Phi Sigma Rho was founded in 1984 by Abby McDonald and Rashmi Khanna at Purdue University.  After being unable to participate in traditional sorority recruitment due to the demands of their engineering program, they wondered why there were not any sororities that took into account the time constraints of engineering.  After much discussion, they decided to start their own sorority instead.

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They recruited the rest of the Alpha class – within six months, they had become a class of ten members.  Abby and Rashmi lead the endeavor, but once the group started growing, every member and subsequent class took on more and more responsibilities. There was so much to be done, creating symbols, rituals, rules; they were laying the foundation of a sorority.

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In the ensuing 36 years, Phi Sigma Rho has grown to have a presence in more than 40 schools across the nation. Phi Sigma Rho has never lost sight of the reason it was founded; to create a sisterhood of members united by shared professional ambitions, encouraged to lead dynamic lives, and lifted up by their sisters through periods of personal, academic, and professional growth.