring, E.S. Johnston, M.S. Kharasch, A.G. McCall, J.B.S. Norton, and H.J. Patterson. Those not being already members of Sigma Xi, were initiated by Dr. Pegram. Members R.A. Jehle, R.A. Pearson and P.W. Zimmerman were unavoidably absent. A.N. Johnson, another member of the petitioning group but not a member of the Society, was also unavoidably absent and was subsequently initiated into the Society of 16 March 1928. The names of Tobias Dantzig, L.W. Erdman and M.O. Foreman do not appear on the Charter of the Chapter because they joined the staff of the University of Maryland too late to sign the petition. Following the installation and initiation ceremonies, which began at 4:00 p.m., the following charter members were elected as the first officers of the Maryland Chapter:
President: C.O. Appleman
Vice-President: E.C. Auchter
Secretary/Treasurer: M.M. HaringAt 6:00 p.m. the charter members, their wives and guests enjoyed a well planned dinner at which Dr. Appleman, acting as toastmaster, introduced Dr. S.M. Shoemaker, Chairman of the Board of Regents of the University of Maryland, and Dr. H.J. Patterson, Dean of the College of Agriculture and Director of the Experiment Station of the University, both of whom made brief comments on the progress of research at Maryland. “At 8:00 p.m., an eventful and happy day was fittingly concluded when the members and a large number of guests listened to two inspiring addresses by Dr. Pegram and Dr. Woods,” according to Dr. Haring's minutes of the installation.
At subsequent meetings of the chapter on 16 March, 23 April and 8 May, 1928, the Chapter adopted a Constitution and By- laws and completed its organization. The Constitution and By-Laws were revised on 27 March 1946 in order to meet changing circumstances and to conform to changes made in the National Constitution of the Society of Sigma Xi.
At Chapter Meetings on 23 April and 8 May 1928, 21 members and 10 associate members were elected and subsequently initiated on 18 May 1928.