PBK inducts Class of 2012 members

The Harvard College chapter of Phi Beta Kappa (PBK), Alpha Iota of Massachusetts, will induct 24 juniors at a formal ceremony at Leverett House on April 25.

PBK was first established under a charter in 1779. Shifting from a social and debating club in its early years to an undergraduate honor society in the 19th century, PBK is known as the oldest academic honor society in the country.

Phi Beta Kappa’s national mission is to foster and recognize excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, and election to Alpha Iota of Massachusetts signifies that an undergraduate has demonstrated excellence, reach, originality, and rigor in his or her course of study. The honor society recognizes students whose course work shows not only high achievement, but also breadth of interest, depth of understanding, and intellectual honesty. Twenty-four juniors are elected each spring, 48 seniors each fall, and a further number sufficient to bring the total membership to no more than 10 percent of the graduating class in the final election shortly before Commencement.

Elected juniors include:

Adams House: Robert Newell, human evolutionary biology; and Antonia Peacocke, philosophy.

Currier House: Jennifer Xia, applied math.

Dunster House: Nathaniel Hipsman, applied math; Matthew Tung, chemical and physical biology; and Michael Velchik, classics.

Eliot House: Peter Bozzo, government; and Abigail Modaff, social studies.

Kirkland House: Madeleine Schwartz, history.

Leverett House: Aditya Balasubramanian, history; and Danielle Drees, English.

Lowell House: Francis Deng, human development and regenerative biology.

Mather House: Annabel Beichman, organismic and evolutionary biology; Eva Belmont, mathematics; Michael Lim, economics; and Riva Riley, organismic and evolutionary biology.

Pforzheimer House: Jane Choi, applied math; and Philip Mocz, mathematics.

Quincy House: Alex Palmer, social studies; Tyler Runge, social studies; and Marieke Thomas, chemistry.

Winthrop House: George Huang, biomedical engineering; Spencer Vegosen, East Asian studies; and Victor Yang, history of science.