The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi

LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY – The University of Kentucky''s newly approved chapter of Phi Kappa Phi was formally welcomed into the national honor society during ceremonies at the Hilary J. Boone Center on campus April 27, 2009.

Founded in 1897 at the University of Maine, Phi Kappa Phi is the nation’s oldest, largest, and most selective all-discipline honor society. Each year, approximately 30,000 students, faculty, professional staff, and alumni are initiated into the organization. Its chapters are on more than 300 campuses in the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines.

Robert Rogow, national president of Phi Kappa Phi, noted, “The commitment to excellence at the University of Kentucky is evident in the number of scholarships available to students, in the presence of a strong academic program, and in the breadth and depth of outstanding faculty scholarship. All of us at Phi Kappa Phi are excited about the addition of the new UK chapter and look forward to developing a strong working relationship with the chapter.”

“This chapter of Phi Kappa Phi is a welcome and prestigious addition to the academic life of our university not only for its celebration of our best academic efforts, but also through its service of scholarship,” said UK Provost Kumble Subbaswamy.

The program included the installation of the chapter, and its initial officers. In addition, the ceremony inducted the inaugural UK members of the chapter: President Lee T. Todd, Jr., as the first faculty member; Carl Nathe, with UK Public Relations and Marketing, the first staff member; and two undergraduate students, Jenna Brashear, a rising senior from Beaver Dam, Ky., with a double major in international studies and German, and, James Tyler Chapman, a rising junior from Hopkinsville, Ky., with a double major in political science and international relations. The two students also were selected to serve as vice presidents of the campus chapter.

Dr. F. Douglas Scutchfield, Peter P. Bosomworth Professor of Health Services Research and Policy, College of Public Health, is the UK chapter''s founding president.

The UK chapter''s founding members, several of whom were previously welcomed into Phi Kappa Phi while at other institutions and who now are faculty, students or staff at UK, signed the chapter''s charter during the ceremonies.

Membership is by invitation only to the top 10 percent of seniors and graduate students and 7.5 percent of juniors. Faculty, professional staff and alumni who have achieved scholarly distinction also qualify.

Since its founding, more than 1 million members have been initiated. Some of the organization’s more notable members include former President Jimmy Carter, NASA astronaut Wendy Lawrence, Baylor University head women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson, writer John Grisham and Netscape founder James Barksdale.

The society has awarded approximately $11.5 million since the inception of its awards program in 1932. Today, more than $800,000 is awarded annually to qualifying members and non-members through graduate fellowships, undergraduate study abroad scholarships, member and chapter awards and grants for local and national literacy initiatives. The Phi Kappa Phi''s mission is “to recognize and promote academic excellence in all fields of higher education and to engage the community of scholars in service to others.”