The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), US, has announced that Eta Kappa Nu (HKN), a non-profit, public-service organisation comprised of nearly 200 university chapters, is now the official honor society of IEEE. IEEE-HKN will recognise scholarship and academic excellence in student leaders, young professionals and eminent scholars in IEEE's technical fields of interest. The IEEE and HKN merger extends the relationship between the two organisations, which spans nearly 100 years of cooperation.
The completion of the merger agreement, first signed in February 2009, makes HKN an organisational unit of IEEE. It will be headed by the IEEE-HKN board of governors, which is elected by the Chapters of HKN and is responsible for HKN's customs and rituals, criteria for membership, and managing IEEE-HKN's resources. The IEEE-HKN president will serve as a voting member of the IEEE Educational Activities Board and will also serve as a member of the Board of Directors of the IEEE Foundation (The IEEE Foundation is IEEE's philanthropic arm). All of the existing 200 HKN chapters will continue to operate as they have in the past. Beginning in 2011, new HKN inductees would also join IEEE as members.
The merger enables both organisations to expand their current membership offerings. Previously, Eta Kappa Nu had presence only in the US, Canada and Mexico, and IEEE did not have an honor category for its student members. According to Pedro Ray, IEEE President and Chief Operating Officer, IEEE expects that the new honor category for IEEE student members will serve as an incentive for them to extend their involvement in IEEE after graduating from their university programmes.
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