{"id":4310,"date":"2025-02-28T11:37:22","date_gmt":"2025-02-28T16:37:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/ursca\/?page_id=4310"},"modified":"2025-10-31T09:41:59","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T13:41:59","slug":"phi-beta-kappa","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/ursca\/phi-beta-kappa\/","title":{"rendered":"Phi Beta Kappa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignleft size-medium is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"208\" height=\"300\" data-src=\"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/ursca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/86\/2025\/02\/Gold-Photo-Key-Only-208x300.jpg\" alt=\"Square-shape gold key with the Greek initials PBK, three stars, and a pointing finger engraved on its surface.\" class=\"wp-image-4312 lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 208px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 208\/300;width:200px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/ursca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/86\/2025\/02\/Gold-Photo-Key-Only-208x300.jpg 208w, https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/ursca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/86\/2025\/02\/Gold-Photo-Key-Only-712x1024.jpg 712w, https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/ursca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/86\/2025\/02\/Gold-Photo-Key-Only-768x1105.jpg 768w, https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/ursca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/86\/2025\/02\/Gold-Photo-Key-Only.jpg 797w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 208px) 100vw, 208px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Established in 1776, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbk.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Phi Beta Kappa<\/a> is the most prestigious academic honor society in the United States, with chapters at more than 290 top colleges and universities and a membership that include 17 U.S. presidents and more than 150 Nobel Laureates. Phi Beta Kappa\u2019s mission is to champion education in the liberal arts and sciences, foster freedom of thought, and recognize academic excellence.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The name Phi Beta Kappa, adopted by the founders, originated from the Greek phrase PHILOSOPHIA BIOU KYBERNETES, which they translated as &#8220;Love of learning is the guide to life.&#8221; The initials of this Greek phrase\u2014PBK\u2014are inscribed on the society&#8217;s signature gold key.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Johns Hopkins University established a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa \u2013 the Alpha Chapter of Maryland \u2013 in 1895.&nbsp;Pictured above is the original charter document, signed by the president of Phi Beta Kappa, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, and addressed to Johns Hopkins University&#8217;s first president, Daniel C. Gilman (and others). It is dated September 11, 1895.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignleft size-medium\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"192\" height=\"300\" data-src=\"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/ursca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/86\/2025\/02\/PBK-Charter-192x300.jpg\" alt=\"Aged and torn document with the text &quot;Charter of Phi Beta Kappa&quot; and an image of the Phi Beta Kappa key. \" class=\"wp-image-4313 lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/ursca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/86\/2025\/02\/PBK-Charter-192x300.jpg 192w, https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/ursca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/86\/2025\/02\/PBK-Charter.jpg 625w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 192px) 100vw, 192px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 192px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 192\/300;\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Membership<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Membership is by invitation. Students who meet the eligibility criteria are considered for election by the Committee on Members-in-Course, composed of Johns Hopkins faculty and staff who are themselves members of Phi Beta Kappa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Membership in Phi Beta Kappa signals exceptional academic achievement, opens the door to lifelong connections with a diverse network of accomplished members, and provides resources and opportunities rooted in the power of the arts and sciences. A full <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbk.org\/membership\/member-benefits\">list of member benefits<\/a> is on the national Phi Beta Kappa Society website.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Executive Committee<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Executive Committee of the Johns Hopkins University Chapter includes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Samuel Spinner, President<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Jennifer Wester, Secretary<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Kathie Sindt, Historian<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Established in 1776, Phi Beta Kappa is the most prestigious academic honor society in the United States, with chapters at more than 290 top colleges and universities and a membership [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":663,"featured_media":4457,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4310","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/ursca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/ursca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/ursca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/ursca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/663"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/ursca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4310"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/ursca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4310\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4833,"href":"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/ursca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4310\/revisions\/4833"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/ursca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/ursca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}