Sigma Xi

Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society, has had a distinguished history of service to science and society for over a century. Its primary publication, The American Scientist, is generally recognized as one of the top scientific journals for nonspecialists.

Sigma Xi was established at Cornell University in 1886 as a university-based scientific research honorary organization to recognize significant contributions to original scientific research. The Scientific Research Society of America (RESA), founded in 1947, was an industrial and government research-laboratory-based parallel organization. In 1974 the two organizations united to form Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society of North America. The “of North America” was dropped from the name as the organization spread into Europe, Asia and Latin America.

The combined organization today is composed of some 318 chapters found at the leading research laboratories worldwide comprising over 200,000 scientists and engineers, including over 200 Nobel laureates, hundreds of members of the National Academies of Science and Engineering, the National Institute of Medicine, the National Research Council and National Science and Technology medalists.

An individual who has shown noteworthy achievement as an original investigator in a field of pure or applied science is eligible for election to Full Membership. This noteworthy achievement must be evidenced by publication as the primary author (defined in the manner appropriate to the discipline) on at least two different articles published in a refereed journal, or patents in the field, or refereed monographs. Doctoral dissertations and theses alone are not considered sufficient for demonstration of this achievement and must be accompanied by at least two other publications as described above. Associate Membership is offered to those students and rising science professionals who have shown exceptional promise in their scientific research.

Who We Are

The Orange County Chapter of Sigma Xi was originally chartered by UCLA’s Founding Dean of Engineering, Dr. Llewellyn M. K. Boelter, as the Autonetics Branch of the Scientific Research Society of America (RESA) on April 2, 1965 in Anaheim, CA, at the Research, Engineering and Reliability Division of Autonetics, the electronics arm of the North American Aviation, Inc.

After the 1974 Sigma Xi/RESA merger, it became the Autonetics Sigma Xi Club which combined on January 5, 1990, with the California State University Club to form the Orange County Sigma Xi Club. On February 18, 1992, it was promoted to full Chapter status.

Quarterly dinner/lecture meetings were inaugurated in January, 1965, but were suspended for a decade after January, 1978. Since January, 1988, the Chapter has been holding bimonthly dinner/lecture meetings on the third Tuesdays of the odd-numbered months.

Meeting Information

Meetings are usually held on the third Tuesday of the odd-numbered months. Details are on the current month page.

Contact Information

President:

Secretary/Treasurer: