On January 4, 1852, Mary Ann DuPont (Lines), Mary Elizabeth Myrick (Daniel) and Martha Bibb Hardaway (Redding) founded an organization called the Philomathean Society at Wesleyan Female College in Macon, Georgia. Wesleyan was the first institution to grant college degrees to women. For the next two months the Founders were busy gathering additional members, creating a constitution, devising an initiation service and adopting a secret and an open motto. On March 4, 1852, the members announced the formation of their new society, which became the Alpha Chapter of Phi Mu Fraternity. Since that time, March 4 has been observed as Founders' Day. By the turn of the century, the Philomathean Society had developed a strong body of alumnae, a history rich in tradition and the confidence to expand into a national organization. On August 1, 1904, the Philomathean Society was chartered by the State of Georgia as a national organization with the exclusive use of the Greek letters FM and the right to establish additional chapters on other campuses.
Today Phi Mu has grown to encompass a diverse membership of more than 140,000 women nationwide. www.phimu.org

To lend to those less fortunate a helping hand.
To think of God as a protector and guide of us all.
To keep forever sacred the memory of those we have loved and lost.
To be to others what we would they would be to us.
To keep our lives gentle, merciful and just,
Thus being true to the womanhood of love.

To walk in the way of honor, guarding the purity of our thoughts and deeds.
Being steadfast in every duty small or large.
Believing that our given word is binding.
Striving to esteem the inner man above culture, wealth or pedigree.
Being honorable, courteous, tender,
Thus being true to the womanhood of honor.

To serve in the light of truth avoiding egotism, narrowness, and scorn.
To give freely of our sympathies.
To reverence God as our Maker, striving to serve Him in all things.
To minister to the needy and unfortunate.
To practice day by day love, honor, truth.
Thus keeping true to the meaning, spirit and reality of Phi Mu.

Arts & Entertainment
Pamela Long Hammer, QA, head writer for CBS' Guiding Light
Susan Harling, KI, inspiration for the play and movie Steel Magnolias
Joyce Carol Oates, BZ, author of Blonde: A Novel, We Were the Mulvaneys, and many other renowned novels
Mary Wickes, ZE, actress, Aunt March in Little Women and Sister Mary Lazarus in Sister Act

Aviation
Jerrie Mock, Y, first woman to successfully fly solo around the world
Mary Ellen Weber, Ph.D., DE, astronaut, Space Shuttle Atlantis Mission, May 2000; Space Shuttle Discovery Mission, July 1995

Business
Tammy Cohen, AL, owner and founder of ERS, a multi-million dollar corporation that performs employee screening for Fortune 500 Companies
Evett Simmons, AT, president of the National Bar Association

Government
Carol Laise Bunker , GD, U.S. Ambassador to Nepal 1966-1973, first woman director general of the Foreign Service
Betty Montgomery, DK, currently serving as the first female Attorney General of Ohio
Kathleen D. Morrison, HB, first commanding officer of the Naval Medical Clinic and Legion of Merit award winner
Melinda Schwegmann, AH, first female Lt. Governor of Louisiana
Elizabeth Weaver, D, currently a Michigan Supreme Court Justice and former chief justice
Commander Tova Wiley, HA, first woman to hold the rank of Commander in the U.S. Navy, winner of the Legion of Merit Award

Journalism
Pat Mitchell, AA, president, PBS
Toria Tolley, BN, VP/consultant, The Psychological Advantage, former CNN weekend anchor

Sports
Gail Barron, AA, winner of the Boston Marathon, 1978. Partner of multi-million dollar fitness center franchise