From collection Member List
James Hills was one of the Founding Fathers of Alpha-Chi Chapter at the University of Maryland in 1949, where he was initiated in 1948. He also served as Chapter Sage.
Upon graduating from the University of Maryland, he served the Fraternity in a number of capacities, including field representative and executive assistant to Executive Director Harold Jacobsen.
In 1963, when Jacobsen retired after 35 years as executive director, Hills took on the unenviable task of becoming only the second person to ever hold the position. He served in that role until 1971.
Hills continued to work closely with the Fraternity, helping in the construction of the current house of Alpha Chapter in the 1980s and raising funds for the Clock Tower at Vincennes University, which commemorates the centennial of the Fraternity’s founding. He served on the boards of the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation and the Sigma Pi Fund and was a founding member of the Alpha Alumni Association.
In 1992, Hills was given the title of Honorary Grand Sage, and eight years later he received the Fraternity’s Founders’ Award, Sigma Pi’s highest and most prestigious award. In addition, the street behind the Alpha Chapter house is named in Hills’ honor.
