Honor society to induct 125 high-achieving students

The UW–Madison chapter of the nation’s leading honorary society, Phi Beta Kappa, will induct 125 students Saturday, April 24.

Phi Beta Kappa began as a literary society at William and Mary College, Williamsburg, Va., in 1776. Membership is now based on outstanding achievement in the liberal arts and sciences. Election into Phi Beta Kappa is one of the highest academic honors that can be awarded to an undergraduate.

Each year, about 3 percent of UW–Madison graduates, mostly from the College of Letters and Science, become eligible to join the organization. A dozen juniors and 113 seniors will be inducted, says Peter H. Quimby, associate director of the Pathways to Excellence Project and chapter secretary/treasurer of Phi Beta Kappa.

The induction ceremony will be held at 5:30 p.m. in 3650 Humanities Building. The centennial banquet of the chapter is scheduled at 6:30 p.m. in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union. The banquet speaker will be Shirley Abrahamson, recently re-elected chief justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Her address is entitled “A View from the Bench.”

The UW–Madison chapter this year is celebrating its 100th anniversary on campus. On May 8 at 8 p.m. in the State Historical Society, the group is sponsoring a public lecture by physician-author Abraham Verghese and also plans to award an honorary membership to Nellie McKay, professor of Afro-American Studies and English.

Verghese is a doctor who wrote a bestselling book, “My Own Country,” about his work with AIDS patients in rural Tennessee. He combines an interest in science, literature, and humanity epitomizing the liberal arts spirit of Phi Beta Kappa, says Emily Auerbach, an English professor who is chapter president.