YSU chapter earns award

Staff report

Youngstown

For the second-consecutive year, Phi Kappa Phi Chapter 143 at Youngstown State University has earned the honor society’s Chapter of Excellence Award, one of just 11 chapters nationwide to be recognized.

The award, earned under the leadership of Becky Geltz, president and director of Institutional Research at YSU, recognizes Chapter 143’s success in recognizing and promoting academic excellence in all fields of higher education and engaging the community of scholars in service to others.

YSU’s Phi Kappa Phi chapter has inducted more than 3,000 students, faculty, professional staff and honorary members since it was chartered in 1972.

The chapter also administers several local scholarships and award programs, through which it has presented thousands of dollars in scholarships and awards over the years, and its members have earned national scholarships and awards as well.

With 296 active chapters across the U.S., Puerto Rico and the Philippines and more than a million members, Phi Kappa Phi is the nation’s largest and most selective, all-discipline honor society.

Its mission is to recognize and promote academic excellence in all fields of higher education and to engage the community of scholars in service to others.

The society has chapters on more than 300 college and university campuses in North America and the Philippines.

Membership is by invitation only to the top-10 percent of seniors and graduate students and 7.5 percent of juniors; faculty, professional staff and alumni who have achieved scholarly distinction also qualify.

Well-known Phi Kappa Phi members include President Jimmy Carter, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, author John Grisham, YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley and broadcast journalist Deborah Norville.

Nationally, the society offers annual scholarships and awards to its members and to students seeking support for study-abroad activities, including a $15,000 fellowship for members entering their first year of graduate or professional study.

For more information about Phi Kappa Phi and Chapter 143, visit http://cc.ysu.edu/phi-kappa-phi/.