Sigma Gamma Tau (SGT) seeks to foster a high standard of ethics and professional practices and to create a spirit of loyalty and fellowship, particularly among students of aerospace engineering.

The most significant goals of SGT are to promote and sponsor activities that aid its members in achieving excellence in the field of aerospace engineering.  These activities include, but are not limited to, being mentors for other aerospace engineering students, participating in academic conferences, and organizing and attending distinguished speaker lectures.

Sigma Gamma Tau was founded on the campus of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, on February 28, 1953, "to offer appropriate recognition to persons of superior scholarship, outstanding character, and professional achievement in the field of Aeronautical Engineering." The new society was formed by the merger of two existing societies, Tau Omega, founded in 1927 at the University of Oklahoma, and Gamma Alpha Rho, founded in 1945 at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

The name of the society was selected by combining the Greek letter Sigma, indicating sum, with Gamma and Tau from the initial letters of the parent organizations. Since its modest beginnings in 1953, the society has grown from 14 to 50 collegiate chapters from 1,900 to 15,000 initiated members.

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Membership

Undergraduate Students
To be considered for membership, students must have completed all the required sophomore level courses in their respective aerospace curriculum.  Additionally, they must either be enrolled in or have completed a minimum of three of their junior year second semester courses as described by their curriculum.  They must also have been a student at Texas A&M University for a minimum of two semesters at the time of their candidacy for membership.

Students must have a cumulative overall Grade Point Ratio of 3.5 or higher.  Individuals who have a scholastic standing slightly below that specified, but who are exceptionally qualified in other respects, may be elected by the unanimous vote of the active undergraduate members.

Graduate Students
Graduate students have the same Grade Point Ratio requirements as those specified for undergraduate students.  They must have been residents for a minimum of one semester at Texas A&M University and have completed at least two-fifths of the credits required for the graduate degree toward which they are working at the time of their candidacy for membership.

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Inductions and Elections

Students who meet the membership requirements are normally invited to join Sigma Gamma Tau in the Spring semester of their junior or senior year.  Once inducted, all members receive lifetime membership, which cannot be revoked.

Officers are elected annually in the spring semester.

New officers and inductees are normally presented at the AIAA Student Banquet in the spring.

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