Dr. Jimmy Wilson, president of Gamma Theta Upsilon (GTU), the international geographical honor society, has announced that SSI’s Nu Theta chapter at the University of Southern California has received the Honors Chapter Award for 2020-2021.
The GTU Honors Chapter Award is given annual to outstanding GTU chapters. The honors chapter criteria are increasing the number of new inductees over the previous year, providing leadership for at least two events designed to promote geography during the academic year, and helping to promote geography on social media.
In notifying the Nu Theta chapter of this award, President Wilson wrote, “Just five of GTU’s 140 active chapters achieved the status of Honors Chapter based on their 2020-2021 chapter report.” Founded in 2018, SSI’s GTU chapter has now received the Honors Chapter Award for three years in a row.
Dr. Elisabeth Sedano, assistant professor (teaching) and president of the Nu Theta chapter, said, “In the four years of our chapter’s existence, we have received this prestigious award three times. We remain committed to furthering the mission of GTU, which promotes geography knowledge and awareness. In particular, through our chapter activities, we are encouraging high-quality student research and student work towards publishing their research.”
The most recent initiates to the Nu Theta chapter were inducted in a virtual ceremony held on April 29, 2021.
SSI Managing Director Susan Kamei added, “That our Nu Theta Chapter has won Chapter Honors for three years in a row speaks to our commitment to maintaining and growing an active GTU chapter. As we induct the very best of our undergraduate and graduate students into GTU, we recognize them as academic leaders and contributors to the science that promotes global sustainability and human well-being.”
“We are proud to sponsor an active GTU chapter here at USC and thank GTU for this honor,” said Dr. John P. Wilson, professor and founding director of the Spatial Sciences Institute. We congratulate our students, alumni, faculty, and staff who contribute to the well-being of our environment and society through the productive use of geographic principles.”
The Nu Theta chapter is co-sponsoring the fifth annual USC-UCLA mapathon in support of Humanitarian OpenStreetMap in the spring of 2022. The Nu Theta Chapter also has conducted other virtual events in the academic year 2020-2021 for students interested and engaged in the spatial sciences.
For more information about GTU and the Nu Theta chapter, please contact Susan Kamei, SSI managing director, at kamei@usc.edu.
