Pi Delta Nu

Pi Delta Nu was created as the Women's Chemistry Club, established at the University of Missouri in 1919. In 1920, the name of the group was changed to the Retort, and on April 12, 1921, the club was reorganized as Pi Delta Nu, a professional fraternity for women in chemistry.{{cite book |author=William Raimond Baird |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0XdZQgAACAAJ |title=Baird's Manual, American College Fraternities: A Descriptive Analysis with a Detailed Account of Each Fraternity |publisher=George Banta Publishing Company |year=1935 |page=602}}{{Cite news |date=March 3, 1921 |title=New Sorority Organized: Pi Delta Nu Will Establish Chapter in Other Institutions |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/columbia-missourian-new-sorority-organiz/169302477/ |access-date=March 31, 2025 |work=Columbia Missourian |pages=1 |via=Newspapers.com}} The name change was in advance of planning to become a national organization. The sorority had three purposes: "To bring together women interested in science, to help fit women for scientific careers, and to inculcate scholarly ideals in its members".

Charter members were Margaret Baxter, Majory Austry, Ada Brainard, Mary V. Dover, Eastern M. Griffith, Agnes Hays, Dorothy V. Nightingale, Grave Petty, Ruth Rusk, Esther W. Stearn, Helen Wamsley, Mollie G. White, Ruth Woodworth, and Kathryn Wyant. Stearn was its first president. During the first meeting, the members decided to raise funds to support Marie Curie's work with radium.{{Cite news |date=April 1, 1921 |title=Chemical Clubs to Meet: Women Plan to Raise Money for French Radium Fund |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/columbia-missourian-chemical-clubs-to-me/169302745/ |access-date=March 31, 2025 |work=Columbia Missourian |pages=1 |via=Newspapers.com}}

Annual editions of the Missouri Savitar yearbook show that the fraternity continued until at least 1956 at the school.[https://books.google.com/books?id=DBogAQAAMAAJ&dq=%22pi+delta+nu%22+missouri+chemistry&pg=PA370 1924 The Missouri Savitar yearbook], p.370, accessed August 24, 2020. Beta chapter formed at the University of Minnesota and likewise remained active until at least 1956.[http://purl.umn.edu/134833 1928 Minnesota Gopher yearbook] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031193340/https://umedia.lib.umn.edu/item/p16022coll339:28397 |date=October 31, 2020 }}, p.482, accessed August 24, 2020. Gamma chapter was established at Syracuse University, with active members at least until 1940.A member was noted at Syracuse for being tapped into the "General Science Honorary" of Pi Delta Nu in 1940, [http://www.gpbarchives.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/1940_December.pdf as mentioned in the Gamma Phi Beta magazine, December 1940] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031193338/http://www.gpbarchives.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/1940_December.pdf |date=October 31, 2020 }}, p.47, accessed August 24, 2020. Delta chapter formed at the University of Buffalo in 1929, and Epsilon chapter at Montana State College in 1930.

The society was originally organized for women in chemistry but changed its scope to include girls interested in the fields of bacteriology, zoology, pre-medicine, and physical therapy.[http://purl.umn.edu/134857 1952 Minnesota Gopher yearbook] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031193342/https://umedia.lib.umn.edu/item/p16022coll339:14781 |date=October 31, 2020 }}, p.321, accessed August 24, 2020. The first two editions of the Missouri Savitar yearbook that include the group list the society as "Pi Delta Nu and the Retort" may have evolved from a publication committee.

Pi Delta Nu's badge was originally an oblong square in gold, with a band in the center supporting its letters. By 1935, this was replaced by a stylized pin in gold, consisting of two equilateral triangles pointing up and down and overlapping, with the raised Greek letters {{lang|grc|ΠΔΝ}} on a center band. Above the letters was a retort and below an emerald. The pin was surrounded by 22 pearls, eleven above and eleven below. The pledge pin is a small silver retort with the letters {{lang|grc|ΠΔΝ}} on the bowl.

The crest consists of a knight bearing upon his shoulder the balanced scale of justice and on his arm a shield upon which is a retort, a helix, a crucible, a scalpel, and an open book. Underneath is a scroll bearing the words "Pi Delta Nu" in Greek script. Its motto, as cited soon after World War II, was "Victory Through Foresight".

The fraternity's colors were gentian violet and gold. Gentian violet was noteworthy as the name of a dye used in antibacterial and classification procedures.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}} The sorority's flower was the violet, and its magazine was The Retort.

Undergraduate and graduate women taking chemistry as a principal or secondary subject of specialization were eligible for membership.

Chapters of Pi Delta Nu, as of 1935.

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• Professional fraternities and sororities

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{{Professional Fraternities}}

Category:Defunct fraternities and sororities

Category:Student organizations established in 1921

Category:1921 establishments in Missouri