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.
2025
Outstanding Volunteer of the Year Award!
Kelsea Kiene
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.
Kelsea has been a volunteer for over ten years and has contributed more than 1,000 volunteer hours to Pi Sigma Epsilon. In just the last year, she has dedicated more than 75 hours, attending an estimated 20 to 30 meetings that range from national council discussions and committee planning to one-on-one mentorship calls with students. She is constantly available, dependable, and engaged—not for credit or recognition, but because she deeply believes in this organization and the people who make it special.
In her most-recent role as National President, Kelsea has led with heart, intention, and strength. She has raised the bar for leadership, introducing stronger standards and clearer expectations, including a formalized code of conduct that has reshaped the culture of accountability within the organization. She has worked hard to create an environment where members feel supported, leaders feel empowered, and decisions reflect shared values.
Her influence goes beyond structure. She’s been a featured speaker at many Fall Conferences and National Conventions, sharing her insights with grace and humor, inspiring students to embrace their potential and take ownership of their future. She also has served as a buyer for the Pro-Am Sell-A-Thon®, and long before her presidency, she played a major role in helping scale and evolve that competition into one of the most impactful experiences in collegiate sales education. Hundreds of students now participate annually, and more than $5,000 in prizes are distributed each year, thanks in large part to the foundation she helped build.
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.
2023
Faculty Advisor Award of Excellence
Claire Adams: Faculty Advisor, Gamma Nu Chapter at The Ohio State University
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. PSE’s very own, Claire Adams was nominated and won this prestigious award in 2023.
Claire Adams has exemplified an outstanding commitment to her role as Faculty Advisor for the Gamma Nu Chapter at The Ohio State University, which made her an exceptional candidate for this award of excellence. Through her dedication, approachability, and focus on student development, Claire has fostered a caring and inclusive environment within the chapter.
2023
Outstanding Professional Program Award
Pi Sigma Epsilon National Awards Program
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.
