William Rainey Harper signed the Phi Beta Kappa Chapter Roll in the 1800s. Harper’s signature leads this page and is followed by signatures of other distinguished, past members of the University community, including Harry Pratt Judson and Paul Shorey, for whom two resident halls are named. The Chapter Roll has been signed by thousands of members up to and including 1999 Phi Beta Kappa members.

Phi Beta Kappa Society celebrates 100 years

The University’s chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa Society celebrates its 100th anniversary this spring. This week, newly elected members attended the annual Initiation Dinner, where they received membership certificates and signed the Chapter Roll, a book that dates to the chapter’s founding in 1899.

This year’s signatories added their names to University history, an evergreen list penned by such University luminaries as William Rainey Harper and Harry Pratt Judson, who served on the first Phi Beta Kappa executive committee.

Phi Beta Kappa is the nation’s oldest undergraduate honors organization, founded in 1776 at the College of William and Mary. Originally a secret society of like-minded intellectual spirits, today’s national organization is composed of 248 chapters at 248 colleges and universities that elect outstanding students who are recognized for excellence in undergraduate liberal learning.

Using the society’s national guidelines, Chicago’s executive committee selects students annually, taking into consideration students’ academic achievements and the breadth of their liberal arts programs. Members must be in excellent academic standing and are limited to approximately one-tenth of the graduating class, with less than one-fifth of the members having been elected as third-years.

Members of the Class of 1999 elected to Phi Beta Kappa in spring 1998

Robert Abrahamian, Luke Barron, Christopher Calderone, Risha Foulkes, Carol Huff, Jasdip Kharbanda, Riva Khoshaba, Nisa Maruther, Amanda Walling, Joseph Wicentowski, Raymond Woodring, Stephen Wrenn

Members of the Class of 1999 elected to Phi Beta Kappa in spring 1999

Jacob Affolter, Rachel Airmet, Nour Akhras, Eric Althoff, Angela Anderson, Benjamin Axelrad, Charles Bacon, Vincenzo Barbetta, Marie Blackard, Erin Bohula, Benjamin Brand, Thomas Brennan, Sydney Brown, Kalisha Buckhanon, Sean Buckley, Gregory Byala, Maja Castillo, Winnie Chan, Philip Chang, Eleanor Chiari, Lara Cohen, Jacinta Conrad, Benjamin Cowan, Marc D’Urbano, Linda Eng, Elizabeth Evenson, David Fernie, Devon Freeny, Gregory Frost, Marci Gambrell, Scott Gaul, Reagyn Germer, Kamyar Ghaneabassiri, Carolyn Girod, Victor Glowacki, Shoshana Gourdin, Wendy Guyer, Daniel Hibshoosh, Reena Jethva, Rebecca Kalmus, Andrea Kassar, Craig Kelleher, Andrew Krug, Laura Kutianski, Brian Lee, Mira Lutgendorf, Previn Mankodi, Katherine McGurn, Joshua McVeigh-Schultz, Margaret Moran, Alex Natanzon, Casey Ng, Katherine Pasieta, Constantine Raptis, Korok Ray, Alison Reid, Joy Rohde, William Ruzicka, Elizabeth Seeger, Yevgeny Senderov, Paula Sheu, Stephen Sieck, Thomas Simek, Naomi Smith, Jacob Studley, Bernard Tan, Charles Taragin, Cleveland Thompson, Amy Traub, Katya Tugendsam, Eve Tulbert, Christopher Van Zele, Alia Vinson, Sarah Waxman, Mark Westerfield, Jessica Wickens, Alice Yao, Zimri Yaseen, Armand Yin Tak Yeung

Members of the Class of 2000 elected to Phi Beta Kappa in spring 1999

Sarah Bagby, Anthony Delmonte, Josef Dufek, Aleem Hossain, Daniel Kao, Christopher Malon, Nicholas McCarthy, Katherine Nagel, Catherine Potter, Benjamin Recht, Oliver Richards, Francis Shen.