Phi Beta Kappa Inducts 35 New Members

After 99 years, Knox College's chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest at a liberal arts college in Illinois, is finishing one book and starting another.

This year's induction is the final time that Knox's inductees into the nation's most prestigious academic honor society wrote their names in the small, leather-bound membership book used since the chapter was chartered in 1917. Knox's chapter is the fourth-oldest in Illinois and the first at an exclusively undergraduate, four-year liberal arts college in the state.

To mark the chapter's centenary, a new book will be used starting in 2017.

The induction ceremony is held annually on the day prior to Knox's Commencement Exercises.

This year, Phi Beta Kappa officers on the Knox faculty, Katherine Adelsberger, associate professor of environmental studies; and Helen Hoyt, assistant professor of chemistry, inducted the 35 graduating seniors and announced the election of three juniors who will be formally inducted in 2017. Michael Schneider, professor of history, read an essay on the history of Phi Beta Kappa.

Phi Beta Kappa, Knox College Chapter
Class of 2016 (* indicates elected as juniors in 2015)

Nicole Elizabeth Acton
Kylie Rae Behnke
Timothy Nicholas Berner
Jamie Kading Blue
Nicholas Riley Britten
Kelly Lynn Clare
Sophia Dunn Croll*
Gavin Andrew Crowell
Ellen Sheely Fischer
Caleb Shao-ning Fridell
Charles Sheridan Harned
Emily Marie Hastings
Shannon Marie Henry
Amalia Rowena Hertel
Thomas John Hintz
Rebecca Jean Hixon
Daniel Hong
Douglas William Hulsether
Miranda Eve James*
Joshua Donald Kemp
Nathan David Kemp
Benjamin Tyler King*
Nicolette Marie Laird
Hai Son Le
Nicholas John Liberko
Livia Castello Branco Mexias
Ai J. Miller
Pragyaditya Chandra Mukerjee
Bradley Wayne Musselman
Morgan Leigh Barton Nelson
Alanna Marie Toomey
Sophia Elizabeth Utpadel
Clare Elizabeth Vaughn
Julie Claire Wertheimer*
Erica Lynne Witzig*

Class of 2017 (Juniors elected in 2016 to be inducted in 2017)
Joshua William Tvrdy
Emma Maxine Thornton-Kolbe
Allison Lauren Whitehill

Above and below, snapshots of Knox's 2016 Phi Beta Kappa induction ceremony...