PBK welcomes new members

The Harvard College chapter of Phi Beta Kappa (PBK), Alpha Iota of Massachusetts, has elected 48 seniors to its Class of 2010.

The Alpha Iota of Massachusetts chapter of Phi Beta Kappa was first established under a charter in 1779. Shifting from a social and debating club in its early years to an undergraduate honor society in the 19th century, PBK is known as the oldest academic honor society in the country.

Phi Beta Kappa’s national mission is to foster and recognize excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, and election to Alpha Iota of Massachusetts signifies that an undergraduate has demonstrated excellence, reach, originality, and rigor in his or her course of study. The honor society recognizes students whose course work demonstrates not only high achievement, but also breadth of interest, depth of understanding, and intellectual honesty. Twenty-four juniors are elected each spring, 48 seniors each fall, and a further number sufficient to bring the total membership to no more than 10 percent of the graduating class in the final election shortly before Commencement.

Elected seniors include:

Adams: Daniel Eric Herz-Roiphe, social studies; Xin Pan, applied math; Koning Shen, chemical and physical biology; and Lena Yuan-Ning Young, organismic and evolutionary biology.

Cabot: Stacy Lynn Carlson, economics; Zhou Fan, math; Jessica Nicole Lacy, chemistry; Matthew Jacob Rubenstein, economics; Alice Tzeng, chemical and physical biology; and Michael Anthony Viscardi, math.

Currier: Amanda Roman Mangaser, government.

Dunster: Victoria Simone Dubnow Aschheim, music; and Andrei Cristea, economics.

Eliot: HyunJin Kim, social studies; and Alexandra Attkisson Petri, English.

Kirkland: Trevor Jon Bakker, social studies; and Katherine Martelle Thompson, African and African American studies.

Leverett: David Daniel Aguilar, psychology; Jeremy Mark Booher, math; Kristen Elizabeth Calandrelli, anthropology; Kaitlyn Ella Coil, chemical and physical biology; Diane Beatrix de Gramont, social studies; Rachel Ann Esplin, East Asian studies; Judith Ellen Fan, neurobiology; John McLean Kearney, physics; Eva Zhen Lam, social studies; and Matthew Ka Loong Lee, economics.

Lowell: Nour Kibbi, history of science; Charles Richard Melvoin, history and literature; Christopher Andrew Oland, engineering sciences; Julia Anne Rudolf, human evolutionary biology; and Yifan Zhang, economics.

Mather: Matthew Ross Bloom, history; Catherine Martha Sirois, sociology; and Roxolana Wacyk, economics.

Pforzheimer: Gage Russell Caligaris, applied math; and Melissa Tran, sociology.

Quincy: Tamar Holoshitz, linguistics; Laura Beth Kaplan, history; Caitlin Marie Kennedy Marquis, history of art and architecture; and Joseph Paul Zimmerman, computer science.

Winthrop: Sebastien Dominik Arnold, history; Ilan Joseph Caplan, music; John Paul Fred Chilazi, economics; Daniela Franca  Joffe, literature; Gerald Chunt-Sein Tiu, chemical and physical biology; Pierce Tria, government; and Harold Yihao Wu, music.