HWS News
29 May 2019 HWS Welcomes Newest Phi Beta Kappa Members
Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious academic honors society, has elected 30 new members from Hobart and William Smith Colleges into its Zeta Chapter this year.
Faculty and staff holding membership to the honors society select students based on their intellectual curiosity, academic breadth, college standing and personal character. Approximately one percent of students graduating from American colleges and universities are invited to join each year.
Seniors elected this year include Jacqueline Bange ’19, Claudia Carle ’19, Clare Costello ’19, Gabriella Goodwin ’19, Danielle Gosselin ’19, Gavin Gross ’19, Eva Gurian ’19, Kate Homet ’19, Meredith Kellogg ’19, Alexander Kerai ’19, Qingyi Lu ’19, Madison Maher ’19, Franklin Marquet ’19, Grace Marshall ’19, Penelope Murphy ’19, Mitchell Palmer ’19, Trevor Poisson ’19, Madeline Schmitt ’19, Jack Sherwood ’19, Tyler Skretny ’19, Mackenzie Tamblin ’19, Jonathan Thrall ’19, Jonas Toupal ’19, Katherine Valicenti ’19, Carl Wagner ’19 and Sarah Walters ’19.
They join their classmates Magdy Gad ’19, Kevin Goltz ’19, Loretta Hauslauer ’19, Elizabeth Hawes ’19, Austin Jennings ’19, Alyssa Kelly ’19, Marissa McFadden ’19 and Elizabeth Rhodes ’19, who were inducted during their junior year.
Election as a junior is the highest honor the chapter can bestow on a student. This year, the Zeta Chapter welcomes juniors Matthew Burnett ’20, Chloe Emler ’20, Abigail Frederick ’20 and Hugh Mckenny’20.
“All of these students bring remarkable records of achievement,” says Donald Spector, professor of physics and chapter president. “We are privileged to be able to honor them in this way.”
Founded in 1776, Phi Beta Kappa celebrates academic excellence, intellectual engagement and liberal arts education. Only 10 percent of colleges and universities have chapters of the honors society, whose members have included 17 U.S. Presidents, 40 Supreme Court Justices and more than 130 Nobel Laureates, alongside countless leaders in literature, world affairs, research, the arts and business. The Zeta Chapter, one of the two dozen oldest chapters, will be celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2021.