Delta Omega Honor Society — Rho Chapter

The purpose of the society is to encourage excellence in student scholarship and research, to recognize academic and professional achievement in the field of public health, and to promote continued effort in public health. Originally founded in 1924 at The Johns Hopkins University, the national Delta Omega Society has more than 70 local chapters in the U.S. and internationally. Our local chapter, the Rho Chapter, was founded at UMass Amherst in 1985 by Professor Emeritus Robert Tuthill with assistance from Professor Emeritus Howard Peters and Dean Emeritus William Darity.

The Rho Chapter of Delta Omega in the SPHHS is affiliated with both the graduate and undergraduate program. For more information, please visit the National Delta Omega website.

For the graduate programs: Election to plenary membership is intended to recognize merits and to encourage further excellence in public health.

There are three categories of nomination:

1. Graduate student graduating in the spring of the student’s last semester
2. Alumnus/a
3. Faculty

Nomination for membership to the Rho Chapter is open to the Amherst campus, including the Online MPH in public health practice program and the affiliated MPH program with the UMass Worcester campus. Each category requires a nomination and support letters.

For the undergraduate programs: Membership is termed “Associate Membership” for students in their last semester before graduation for nomination. The student is expected to follow a career in public health. The initial selection is based on the GPA of the previous semesters and midterms in the last semester and then, when approved to apply, a personal statement. The undergraduate program director is responsible for this part of the process. Recommendations and academic materials are then passed to a committee for final selection by the undergraduate program director.

Rho Chapter Events

The Rho Chapter of the Delta Omega Society, in conjunction with the SPHHS, sponsors events on the Amherst campus during the academic year, including the annual Research Day, part of the Chapter's National Day of Service during National Public Health Week. This faculty-juried poster session is open to all SPHHS students and allows them to present their research and outreach projects to the campus and regional health communities, to their peers, and to faculty and staff in the SPHHS. One poster abstract is awarded the Delta Omega Honor Society prize and is subsequently submitted for consideration as part of the national Delta Omega Society’s poster session at the annual APHA meeting. Our school has been represented in the national competition numerous times.

The Rho Chapter of Delta Omega sponsors a formal induction ceremony to honor its own in three categories. A graduate student inductee is selected based on academic excellence and demonstration of qualities of leadership in public health. The alumnus/a inductee must present accomplishments in public health that serve as a model for future graduates. The faculty nomination shows contributions to public health scholarship, teaching, research, and publication.

More information can be reviewed at the national Delta Omega Society website.