The purpose of Beta Gamma Sigma is to encourage and honor academic achievement in the study of business and to foster personal and professional excellence among its members. A major emphasis of the society is to foster ethical business leadership. Beta Gamma Sigma members reside in over 160 countries with 27 alumni chapters located in major metropolitan areas in the U.S., Germany, Hong Kong, Spain, Switzerland & Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Peru, London and Toronto. These chapters provide educational and networking opportunities for members. Beta Gamma Sigma is the largest alumni group in the world for graduates of business programs. Membership eligibility requirements include that a student must be in the top 10% of a bachelors business program and they are inducted toward the end of their degree program, but no earlier than after completion of 50% of the coursework or the last semester of the 3rd year for those in 4-year bachelor's degrees. Doctoral students are eligible for membership after completing all requirements for the doctoral degree. The organization is a member of the Association of College Honor Societies.
Significance of Initials
Beta is the initial letter of the Greek word BEBAEOS, which signifies honor. Honor is personal integrity and excellence of character. It is an enduring quality found in all persons who deserve to lead others. All honorable persons conscientiously seek to recognize, to uphold, and to encourage that which is ethical and that which is just. Honor is a guiding star which encourages altruism, enlightened social responsibility, and service rather than selfishness. Gamma is the initial letter of the Greek word GNOSIS, which means wisdom. Wisdom is knowledge tested by experience and tempered by discerning judgment. It abhors prejudice, it insists upon freedom of thought and expression. Persons of wisdom constantly seek a better comprehension and more fruitful application of what is known. They are also endlessly engaged in a quest for an understanding of what is unknown. Confronted by a veritable flood of facts and concepts, the person of wisdom exercises special discrimination to select, to arrange, to relate, to interpret, and to apply. This is a challenge worthy of the finest mind. Sigma is the initial letter of the Greek word SPOUDE, which means earnestness. Earnestness is enthusiasm measured by achievement, disciplined by reason and ennobled by sincerity. It is that dynamic quality which is essential for all great achievement. Without Earnestness, both Honor and Wisdom lose much of their potential effectiveness. The greatest personal achievements are tributes to the blending of honor, wisdom and earnestness in the minds and hearts of those who lead. Rewards for the individual and progress for society surely proceed from this wholesome union of qualities.
Board members
Alonzo D. Alexander – NASBA's Center for the Public Trust
