KU News Release

KU student wins Phi Kappa Phi chapter Blackiston fellowship

LAWRENCE — Todd Christopher Crawford, a senior at the University of Kansas from Leawood, has won the 2009 Blackiston Memorial Graduate Fellowship offered by KU’s chapter of Phi Kappa Phi national honor society.

KU’s Phi Kappa Phi members selected Crawford to receive the $1,500 fellowship.

Crawford is a candidate for a degree in finance and plans to study medicine at the KU School of Medicine. He is the son of Jeff and Kim Crawford and a graduate of Shawnee Mission East High School.

The Blackiston fellowship is the latest achievement for Crawford, who has participated widely in campus activities and won numerous awards and honors at KU. He recently received the Agnes Wright Strickland Award, which includes lifetime membership to the KU Alumni Association and recognizes graduating seniors who have demonstrated excellence in academic achievements and in campus leadership. Crawford was president of Phi Delta Theta fraternity and is vice president of the Board of Class Officers and treasurer for Mortar Board honor society. This year, he served as a teaching assistant for a business course titled Financial Modeling and Risk Analysis.

Phi Kappa Phi has about 300 chapters nationally, and each may select one candidate from among its local applicants to compete for society-wide awards. Phi Kappa Phi was established in 1897 to recognize academic excellence in all disciplines. Only the top 10 percent of seniors, the top 7.5 percent of last-term juniors and the top 10 percent of graduate students are invited to join.

The Blackiston fellowship is named in honor of James Blackiston, a graduate student in linguistics and instructor in the Intensive English Center who was active in the formation of the KU chapter in 1975. Blackiston died during the summer of 1975.

Phi Kappa Phi’s primary objectives are to promote the pursuit of excellence in all fields of higher education and to recognize outstanding achievement by students, faculty and others by election to membership and through various awards for distinguished achievement.

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