The Phi Kappa Phi chapter at the University of Delaware held its induction ceremony for new members on May 5. Three faculty members, three graduate students and 79 undergraduate students were inducted as members. Additionally, Phi Kappa Phi recognized 14 sophomore students for academic excellence.

Phi Kappa Phi is one of the nation’s premier honor societies. It is the oldest honor society open to all academic disciplines, having been founded in 1897. Both junior and senior undergraduate students are eligible for induction; junior inductees must be in the top 7.5 percent of their class, and senior inductees must be in the top 10 percent. The Alpha of Delaware chapter was founded in 1905.

During the ceremony, Phi Kappa Phi also recognized special award winners.

Every year Phi Kappa Phi offers funding for first-graduate study in a nationwide competition, for which each chapter is allowed to nominate one student. These national fellowships will be announced in June, and the UD chapter nominee is Catherine Page Dolan. Dolan is a senior candidate for an Honors bachelor of arts degree in biological sciences and biological sciences education. This summer, she will begin studying medicine and public health at New York University.

The chapter also awarded a chapter award to Shelby Roseman, who is a senior candidate for an Honors Degree with Distinction in chemistry, with minors in biochemistry and Spanish. Her thesis work focuses on the development of a protein-protein interaction inhibitor with applications for studying pediatric leukemias. After graduation, Roseman will begin studying chemical biology at Harvard University.

Every year, the chapter also honors the winner of the Phi Kappa Phi Undergraduate Research Essay Competition. This year, the award went to Nora Alalou for her essay “Filling in ‘No-Man’s Land’: Marian Cruger Coffin and the Unification of the University of Delaware Campus,” written under the direction of Guy Alchon, professor in the Department of History.

The essays entered in this competition may be from any academic discipline, but they must present an account of a significant research or community engagement project for which the undergraduate is the primary investigator. The entries are judged not only on the quality of the research or service project but also on the skill with which the essay is written for a general educated audience.