Sandweiss elected vice president of Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society

Dan Sandweiss, a professor of anthropology and quaternary and climate studies at the University of Maine, was elected Vice President for Chapter Development of the Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society.

Sandweiss, who also is director of UMaine’s School of Policy and International Affairs, was elected to the position on July 30 at the 2016 Phi Kappa Phi Biennial Convention in Atlanta.

Chapter officers, students and members from institutions across the nation and overseas gathered for multiple days of networking, learning and sharing. During the convention, the more than 300 delegates also elected the 2016–2018 leaders.

Under the society’s previous structure, Sandweiss served two years as the Northeast Regional Vice President and board member.

Phi Kappa Phi is the nation’s oldest and most selective all-discipline honor society. It was founded in 1897 at UMaine by 10 seniors led by Marcus L. Urann in an effort to start an honorary society that recognizes outstanding students, faculty and staff from all disciplines.

In 1900, the University of Tennessee and Pennsylvania State University joined the society originally named Lambda Sigma Eta Society, making it a national society.

Phi Kappa Phi has since grown to an international society headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana with more than 1.25 million members from more than 300 campuses across the United States and the Philippines. Its mission is “to recognize and promote academic excellence in all fields of higher education and to engage the community of scholars in service to others.”