Alpha Theta Chapter

Tau Sigma Delta was organized in 1913 at the University of Michigan at the suggestion and guidance of the faculty in Architecture and Landscape Design who selected the first group of senior honor students to be the founding members. After three years of trial, the system of elections was extended to other universities.

With gradual growth, it became necessary for the best interests of the schools at which chapters became located, to extend elections to honor students who were majoring in a degree in departments allied with Architecture and Landscape Architecture. Also, for the continuity of the workings of the chapter from term to term, it became proper to elect from the junior groups who were about to become seniors. Thus Tau Sigma Delta developed from a senior honor society in Architecture and Landscape Architecture to become inclusive of both juniors and seniors in Architecture, Architectural Engineering, Architectural Design, Landscape Architecture, Painting, Sculpturing, Planning, Decorative Design, Interior Decoration, and all the arts allied with Architecture. With that development, it became necessary to establish the rule that each chapter shall have its origin in a School of Architecture and be administered by that school.

Tau Sigma Delta proved its worth steadily. It overcame the obstacles precipitated by World War I, the subsequent inflationary period, and the resultant era of world economic "recession and adjustment," and the later effects of World War II. To be sure, progress was delayed by these crucial tests of the times, and four of its chapters became inactive; however, the Society emerged strengthened by those tests.

Another test for the society came during the Vietnam Conflict. Membership in the society declined with several chapters becoming inactive. This has reversed itself in the past few years with the number of new chapters reaching an all time high.

Today Tau Sigma Delta has a membership over nearly 18,000 members and nearly sixty active chapters across the United States.