Public health undergraduates inducted into Phi Beta Kappa
March 29, 2017
Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest and most honored college honorary society, has inducted into membership nine students in the Bachelor of Science in Public Health program at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health.
They are Sharath Rama, Elaine Kaye Kearney and Julia Whipple Gallini (in biostatistics); Aakash Mehta, Rohanit Singh and Sarah Suzanne Renfro (in environmental sciences and engineering); Benjamin Edward Shirley (in health policy and management); and William Robert Ostrom and Lily Jewel Jones (in nutrition).
 Julia Gallini |
 Lily Jones |
 Elaine Kearney |
 Aakash Mehta |
 Will Ostrom |
 Sharath Rama |
 Sarah Renfro |
 Rohanit Singh |
The recent induction ceremony, which honored the 150 new members from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, featured remarks by Chancellor Carol Folt and a keynote address by Carol A. Hee, PhD, clinical associate professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School. New members received certificates and Phi Beta Kappa keys, the organization’s symbol.
Phi Beta Kappa membership is open to undergraduates in the college and professional degree programs who meet stringent eligibility requirements.
A student who has completed 75 hours of course work in the liberal arts and sciences with a GPA of 3.85 or better (on a 4-point scale) is eligible for membership. Also eligible is any student who has completed 105 hours of course work in the liberal arts and sciences with a 3.75 GPA. Grades earned at other universities are not considered. Less than 1 percent of all college students qualify.
Past and present Phi Beta Kappa members from across the country have included 17 American presidents and numerous artistic, intellectual and political leaders. Seven of the current U.S. Supreme Court Justices are members.
Phi Beta Kappa has 286 chapters nationwide. UNC’s chapter, Alpha of North Carolina, was founded in 1904 and is the oldest of seven chapters in the state. Each year, Phi Beta Kappa chapters and alumni associations across the country raise and distribute more than $1 million in awards, scholarships and prizes benefiting high schools and college students.
Read more about all the winners on the UNC website.
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Gillings School of Global Public Health contact: David Pesci, director of communications, (919) 962-2600 or dpesci@unc.edu
