Lambda Alpha National Anthropology Honor Society (ΛΑ) is an American collegiate honor society for anthropology. It was founded in 1968 at Wichita State University.

Darrell Casteel, a student at Wichita State University, established Lambda Alpha on March 15, 1968.^[1] Its purpose is to reward and acknowledge academic excellence in the field of anthropology.^[2] The society's first faculty sponsor was Dr. Lowell D. Holmes.^[1] This founding chapter became Alpha of Kansas.^[1]

The charter members of Alpha of Kansas were:^[3]

Holmes and the charter members selected the name Lambda Alpha and created its constitution and its logo.^[3] Casteel was elected the national and chapter president.^[3] Colcher became the national secretary.^[3] Holmes served as the Lambda Alpha executive secretary from its founding until 1973.^[3]

Alpha of Indiana was chartered at Ball State University on July 9, 1968.^[3] This was followed by Alpha of Pennsylvania at Alliance College in January 1969 and Alpha of Maryland at Bowie State University in April 1969.^[1][3][4] In 1968, the society began planning the Lambda Alpha Journal of Man; the first issue was published in January 1969.^[3][4] It included articles by faculty and students.^[3] Wichita State University subsidized and published the journal.^[3]

The national society was initially run by student members from Wichita State but this resulted in some problems.^[5] In November 1973 Lambda Alpha established a national executive council.^[1] Dr. Charles R. Jenkins, the faculty sponsor of Alpha of Pennsylvania, was selected to serve as the society's national executive secretary at that time.^[1][3] He served in this capacity until he died in 1985.^{[6] [5]}

Dr. B. K. Swartz Jr., founder of the Alpha of Indiana chapter at Ball State University, served as national executive secretary from November 5, 1985 to 2011.^[1][5] Lambda Alpha Journal of Man became Lambda Alpha Journal in 1991.^[1][5]

The name is Lambda Alpha consists of the first letters of the Greek phrase Logos Anthropos (Greek: Λογος Ανθροποσ), which translates as "the study of man".^[2][7] Today, the society uses "the study of humankind" as its mission statement.

The society's colors are red, white, and black. Its regalia stole is white with a gold globe and a blue insignia.^[8] Its pen or key is one inch in length and is either of 10 carat white or yellow-gold filled.^[9] The square center table of the key exhibits the letters of the society, Λ and Α, with a helm, scroll and globe placed in descending order between the letters.

Membership in Lambda Alpha is open to juniors and seniors who have completed twelve hours of anthropology courses with a 3.3 GPA in those courses and a 3.0 GPA overall.^[10][11] Graduate students can also join.^[10]

Lambda Alpha offers annual scholarships to students of anthropology, including its Lambda Alpha National Scholarship which awards $5,000 to seniors, and its Lambda Alpha Graduate Student Research Grants of $2,000.^[12][13]

The society publishes the Alpha Lambda Annual Newsletter and an annual magazine, Lambda Alpha Journal, which consists of peer-reviewed student articles.^[12][13] It also awards prizes for student papers.^[2]

Dr. Ritu Gairola Khanduri is the society's executive director.^[14]

Following is a list a Lambda Alpha chapters.^[15][16] Active chapters are indicated in bold. Inactive chapters and institutions are in italics.

• Honor society
• Honor cords
• Professional fraternities and sororities