Academic honor societies are widely available within
university communities. These student organizations can
fill valuable roles within engineering departments. The
inception of engineering-related honor societies followed
the establishment of engineering education within
American universities. Honor societies with their student
focus grew as complementary organizations to the
professional societies for engineering disciplines. The
national or international structure of honor societies
generally provides considerable resources for professional
education, leadership training, and service activity. For
departments, an honor society chapter can provide
engagement with students, alumni, community, etc.
However, the existence of an honor society chapter at an
institution does not necessarily mean that the chapter is
effectively serving the host department(s) and its
engineering students. This paper describes commonalities
among engineering honor societies, the possible roles of an
honor society within an engineering department, and some
best practices for effective honor society chapters. Specific
examples from the operation of IEEE-Eta Kappa Nu
(IEEE-HKN), the honor society of the Institute of Electrical
and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), are given.Cockrell School of Engineerin
