About Us

Phi Beta Kappa celebrates and advocates excellence in the liberal arts and sciences. It is the nation’s oldest and most prestigious national honors society. Only the most outstanding undergraduates at America’s leading colleges and universities who meet the Society’s rigorous and comprehensive standards are elected to membership each year.
About Our Members

The ideal PBK member has demonstrated intellectual integrity, tolerance for other views, and a broad range of academic interests. Members are committed to the liberal arts and sciences, to freedom of inquiry and expression, and to the love of wisdom and knowledge for its own sake.
Did You Know

At UCI there are NO fees for membership! In order to remove all financial barriers to membership, your life-time membership fee is being paid for by UCI. However please note, your registration on the national PBK registration site, as instructed, is still required to validate your membership acceptance.

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Welcoming Message

PBK Initiates,

Welcome! Through its long and distinguished history, dating back to the founding of the United States of America, PBK has stood for excellence in the arts, humanities, and sciences. At UC Irvine, we endeavor to carry on this rich tradition by bringing scholars together and celebrating their work through our Fall Social, Visiting Scholar lectures, scholarships, and the new PBK Book Awards. We look forward to your joining us at many of our events this coming year.

2021-22 PBK Board President - Jonathan Feng, Distinguished Professor - Physics and Astronomy

Welcoming Message

To be selected for membership in Phi Beta Kappa is an extraordinary accomplishment and on behalf of the entire UCI community let me just say that we extend to you our most heartfelt congratulations.

UCI Chancellor Howard Gillman

About

Though you may have been asked to join other honor societies, discover why Phi Beta Kappa is the most prestigious.

History

Discover the rich history of the oldest, best-known, and most prestigious of all undergraduate academic honor societies.

Contact

The UCI PBK Office is located on the fifth floor of the Science Library in the Student Excellence Center. Click here for more contact information.

PBK Member Spotlight

August Highlight: Adrianna Burton

Adrianna Burton is a University of California, Irvine Ph.D. student in Informatics. Her research interests focus on the intersection of representation, identity-making, and analog games. Adrianna’s hobbies include bingeing Netflix, reading Y.A. fiction, writing poetry, and dabbling in ballet. In undergrad, her time working as a Writing Center Peer Tutor developed her love for teaching, which she carries into her responsibilities as a TA. Adrianna is a Phi Beta Kappa member and graduate of UC Irvine.

To learn more about Adrianna's journey, click here!

July Highlight: Misha Ponnuraju

Misha Ponnuraju is a Fulbright Alternate. She is a 2020 graduate in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing and a Minor in Art History, a Phi Beta Kappa member, and a Humanities Honors Program participant. She also served as a tutor in the Center for Excellence in Writing & Communication and led the literary journal New Forum and the comedy sketch group Soulstice League. As a poet, educator, and social media strategist, she hopes to continue her cultivation of supportive, creative communities and continue writing memoir, poetry, and screenplays.

To learn more about Misha's journey, click here!

June Highlight: Karishma Muthukumar

Karishma Muthukumar studies cognitive science and biology as a third-year student at the University of California, Irvine, where she founded The Patient Project and launched a journal of student reflections. She is a Barnes and Noble College Scholar, a recipient of the Donald A. Strauss Scholarship for Public Service, and a recipient of the Key into Public Service Scholar Award. Karishma aspires to combine her interests in health and public service towards a meaningful career in healthcare.

To learn more about Karishma's journey, click here!

May Highlight: Katia Necoechea Madriz

A junior inductee to Phi Beta Kappa in 2020, Katia Necoechea Madriz is a fourth-year undergraduate double majoring in Psychology and Education Sciences at the University of California, Irvine, graduating in June 2021. Most notably, Katia received the Emerging Leaders & Emerging Researcher scholarship that reflects her campus leadership involvement and research experience through the Summer Academic Enrichment Program and the Learning, Language, and Literacy Lab.

To learn more about Katia's journey, click here!

April Highlight: Kimberly Zhang

Kimberly Zhang, junior inductee to Phi Beta Kappa, is graduating in spring 2021. She is part of Campuswide Honors Collegium and is a fourth-year mathematics and chemistry double major specializing in applied mathematics and chemical biology at the University of California, Irvine. She has multiple attractive offers for graduate schools but is leaning towards pursuing her Ph.D. degree in chemistry at Massachusetts Institute of Technology starting fall, 2021.

To learn more about Kimberly's journey, click here!

March Highlight: Aparna Shakkarwar

Aparna Shakkarwar is a fourth-year, junior inductee to Phi Beta Kappa, graduating in spring of 2021. She is currently pursuing a double-major in Economics and Education Sciences, as well as a minor in Political Science. She was admitted to UCI as a UC Regents’ Scholar, received the Malcom Stacey Memorial Scholarship for two years, and is a current Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program Fellow.

To learn more about Aparna's journey, click here!

February Highlight: Ravi Sandhu

A junior inductee to Phi Beta Kappa, Ravi graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Public Health and received the Chancellor’s Award of Distinction, Honors in Public Health, Special Recognition in Public Health, along with distinction in the Biological Sciences for Research Excellence, and membership in the Delta Omega public health honor society.

In January 2021, Ravi became the first UCI undergraduate Semi-Finalist for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program English Teaching Assistantship to Moldova. He is currently awaiting results from the Moldova review panel, which will choose recipients by the end of Spring Quarter 2021.

To learn more about Ravi's journey, click here!

January Highlight: Malak Kudaimi

Congratulations to Malak Kudaimi for being selected as one of the 2020 Marshall scholars! She is the third UC Irvine student to receive the award, following Felipe Hernandez in 2015 and Kelly Maglia in 1996. In addition, Kudaimin, who is a full-time staff member at the Fresh Basic Needs Hub, is also the first UCI staff member to receive the Marshall Scholarship.

To learn more about Malak's journey, click here!

Announcements

Key into Public Service Scholar Recipient: Karishma Muthukumar

Congratulations to Karishma Muthukumar for being a Key into Public Service Scholar Recipient! She is one of 20 students selected from a pool of 800 applicants. The PBK society selects these exemplary students for their intellectual curiosity, breadth across liberal arts and sciences coursework, positive contributions on and off-campus, and demonstrated commitment to serving the common good.

To learn more about this award and Karishma's journey, click here!

2021 PBK Graduate Study Scholarship Award Winner

Congratulations to Adrianna Burton for being our 2021 Phi Beta Kappa Graduate Study Scholarship Award winner! Alpha Alumni Association with additional funding support from the MU Chapter for our initiates, distributes funds and administers a scholarship program called the Graduate Study Award, for all Southern California PBK chapters. Under this program, Adrianna has received a $2500 cash award for use in her first year of graduate school.

To learn more about this award and Adrianna, click here!

2021 PBK Induction Ceremony Recording Available!

Keynote Speaker: Michael Dennin (Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning, Dean of Undergraduate Education, Professor of Physics)

Celebrate the induction of UCI's 2021 juniors and seniors to Phi Beta Kappa, the nation's oldest, most prestigious honor society, founded in 1776. Congratulations to all inductees!

Click here to view the recording.

#PBKSelfKey Contest

Calling all new members!

Share a #PBKSelfKey and be entered for a chance to win a Phi Beta Kappa Prize bag containing assorted PBK merchandise and copies of The American Scholar and Key Reporter.

The contest will end on June 30, 2021.

Click here for more information on rules and how to enter!

PBK Visiting Scholar, Recording Available!

Thank you to everyone who attended the 2021 PBK Visiting Scholar Event by Roger Guenveur Smith: Performing History! As a courtesy to those who were unable to attend this marvelous performance, please click here to enjoy the experience.

2021-22 Events Sneak Peek

Fall Welcome Social & Freshman Book Awards

Check back at a later date! Thank you for your cooperation!

Visiting Scholar: Donald S. Lopez Jr.

Professor Lopez is the author, translator, and editor of numerous works in the field of Buddhist Studies, on topics ranging from Buddhist philosophy to Buddhism and Science. He has also written extensively on the European encounter with Buddhism. Among anthologies, he is the editor of the Buddhism volume of the Norton Anthology of World Religions and Buddhist Scriptures for Penguin Classics. His recent books include Dispelling the Darkness: A Jesuit’s Quest for the Soul of Tibet (with Thupten Jinpa) and Gendun Chopel: Tibet’s Modern Visionary. In 2008, he was the first scholar of Buddhism to deliver the Terry Lectures at Yale. In 2014, The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism (edited with Robert Buswell) was awarded the Dartmouth Medal for best reference work of the year. In 2000, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Click here for more information!