Eta Sigma Gamma ( or ESG) is an

honor society In the United States, an honor society is a rank organization that recognizes excellence among peers. Numerous societies recognize various fields and circumstances. The Order of the Arrow, for example, is the National Honor Society of the Boy Sc ...

for

health education Health education is a profession of educating people about health. Areas within this profession encompass environmental health, physical health, social health, emotional health, intellectual health, and spiritual health, as well as sexual and r ...

. It was founded on August 14, 1967 at

Ball State University Ball State University (Ball State, State or BSU) is a public university, public research university in Muncie, Indiana. It has two satellite facilities in Fishers, Indiana, Fishers and Indianapolis. On July 25, 1917, the Ball brothers, indust ...

"to elevate the standards, ideals, competence and ethics of professionally trained individuals in and for the health science discipline through teaching/education, service and research."

History and Mission

ESG was founded at

by Drs. Robert Synovitz, Warren Schaller, and William Bock. The founding mission of ESG was "to further the professional competence and dedication of individual members in the health science discipline and the promotion of this discipline." The Greek letters, , were chosen as the organization's letters as a representation of the letters "HSC", an abbreviation of the term health science. It was formally incorporated in August 1967 in Indiana and the formal installation of ''Alpha chapter'' occurred on . Twenty-one current Ball State students, four former Ball State students and five faculty members were installed as the charter members of ''Alpha chapter''.Muncie Evening Press - 09 May 1968 - Page 25
/ref> In 1999, Eta Sigma Gamma became a member of the Coalition of National Health Education Organizations in the United States. In joining the Coalition, ESG joined the ranks of larger organizations including the Society for Public Health Education, American Public Health Association, American Association for Health Education, and

American School Health Association The American School Health Association (ASHA) is a professional association. It claims a membership of 1,000 members in all 50 US states and other nations. More than half practice in K-12 schools or administer health education or health service ...

. In 2017, the organization declared its inaugural class of Fellows of Eta Sigma Gamma who were described as "instrumental in the formation and development of the Honorary." The 2017 class of fellows included founding officers and members, instrumental chapter advisors, and officers of the organization. Fellows are entitled and encouraged to use the post-nominal letters "FESG."

Membership

As of ####, there are ## members of Eta Sigma Gamma disbursed throughout the United States. The primary path to membership is through a student membership with a chapter at an associated university. University students are eligible for membership after declaring a major or minor area of study in health education and meeting a minimum GPA requirement. Professional membership is available to individuals who have a degree in health education and apply to join the Chapter-at-Large.

Chapters

In addition to the national at-large professional chapter, the society has installed over 125 chapters, including the following.127 chapters were installed by August of 2012
according to ESG's published history
accessed 21 May 2022. Active chapters listed in bold, inactive chapters listed in ''italics''. This is an incomplete list.

Notable Members

* Dr. R. Morgan Pigg

Notes

References

{{reflist Honor societies Student organizations established in 1967 1967 establishments in Indiana