KU News Release

KU’s Phi Beta Kappa chapter inducts 103 new members

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LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas’ Alpha chapter of Phi Beta Kappa academic honor society will induct 103 new members at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 19, at Woodruff Auditorium in the Kansas Union.

Tara Welch, KU Phi Beta Kappa president and associate professor of classics, will preside. Chancellor Robert Hemenway will greet initiates and their families and guests.

Prakash Shenoy, the Ronald G. Harper Distinguished Professor of Business and newly elected honorary Phi Beta Kappa member, will speak on “Achieving Excellence in Everything You Do.” His address will be followed by a response from Lucas T. Thompson, Lawrence senior in American studies, English, history and political science, who was chosen last year for Phi Beta Kappa membership.

Election to Phi Beta Kappa recognizes a student’s high academic achievement while pursuing a broad and substantive liberal arts curriculum. To be eligible for consideration for membership, students must have senior status and a minimum grade-point average of 3.65 on a 4.0 scale.

Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest national academic honorary society, was founded December 5, 1776, at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va. KU’s Alpha chapter, founded in 1890, was the first chapter west of the Mississippi and is one of 276 Phi Beta Kappa chapters nationwide. About 10 percent of institutions of higher learning in the United States have Phi Beta Kappa chapters. Janet Riley, associate director of Budget Management and Fiscal Services, is KU’s chapter adviser.

New members are listed below by hometown, major, parents’ names and high schools.

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