We are a co-ed business leadership fraternity committed to inspire the best in everyone. We aspire to become visionaries, influencers, and mobilizers. This means we dream big, rally support, and get it done. Our mission is clear - to inspire leaders. As a Partnership, our members are each co-owners of this mission.
We are differentiated in that our Partners don't just want to land a career, we each want to fulfill a calling. We are proud of our history of campus community leaders and founders. During their short time on campus, they each left a legacy because they saw a need to fill, a problem to solve, or someone to care about. We are inspired to carry on the torch with the aim to leave our world better than we found it.
"Grow forward, Give back."
Do you follow through with your promises? Have an insatiable desire to keep learning? Naturally inclined to serve others? Enjoy forming relationships? And always seeking to better yourself?
If yes, we do too. That's why we hold on to the values of Curiosity, Altruism, Integrity, and Relationships.Lambda Phi Nu is a UC Irvine-founded business leadership community for students seeking leadership development and coaching. We immerse our members in an environment that emulates the professional world to prepare them for a more successful future.
The Global Financial Crisis of 2008 was the catalyst for starting Lambda Phi Nu. At a macro level, the housing bubble burst, Dow Jones prices were at a historical low, and 1.2 million jobs were lost within one year. At a micro-level, students felt the impact with rising tuition, curtailed financial aid, and shortage in faculty. There was also a drought in local job opportunities. To make matters worse, UCI’s business program was still young. Its undergraduate business program only initiated its first 200 students in the Fall of 2008. Thus UCI was a school many companies considered dropping their sponsorship and support.
In the midst of these challenging times arose a group of student leaders who wanted to create opportunities for UCI’s business students. It began with the Accounting Association Officer Board seeking to make UCI a target school for public accounting firms. As a result of pursuing this vision, a deep camaraderie was formed between the Officers - reflecting a brotherhood like that of a Fraternity. In the summer of 2010, our founding Chief Executive Officer, decided to extend this spirit of brotherhood to student leaders in other organizations. Subsequently, the officers from Accounting Association, President and Founder of Merage Undergraduate Student Association, Senior Advisor of Undergraduate Business Association, President of Undergraduate Finance Association, President and Founder of Management Information Student Society, and a Paul Merage MBA candidate convened to form Lambda Phi Nu - 16 Founding Fathers in total*.
Although a majority of the Founders already received full-time offers, they decided to dedicate their last year at UCI mentoring students, growing sponsorships, and launching new initiatives. Their motive was to give back to UCI and cultivate a legacy of student leaders who also wanted to give back. Lambda Phi Nu continues to push the envelope to make our school more competitive in the business community through fostering collaboration among student leaders. In the words of the Apostle Paul, “do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.” Thus, Lambda Phi Nu serves students who are challenged to grow forward and called to give back. Our reason to exist has been and will always be to “Grow Forward, Give Back” - one leader, one community, and one campus at a time.
The Chapter was founded in 2010 as Beta Alpha Psi and rebranded into Lambda Phi Nu in 2014 due to fundamental differences within organizational structures. Standard Beta Alpha Psi chapters operate under an honor society structure; however the Irvine chapter sought to operate under a fraternity structure. We at Lambda Phi Nu believed our value proposition would be lost if we changed our organizational structure and chose to rebrand under Lambda Phi Nu in order to preserve the culture and mission that we currently held.
*Founding C-Suite included: Mr. Dennis Yu (CEO), Mr. Michael Wen (CFO), Mr. Brandon Shiaw (CIO), Mr. Art Reyes (COO), and Ms. Emily Rong (CTO). Founding Fathers included: Ms. Iris Chan, Mr. Edward Chow, Mr. Nathan Kobayashi, Ms. Christine Liao, Ms. Lucy Luxiao, Ms. Michelle Nguyen, Ms. Eva Park, Mr. James Shen, Mr. Adam Whitescarver, Ms. Jessica Wong, and Ms. Tonie Zhu.