The Phi Beta Kappa Society (PBK), America’s most prestigious honor society, recently
inducted a new group of outstanding liberal arts scholars into its ranks, including
a select group of accomplished University of South Florida (USF) students. Among the
inductees was honorary member Prasant Mohapatra, USF provost and executive vice president
of academic affairs, recognized in a ceremony held at the Judy Genshaft Honors College
on USF's Tampa campus.
The oldest academic honor society in the United States, PBK was founded at the College
of William and Mary in 1776. Since its founding, PBK has celebrated academic excellence
and freedom of thought while advocating for the value and benefits of liberal arts
and sciences education.
USF members are selected for excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, languages,
and character. Only 10% of U.S. colleges and universities have PBK chapters, and notable
members have included 17 U.S. Presidents, 42 Supreme Court Justices, and more than
150 Nobel Laureates.
The ceremony included a history of the society from USF College of Arts and Sciences
Associate Professor of History Matthew King, the introduction of new members in course,
and congratulatory remarks from both USF President Rhea Law and USF President Emerita
Judy Genshaft.
Dean Charles Adams, Judy Genshaft endowed dean of the Honors College, presided over
the ceremony.
“Invitation into the Phi Beta Kappa Society is a great honor and tremendous recognition
of what our students have accomplished here at the Judy Genshaft Honors College and
USF,” said Adams. “We are thrilled that this group will represent our great university
as part of PBK and thrilled to see what they do next.”
| Tehami Ammad | Adam Nigels |
| Natalie AmRhein | Joseph Pereira |
| Eva Austin | Brandon Pham |
| Catherine Bricker | Sasha Post |
| Sasha Brown | Ishali Rajguru |
| Nicholas Brunetti | Hasan Raza |
| Emma Burdick | Megan Reddy |
| Neige Deangelis | Dora Rodriguez |
| Carleena Michelle Deforges | Jeremy Rutter |
| Gabriela Demeglio | Sierra Smith |
| Varun Dhaka | Lily Smith |
| Andrew Drotleff | Deeksha Sridher |
| Ayslin Edwards | Kaitlin Strawn |
| Shae-Lynn Gibbs | Joshua Szabo |
| Kayleigh Gonzalez | Guillermo Trastoy |
| Sarai Guzman Cartagena | Otilia Trejo-Soto |
| Zachary Jacobson | Joshua Vilgorin |
| Rahul Jain | Christopher Vo |
| Kavery Kallichanda | Lindsay Wilson |
| Claudia Laux | Nora Wolfgang |
| Ruth Li | Lingxi Zhou |
| Jose Masso Maldonado | Ethan Cross Zulueta |
| Morgan Mathews |
To learn more about the Phi Beta Kappa Society, visit the PBK website.