Phi Beta Kappa

Watch the 2024 Phi Beta Kappa Induction Ceremony on April 29

About The Phi Beta Kappa Society

Founded on Dec. 5, 1776, The Phi Beta Kappa Society is the nation’s most prestigious academic honor society. It has chapters at 293 colleges and universities in the United States, 50 alumni associations, and more than half a million members worldwide. Noteworthy members include 17 U.S. Presidents, 42 U.S. Supreme Court Justices and more than 150 Nobel Laureates. The mission of The Phi Beta Kappa Society is to champion education in the liberal arts and sciences, foster freedom of thought, and recognize academic excellence. For more information, visit www.pbk.org.

In April 2022, Phi Beta Kappa installed a new chapter at Providence College. The installation took place at St. Dominic Chapel, where the new Gamma of Rhode Island chapter inducted 57 students, selected for their academic excellence in the arts and sciences. Read more about the historic installation here and induction here. Read the remarks of the Gamma Chapter of Rhode Island’s President, Dr. Joan Branham, from the chapter installation here.

Selection

Prospective Phi Beta Kappa inductees are juniors and seniors among the top 10 percent of liberal arts majors in their graduating class. They have majored in an arts and sciences discipline, demonstrated depth and breadth of study at the college level including proficiency in a foreign language and mathematics at the intermediate college level, and shown good character and integrity. One cannot apply to be a member of Phi Beta Kappa; students are invited by the Committee on Members in Course.

Officers

President: Dr. Joan Branham, Professor of Art History, Associate Dean of the School of Arts & Sciences
Vice President: Dr. Paul Herron, Assistant Professor of Political Science
Secretary: Dr. Seann Mulcahy, Professor of Chemistry
Treasurer: Dr. Darra Mulderry, Associate Director of Center for Engaged Learning
Historian: Dr. Elizabeth Bridgham , Associate Professor of English

Foundation Members

Foundation Members are honored individuals who have given unparalleled service to the College’s liberal arts mission.

Wanda Ingram, Ed.D. ’75, Senior Associate Dean of Student Academic Success, Providence College
Teresa A. Lavoie, J.D., Ph.D. ’89, Senior Vice President, Legal – IP and Exclusivity Strategy, Treeline Biosciences
Terza Silva Lima-Neves, Ph.D. ’00, Associate Professor of Political Science and Chair, Department
Ann Manchester-Molak, M.A. ’75, Executive Vice President, Providence College
John J. Partridge, Esq. ’61, ’11Hon., Founding Partner, Partridge Snow & Hahn LLP
Jane Lunin Perel, M.F.A. ’15Hon., Professor Emerita, Providence College
Michael A. Ruane, M.B.A. ’71, ’13Hon., Founder and Sr. Advisor TA Associates Realty
Rev. Brian J. Shanley, O.P., Ph.D. ’80, President, St. John’s University
Rev. Kenneth R. Sicard, O.P., Ph.D. ’78, ’82G, President, Providence College

Current Members

2023 Inductees

For more information, contact pcsas@providence.edu