Welcome to Gamma Iota Sigma at Ball State!

Welcome to the website of Gamma Iota Sigma, a student-led, Risk Management, Insurance, and Actuarial Science Fraternity. Ball State is home to the Phi chapter of GIS. The current President is Josh Spencer and the Faculty Advisor is Dr. Steve Avila.

Mission Statement

The purpose of Gamma Iota Sigma is to encourage, establish, and enhance the professionalism of students in the Risk Management, Healthcare Risk Management, and Actuarial Science programs. Our goal is to prepare our members for premier employment opportunities in the risk management, healthcare, and actuarial fields. As a fraternal organization, we also strive to build a sense of community and cohesion among members while improving their career opportunities through increased knowledge of the industry.

In addition, we aim to prepare our members to interact comfortably with industry leaders and form contacts that will serve them throughout their career. We will carry this out by utilizing valuable resources, including our internal grand chapter of Gamma Iota Sigma, the Miller School of Business and Management, a rich tradition in a strong professional team network and a distinguished alumni chapter of Gamma Iota Sigma.

HISTORY OF GAMMA IOTA SIGMA

The idea of a national scholastic insurance fraternity actually started to become a reality when the Griffith Foundation for Insurance Education filed for incorporation in 1965. The following year, the OSU Insurance Society, which started at The Ohio State University in the early 1960's, petitioned and was chartered as the first Gamma Iota Sigma Chapter, thereafter called Alpha Chapter. At Bowling Green State University, Beta Chapter received its charter in 1967, and in 1969, the University of Cincinnati was chartered as Gamma Chapter. There's the beginning of what has now grown into a nucleus of over 49 chapters located from California to Connecticut, and from Canada to Florida.

A Grand Chapter or Executive Committee of Gamma Iota Sigma was formed from the original fraternity planning committee, appointed by the Griffith Foundation. The first Grand Chapter President was Warren L. Weeks, then a Griffith Foundation trustee. It was his commitment to the concept of a national student organization that lead to the eventual formation of Gamma Iota Sigma. (There currently exists a Warren L. Weeks, Sr. Scholarship presented each year to a student member. Nominations for the award are made by local chapters.)

The rationale behind establishing a national student organization, as envisioned by the founders was: A national fraternity has more prestige than a local society or club;
It would facilitate communication and participation with chapter members throughout the country;
By combining with others, the impact of the fraternity name as a visible entity would be enhanced;
By emphasizing scholarship and leadership qualities, ties between the college membership and industry leaders would be developed; and
There would be a synergism of academic creativity beyond the boundaries of any given university.

The Annual Management Conference was first held in 1973. Since then, many of the local chapters have hosted the conference at least once. The Grand Chapter, initially consisting solely of Griffith Foundation trustees, has now evolved to a distinctly separate organization of insurance professionals and insurance educators, most of whom were members of Gamma Iota Sigma chapters while attending college.