PFA – Pi Sigma Epsilon

Professional Fraternity Association

What is PFA?

The Professional Fraternity Association is the essential organization for professional fraternities, representing both organizations and individuals.

View the special recognitions PSE has achieved throughout the years below.

2026

Outstanding Volunteer of the Year Award!

Allison Harrison

This prestigious honor, presented by the Professional Fraternity Association (PFA), recognizes an individual member of a PFA member group deserving recognition for exceptional services or extraordinary commitment to the fraternity or community during the preceding year.

For nearly seven years, Allison has served as a dedicated volunteer supporting the Pro-Am Sell-A-Thon competition, one of PSE’s most meaningful professional development experiences. Most recently, she has served as the National Director for the Pro-Am Sell-A-Thon, a role she has held for the past two and a half years. In that time, she has helped lead and executed 13 major conferences, while managing a team of more than seven volunteers to ensure the competition runs smoothly, professionally, and with the level of excellence students deserve.

Within the past year especially, Allison has continued to give her time, leadership, and energy at an extraordinary level. Each year, she volunteers an average of 150 to 180 hours of her personal time solely in service to Pi Sigma Epsilon. Those hours are not just meetings on a calendar. They are training sessions, planning calls, volunteer coordination, student support, competition preparation, problem-solving, and the quiet behind-the-scenes labor that makes a national program feel seamless to the students and judges experiencing it. Not to mention the 16-hour days she commits to running the competition on-site. As PSE’s Convention Spokesperson, Allison also created 40 unique promotional videos to help build excitement and visibility for the event. That work made a measurable impact across PSE’s social channels, with Instagram video content accounting for more than 43% of total annual views and reach and more than 53% of all Instagram content interactions for the year, while also driving meaningful engagement across LinkedIn and Facebook, contributing between 15% and 28% of annual impressions, page views, and interactions depending on platform. Through her work with the Pro-Am Sell-A-Thon, Allison has helped provide hands-on training to more than 2,700 students. That number is remarkable, but what makes her impact so powerful is what those students gain from the experience. They walk away more confidently, more prepared, and more capable of stepping into the professional world. Allison is helping shape the next generation of sales leaders, not from a distance, but directly, intentionally, and with real, personal investment.

Her leadership is especially meaningful because she understands the student experience from both sides. She once stood in their shoes as a competitor, a student leader, and a young professional finding her voice. Now, she gives back by creating the kind of experience that can change a student’s trajectory and attitude towards sales. She knows that a competition is never just a competition. It can be the first time a student sees their own potential clearly. It can be the moment they realize they belong in the room. Allison makes those moments possible.

2026

Faculty Advisor Award of Excellence

Rob Boostrom: Faculty Advisor, Beta Gamma Chapter at The University of Wisconsin Whitewater

The Faculty Advisor Award of Excellence recognizes a current faculty advisor, for a campus-affiliated chapter of a Professional Fraternity Association member organization, who has achieved an exemplary relationship with the students.

For more than fifteen years, Associate Professor of Marketing Robert Boostrom has shown up! He’s gone to every general chapter meeting, every competition, every one-on-one conversation with a member figuring out their resume or rehearsing for an interview. That consistency is the foundation of his advising style at the Beta Gamma Chapter of Pi Sigma Epsilon, where he has built a reputation as someone who leads with empowerment: giving members real ownership of their leadership roles while always being close enough to catch them if they stumble.

Professor Boostrom has folded professional development directly into the chapter experience, delivering sessions on artificial intelligence in the workplace, resume-building, and the STAR interview method, and helping design large-scale experiential events like the Perfect Pitch competition and Interview Gauntlet, which together have given more than 140 students hands-on practice in pitching, communicating, and interviewing. He currently serves as President of Mu Kappa Tau, the national honor society for the top ten percent of marketing students nationwide, and has used his professional network to help establish an endowment fund securing the chapter’s future.

The results speak for themselves. Under his guidance, Beta Gamma’s Chapter Operations Points more than doubled in a single year — from 38,450 to 85,225 — earning the chapter Gold Standing, the highest recognition status in Pi Sigma Epsilon. At the 2026 PSE National Convention, Beta Gamma brought home 12 scholarships and 20 chapter-wide and individual awards, more than any other chapter.

Beyond the numbers, Professor Boostrom has built something harder to measure: a chapter culture where members genuinely trust their advisor. He meets one-on-one with members to review resumes and prepare for interviews, celebrates individual milestones alongside chapter-wide wins, and has used his professional and alumni network to connect students with corporate sponsors and industry partners long after they’ve graduated. As the chapter’s own members describe it, he has helped build an organization that “runs like a business, feels like a family” — a culture that is, more than any single statistic, his legacy at Beta Gamma.

2024

Outstanding Professional Program Award

PSE Academy

The Outstanding Professional Program Award recognizes a Professional Fraternity Association member fraternity for the administration of a meritorious professional program or project.

The Pi Sigma Epsilon (PSE) Academy is a newly launched member development program designed to elevate the professional skills and career readiness of PSE members. This initiative supports PSE’s commitment to fostering leadership, personal growth, and professional excellence to prepare further and support students and alumni in their careers. The Academy integrates in-person and online learning, providing flexible and comprehensive educational resources to its members. This includes certifications that can be applied in the post-graduate world.

It offers a blend of face-to-face sessions at our National Convention and Regional Conferences and a robust online platform that members can access conveniently. The content covers a variety of areas, including career and self-development, communication, critical thinking, equality and inclusion, leadership, professionalism, teamwork, and more. This content is created by PSE partners, experts, and in-house. The PSE Academy has allowed us to further enhance its partnerships by pairing employers with PSE members based on the content they are completing. This is helping to ensure more opportunities for PSE members.

The PSE Academy allows its members to also focus on what we call their “Power Skill” development—also referred to as soft skills. Power skills are often overlooked during their college education and students are asked to quickly learn and understand these skills to succeed in the workplace. This includes time management, and even how to have a hard conversation. These are skills that must be actively worked on and developed. This approach ensures that members are well-rounded and prepared for the demands of their careers.

2023

Outstanding Professional Program Award

Pi Sigma Epsilon National Awards Program

The Outstanding Professional Program Award recognizes a Professional Fraternity Association member fraternity for the administration of a meritorious professional program or project. PSE had the honor of winning this award in 2023 with our National Awards Program! The Pi Sigma Epsilon National Awards Program is comprised of 21 separate competitions. These competitions are contested in a variety of forms: written Reports,oral presentations, and/or group interviews. Each competition provides an opportunity for our members to develop critical skills needed to build their Business Advantage For Life.The Pi Sigma Epsilon National Awards Program is co-chaired by Robb Carlson and Maggie Byrne.

2022

Outstanding Volunteer of the Year Award

Joe Ashbee: Past National President, National Education, Foundation Board Chair, University of Akron Alumnus

The Outstanding Volunteer of the Year Award honors an individual member of a
Professional Fraternity Association member group deserving recognition for exceptional services or extraordinary commitment to the fraternity or community during the preceding year.

Pi Sigma Epsilon nominated Joe Ashbee for all his hard work and dedication to this organization. Because of this, Joe won Outstanding Volunteer of the Year in 2022!

Joe Ashbee has shaped Pi Sigma Epsilon into what it is today, and what it will become as we continue to grow. He has donated tremendously to our organization, with time,
effort, and financial contributions. He has served our Fraternity for 23 years, through his numerous leadership roles. Some of the most notable include Pi Sigma Epsilon
Collegiate Vice President, Chair of the Pi Sigma Epsilon National Educational
Foundation, National President, and Chartering member of our National Alumni
Association. We are honored to have Joe as a member of our organization. He is a role model and inspiration for all our Alumni.

2021

Career Achievement Award

Marie Porter Royce

The Career Achievement Award honors a distinguished member of national or international renown actively engaged in the fraternity’s discipline and participating actively on a regular or continued basis in the fraternity.

A former businesswoman and professor, Marie was previously the CEO and Principal of Marie Royce LLC, in California before joining the State Department. She has over 30 years of experience in the private sector with Fortune 500 companies and as a small business owner, creating and launching start-ups and new initiatives and serving as a key business liaison to 80 countries. She held senior management positions at Marriott International, Alcatel-Lucent, Proctor & Gamble, among others.

In March 2018, Marie Royce was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate and sworn in as Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs. In this capacity, she oversees a wide range of programs to advance U.S. foreign policy objectives through educational, professional, cultural, and sports exchanges that promote mutual understanding between the people of the United States and people of other nations. The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) programs create networks and partnerships to advance U.S. foreign policy goals and address the world’s greatest challenges and opportunities.

Ms. Royce has served on 20 non-profit boards, and as a private sector appointee on
the Advisory Committee on International Communications and Information Policy
(ACICIP) at the State Department, in addition to serving on two U.S. Cultural Exchange Boards. She participated as an American Council of Young Political Leaders (ACYPL) delegate to Hungary and Poland and was recognized with the “2018 ACPYL Honors Award.” She was also recognized by the American Women for International Understanding (AWIU) with its distinguished “Internationalism Award.”

Marie is a distinguished full member of Pi Sigma Epsilon in good standing, and has participated actively on a continuing basis, beginning with collegiate leadership
positions, advisory roles, and several national leadership positions on the PSE National
Council.

2019

Outstanding Professional Program

Cookin’ For Kiddos: Delta Tau Chapter at UNCW

For three days Hurricane Florence crawled across Wilmington, North Carolina dropping over twenty three inches of rain with sustained winds of over sixty miles per hour. The rain then continued long after the storm had passed leaving schools, businesses, and homes as vulnerable as ever. Wilmington was virtually cut off from the rest of the country as all access points were severely flooded. To come together as a community, the Delta Tau chapter at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington partnered with four other collegiate organizations to broaden the span of influence and allow for the greatest impact possible.

Delta Tau’s goal was to raise $2,500 through a cookout fundraiser called “Cookin’ For Kiddos.” Part one of the fundraising efforts was establishing a cash donation fundraiser that would allow the community to give directly back to teachers in efforts to help restore their classrooms and common areas. The event surpassed the goal by raising a total of $7,171.80 and brought the community and university closer together. The Delta Tau chapter was able to secure sponsorships from local businesses that covered the costs of the event, so the money raised could go directly to the school. This event was selected for this award because of the tremendous amount of work our members completed to give back to an organization in need.

The Outstanding Professional Program Award recognizes a PFA member fraternity for the administration of a meritorious professional program or project.

2019

Faculty Advisor Award of Excellence

Dr. Gary Gagnon: Faculty Advisor, Zeta Nu Chapter at Central Michigan University

Dr. Gary Gagnon has had on his students with the work he has done. Gary has been published in multiple journals, has contributed to textbooks, and has presented at many conferences about tourism, teaching, and creating a learning culture.

Most notably, Gary was named the 2005 CASEMichigan Teaching Professor of the Year presented by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement ofTeaching and was nominated for the US Professor of the Year from the same organization in 2010.

The Faculty Advisor Award of Excellence recognizes a current faculty advisor, for a campus-affiliated chapter of a PFA member organization, who has achieved an exemplary relationship with the students.

2005

Outstanding Professional Program

Pro-Am Sell-A-Thon®

The Outstanding Professional Program award recognizes a PFA member fraternity for the administration of a meritorious professional program or project.

Professional Fraternity Association

What is PFA?

2026