FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The University of Arkansas chapter of
Sigma Xi, the international honor society of scientific and engineering
research, will celebrate its 60th anniversary with a reception at 5
p.m. Wednesday, April 17, at the Garden Room on Dickson Street.
“We have invited our current members, new inductees and
past officers,” said Douglas Rhoads, chapter president and professor of
biological sciences in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences.
“Our interdisciplinary honors society has seen hundreds of members over the
years, and we hope to gather as many as possible for this milestone.”
The university’s chapter of Sigma Xi inducted 124 members
at its charter meeting on April 18, 1953. In 1978, the society established the
Aubrey E. Harvey Graduate Research Award. The annual cash award is made to the member
graduate student who has performed the most outstanding research on campus
during the preceding year. The group established the John Imhoff Outstanding
Research Publication Award in 2005 to recognize the best research paper
published by an active faculty member during the previous year. This year, the chapter was one of seven
nationwide that was recognized for a National Program Award for development of
a Science Café, for sharing scientific information with the public.
The awards are announced at the society’s annual spring
banquet. This year, they will part with tradition for an initiation and awards
reception. The drop-in event will run
from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. with remarks and presentations at 6 p.m.
All current and former Sigma Xi members are invited to
attend. Please email Douglas Rhoads at drhoads@uark.edu
or Kimberly Smith at kgsmith@uark.edu or
call the department of biological sciences at 479-575-3251 to register. The
event is free of charge, but registrations must be received no later than
Friday, April 12.