The idea for Psi Chi began in the fall of 1927. Two University of Kansas students, Edwin Newman and M.H. Lewis, were discussing the fact that there was no national students organization for psychology. several meetings were put together over the next few years and finally, on September 4, 1929, representatives from 11 colleges and universities signed a charter creating the new society. Initially, 21 colleges and universities participated in the society. The name Psi Chi was adopted for the society in 1930, after the original name Sigma Pi Sigma was found to be taken be another honor society. The first elected officers were Edwin Newman, president, Paul Martin, secretary,  and Frederick Lewis, historian. Soon after after WWII, Psi Chi began to experience a period of enourmous growth, almost doubling its size in only four years. In 1952, formal relations between the APA and Psi Chi were set into motion with the decision to include Psi Chi news in the magazine American Psychologist and to provide provisions for Psi Chi at future APA meetings. Psi Chi became an official organizational affiliate of the APA in 1958.

For more information about Psi Chi history,  visit http://www.psichi.org/about/history.aspx