International Psychology Honor Society Coming to WPI

Psi Chi, The International Honor Society in Psychology, is proud to announce the addition of a Psi Chi Chapter at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. The WPI Psi Chi Chapter will be installed in the spring of 2025. The faculty advisor of the new chapter is Dr. Richard Lopez, Assistant Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience in the Department of Social Science and Policy Studies. Charter members of the chapter include the following students, all of whom are psychology majors at WPI: Victoria Corcoran, Margaret Dixon, Aksel Jensen, Sophia Kouznetsov, Mya Lesieur, Korinna Muller, Eva Petschek, Meghan Urakawa, and Zirui Zhang. Several recent alumni are also serving as charter members, including Andrew Nguyen, Lorena Nunes, Mira Kirschner, and Samantha Curtis.`

Psi Chi was founded on September 4, 1929 during the Ninth International Congress of Psychology held at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The Honor Society’s stated purpose is to encourage, stimulate, and maintain excellence in scholarship, and to advance the science of psychology. Many of the Society’s members have gone on to distinguished careers in psychology, including several presidents of the American Psychological Association (APA) and the American Psychological Society (APS), numerous national and international award winners, and various other renowned research psychologists, authors, professors, and practitioners. 

Psi Chi is a member of the Association of College Honor Societies and is an affiliate of both the APA and APS. Psi Chi has grown over the past 90 years into one of the largest and most successful honor societies in the world with over 1165 chapters located at college and university campuses throughout the U.S. Our society also includes chapters in Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Barbados, Egypt, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Turkey, Puerto Rico, Italy, Russia, Guatemala, Guam, Malaysia, Ecuador, Great Britain, Nigeria, United Arab Emirates, Columbia, Mexico, and now China. These chapters not only recognize academic achievement by granting membership in the Society, but also sponsor programs and activities which augment and enhance the regular curriculum, offer an outlet for service to the campus and the community at large, and provide practical experience and fellowship through affiliation with the chapter. The international organization bestows several regional and Society research awards, sponsors diverse programs at regional and national psychological association conventions (including lectures, workshops, panel discussions, and information exchanges), and publishes the Psi Chi Journal of Psychological Research (formerly the Psi Chi Journal of Undergraduate Research). In addition, Psi Chi’s Society service projects illustrate the Society’s commitment to its mission of “student excellence, reflected in scholarly and professional growth within psychology and the ability to impact society positively.”