Phi Lambda Upsilon was founded as a honorary chemical society at the University of Illinois in March, 1899, by several member of the senior class majoring in chemistry. Those most active in the movement were Horace C. Porter, Paul F.A. Rudnick, and Fred C. Koch. The purpose for which the society was founded, as stated in the Constitution, was "the promotion of high scholarship and original investigation in all branches of pure and applied chemistry".

One of the aims of the founders was to achieve the installation of chapters of the Society in other institutions beyond the University of Illinois. In 1906, the second chapter was founded at the University of Wisconsin, in 1909, the third at Columbia University, and the fourth in the same year at the University of Michigan. Since then, the growth has continued until there are at present over 60 chapters throughout the United States. The Xi Chapter was installed on this campus in the year 1917.

The Inspiration of PLU

Phi stands for Fresenius- Carl Remigius Fresenius. He is considered the Father of Analytical Chemistry. In addition to developing methods for quantitative determination and analysis, he founded the "Zeitschrift fur analytische Chemie", one of the world's leading journals in Analytical Chemistry. He was professor of Chemistry, Physics and Technology at the Agricultural Institute at Wiesbaden, Germany until his death in 1897.

Lambda stands for von Liebig- Justus von Liebig. He earned his Ph.D. at age 19 and at 21, became Professor of Chemistry at the University of Giessen, Germany. After 29 productive years, he became Professor of Chemistry or Munich, where he remained for 22 years. His interests covered a wide range of subjects, and he published 318 articles as sole author. He discovered isomerism fo cyanic and fulminic acids, developed important methods of organic analysis, and founded the journal, "Annalen der Chemie".

Jacobus Henricus van't Hoff, Father of Theoretical and Physical Chemistry was a native of the Netherlands. He was Professor of Chemistry at the University of Amsterdam from 1877 to 1896 and at the University of Berlin from 1896 until his death in 1911. His largest contributions were his theory of sterochemistry, his theory of chemical equilibrium and his law of solutions. In 1901, he won the first Nobel Prize ever to be awarded to a Chemist.

The Emblem of PLU

The colors of the Society are the pink and blue shades of litmus. The emblem of the society is the structural formula of ortho-bromotoluene. Across the emblem appear the letters: PHI , LAMBDA and UPSILON, representing names of the three inspiring chemists. Above this band are cross retorts and a Liebig bulb, indicative of the apparatus which was used by the early chemist. Below it are the letters, SIGMA TAU. They are the initials of our motto "Symbolon Times", (pronounced sim'-bo-lan te-mas'), which means, "a mark of honor".