Phi Beta Kappa Selects Seniors

Joining a chain of Harvard alumni stretching back 220 years, 48 seniors were elected yesterday to the academic honor society Phi Beta Kappa.

The newly selected students, known as the “Senior 48,” will be honored at a ceremony in December and will be officially inducted into the society in May, along with 24 other members of the Class of 2011 who were elected last spring. About 96 additional members of the senior class will be chosen this spring in the final round of acceptances.

Seniors whose grade point averages were the highest in each academic division were invited in October to apply for inclusion in the society. Applicants, who were then judged based on their transcripts and a letter of recommendation from a professor, were notified yesterday of their acceptance or rejection.

"I've truly enjoyed the work I've done, and it's an honor to get this recognition," said honoree Alexandra M. T. Lu ’11, a Social Studies concentrator.

Two of Lu’s blockmates, Kevin Liu ’11 and Nicolas J. Roth ’11, were also among those elected yesterday.

Roth, who said that his GPA is 3.98, said that the distinction of being a member of Phi Beta Kappa “makes [his GPA] mean sort of a little bit more than a number on paper.”

An joint concentrator in Sanskrit and Indian Studies and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations who enjoys reading texts in Arabic, Hindi, and Urdu, Roth said, “My interest has always been very academic.”

“I view this award not so much as a personal achievement but as a reflection of all the academic support I’ve received over the years from parents, teachers, and friends,” said honoree Johnny H. Hu ’11, who concentrates in Chemical and Physical Biology. “They have given me an environment in which to do well.”

The 48 elected seniors are Samuel J. Barr, Grace K. Baumgartner, Peter J. Bernard, Keru Cai, Eric S. Dong, Davida Fernandez-Barkan, Courtney A. Fiske, Zachary M. Frankel, David B. Gootenberg, Sarah J. Hallett, Tess M. Hellgren, Johnny H. Hu, Joseph M. Jampel, Cameron D. Kirk-Giannini, Jennifer N. Kurdyla, Richard L. Kwant, Daniel E. Lage, Benjamin A. Lerner, Dayan Li, Charles Liu, Kevin X. Liu, Alexandra M. T. Lu, Timothy R. Maher, Alexander E. H. McNaughton, Jacob M. McNulty, Ezekiel H. Z. Nadler, Jessica M. Newman, Catherine C. Ntube, Elizabeth C. Pezza, Akeel Rangwala, Nicolas J. Roth, Kwee Boon B. Seah, Nihar D. Shah, Alexander K. Sherbany, Emily S. Shire, Andrea E. Spector, John R. Stokes, Shervin Tabrizi, Basima A. Tewfik, Tannis R. Thorlakson, Jonathan U. Warsh, William F. Weingarten, Emily V. Wilkinson, Daphne Y. Xiao, Dianne J. Xiao, Taylor X. Yi, Jessica L. Yuan, and Baltazar A. Zavala.

—Staff writer Julie M. Zauzmer can be reached at jzauzmer@college.harvard.edu.

This article has been changed to reflect the following correction:

CORRECTION: November 10, 2010

An earlier version of the Nov. 9 news article "Phi Beta Kappa Selects Seniors" inaccurately reported a quote from PBK honoree Alexandra M. T. Lu ’11. The quote has been revised.