Department of Economics

Omicron Delta Epsilon

History

Omicron Delta Epsilon, one of the world's largest academic honor societies, was created through the merger of two honor societies, Omicron Delta Gamma and Omicron Chi Epsilon.

  • Omicron Delta Gamma (The Order of Artus) was founded in 1915 by John Commons, University of Wisconsin and Frank Taussig, Harvard University.
  • Omicron Chi Epsilon was founded in 1955 by Alan A. Brown while he was a student at the City College of New York.

Omicron Delta Epsilon has over 560 chapters located in the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Puerto Rico, South Africa, Egypt and France.

Objectives

The objectives of Omicron Delta Epsilon are:

  • The recognition of scholastic attainment and the honoring of outstanding achievements in economics;
  • The establishment of closer ties between students and faculty in economics within colleges and universities;
  • The publication of its official journal, The American Economist; and
  • The sponsoring of panels at professional meetings as well as the Irving Fisher and Frank W. Taussig competitions.

Benefits

  • International recognition of scholastic achievements in economics.
  • A publication outlet for promising undergraduate and graduate student papers in The American Economist, the journal of Omicron Delta Epsilon, as well as a one year subscription to the journal.
  • Closer academic and professional relationships with the faculty at your university or college.
  • Closer professional and social relationships with fellow ODE members at your university or college, as well as members who attend other schools.
  • Opportunities to present papers at ODE sponsored meetings at the annual conventions of regional, national, and international associations.
  • Eligibility to compete for the Frank Taussig and Irving Fisher awards (both cash prizes and publication of essays).
  • Lifetime membership at no additional cost. 

Requirements

Potential members are selected based on the following criteria:

  • Completion of 16 credit hours of economics courses.
  • Attainment of at least a 3.0 GPA in economics courses and an overall 3.0 GPA in all classes.
  • If student has not attained a B average in both economics classes and in all other classes, but wants to be a member, then faculty recommendation is needed.
  • Students do not have to be an economics major, but must be interested in the subject in addition to meeting the above requirements.

Note

Inductions will take place in early spring every academic year. A reminder email will be sent by the Economics Department Administrator to the econ majors email list. If you are not on this list but are still interested in joining the society, please email the chapter advisor or the current economics UDRs.