ISU Phi Kappa Phi initiates new members including Vailases

Idaho State University’s Phi Kappa Phi national interdisciplinary honor society initiated ISU President Arthur C. Vailas, Ph.D., and Laura Vailas, Ph.D., along with 42 top ISU students, at its initiation ceremony this spring.

Membership in Phi Kappa Phi, the oldest and largest interdisciplinary honor society, is based solely on academic achievement. Honorary membership is granted to faculty, staff and community members who have distinguished themselves.

To qualify for induction, junior students must be in the top 7.5 percent of their class, and seniors must be in the top 10 percent of their class. Outstanding graduate students are also recognized.

Juniors inducted this year are:

•    Joshua Adkins, Inkom; Anushka Burde, Pocatello; Amanda Colson, Idaho Falls; Cody Cranor, Chubbuck; Stefan Grainda, Jackson, Wyo.; Tyler Hemsley, Dillon, Mont.; Ryan Finn, Pocatello; Nicole Hieb, Rupert; Rochelle Krevitsky, Pocatello; Christie  Solomon, Pocatello; Nicholas Stephens, Chubbuck; Adrian Turpin, Shelley; Michelle VanOrden, Blackfoot.

Seniors inducted this year:

•    Sara Earl, Eden; Christopher Harper, Twin Falls; Belinda Howell, Idaho Falls; Ryan Hunter, Pocatello; Stephanie James, Hayden; Audra Lloyd, Burley; Brooke McCuskey, Boise; Ngoc Truong, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Linda Upton, Twin Falls.

Graduate students inducted this year:

•    Tracy Adkins, Lewiston; Carol Brooks, Vernal, Utah; Christopher Cox, Blackfoot; Deborah Dahlquist, Idaho Falls; Gary Dirisio, Las Vegas, Nevada; Katie Forsman, Post Falls; Melissa Freeburg, Boise; Frederica Gould, Pocatello; Kathy Howard, Newdale; Christina Kavran, Idaho Falls; Brittany Linn, Boise; Justin Minchey, Jerome; Moises Moreno, Pocatello; Janice Nelson, Hayden Lake; Debra Reiland, Pekin, Ill.; Donna Summers, Pocatello; Cheryl Swajkoski, Boise; Kari Underkofler, Nampa; Sonja Ure, San Antonio; Paul Withers, Moscow.

Phi Kappa Phi was founded in 1897 and is headquartered in Baton Rouge, La. Annually, it inducts more than 30,000 students, faculty, professional staff and alumni. The society has chapters in nearly 300 select colleges and universities in North America and the Philippines.

Since its founding, more than 1 million members have been initiated. Members include former President Jimmy Carter, NASA astronaut Wendy Lawrence, Baylor University head women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson, writer John Grisham and Netscape founder James Barksdale. The society has awarded approximately $11.5 million since the inception of its awards program in 1932. Today, more than $700,000 is awarded annually to qualifying members and non-members through graduate fellowships, undergraduate study abroad scholarships, member and chapter awards and grants for local and national literacy initiatives. The society’s 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.”

For more information, contact Leigh Cellucci, Ph.D., president of ISU Chapter 110 of Phi Kappa Phi, at 282-4386 or cellemil@isu.edu; or Joanne Tokle, Ph.D., ISU chapter secretary, at 282-2934 or tokljoan@isu.edu.