Pitt’s Phi Beta Kappa Inducts 79 Students

The University of Pittsburgh chapter of Phi Beta Kappa inducted 79 Pitt students into its 2009 class.

The initiation ceremony was held April 25 in the Teplitz Memorial Moot Courtroom of the Barco Law Building.

Founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary, Phi Beta Kappa is America’s oldest college honor society. Election to Phi Beta Kappa is considered by many to be the most prestigious honor of academic excellence that can be conferred upon students majoring in one of the liberal arts and sciences. Among the organization’s membership are 17 U.S. Presidents, seven of the nine current U.S. Supreme Court Justices, and 131 Nobel Laureates.

Local chapters work within the organization’s national guidelines to establish their own criteria for admission. At Pitt, eligibility requirements include, among others, proficiency in a foreign language as well as the completion of a demanding, broadly distributed program of course work spanning the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Completing a well-distributed program of course work is more important than a 4.0 grade point average. Grade point requirements range from 3.5 to 3.9, with the lower criterion applying to students who have earned at least 90 liberal arts credits at Pitt and the higher criterion applying to those who have earned only 60 liberal arts credits at Pitt.

The following students comprise the 2009 class of Pitt’s Phi Beta Kappa:

Andrew Abbott
Valeri Anukem
Autumn Aul
Patrick Berger
Monica Bhattacharjee
Alexis Carulli
Steven Cassady
Stacie Ci Frulak
Erica Ciminelli
Corey Clyde
Eric Conlon
Willi E Costello
Sudipta Devanath
Shanna Duffy
Carrie Dumars
Chelsea Fitzgerald
Laurel Friend
Kathryn Fritzdixon
Kelley Gallagher
Daniel Gosselin
Max Greenwald
Amanda Gregg
Rachel Grubbs
Kanika Gupta
David Hanna
Angela Hattemer
Alexander Heitman
Andrew Hryckowian
Peter Innacola
Bridge T Kane
Frank Kowalkowski, Jr.
Ashley Lafata
Mackenzie Lawson
Max Lichtenstein
Mary Ellen Li Sman
Holly Lovasik
Brian Mead
Benjamin Mericli
Robin Monteverde
Kelsey Moore
Kevin Morrison
Nikiya Natale
Amy Nedley
Teresa Nichols
Caroline Nilsen
Eleanor Ott
Ravi Pandit
Konstadin Petrov
Benjamin Pollock
David Punihaole
Margaret Pusateri
Sadhana Rajamoorthi
Kaitlynn Rausch
Rajiv Reddy
Sean Rinella
Brianna Rossiter
Lauren Salesi
Jason Saltzman
John Schmidt
Sameer Shakir
Phillip Sharrow
Caitlin Shay
Ryan Simmons
Ranjodh Singh
Daniel Smith
Kelly Snow
Erin Stacy
Julie Steinbrink
Ilana Stol
Andrew Trifan
Daniel Todd
Tiffany Todd
Hilary Tomaswick
Susan Warshafsky
Shannon Watkins
Lindsey Webb
Valerie Wilson
Kevin Yavorcik
Michael Yazvac