Phi Beta Kappa Inducts 13 New Students, Paul Chellgren as Honorary Member

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 4, 2012) – The University of Kentucky chapter of Phi Beta Kappa held its annual induction ceremony last night, inducting 13 students and one honorary member into the nation's oldest and most widely known academic honor society.

Paul W. Chellgren, the honorary member, also delivered a keynote address on community engagement.

Phi Beta Kappa elects more than 15,000 new members a year from 270 chapters across the United States. There are also more than 50 associations that foster friendship and learning in their members' communities and provide a means for members to continue their active affiliation with the society after graduation.

The 2012 inductees are: Justin Wheeler Branham, Ben Taylor Cox, Ella Dunbar, Jared Flanery, Harper Lee Haynes, Christian Taylor Honican, Hadley Jane Hurst, Elizabeth Jane Keltz, John Zachary Motes, Zaheen Rabbani, Gwendolyn Schafer, and Laura Marie Shahan.

Phi Beta Kappa is a program within the UK Chellgren Center for Undergraduate Excellence, (named after Chellgren), which is an intentional collaboration among prestigious undergraduate programs at the university, also including the Chellgren Student Fellows Program, Discovery Seminar Program, Office of Undergraduate Research, Phi Kappa Phi and the Office of External Scholarships.

As a UK undergraduate, Chellgren was an Honors Program student and star intercollegiate debater. After earning his MBA from Harvard and a diploma in developmental economics from Oxford University, he began a successful career that culminated with his retirement as chairman and CEO of Ashland Inc. He is an operating partner of Snow Phipps, a private equity firm specializing in acquisitions of middle market companies. He currently serves as the chairman of ArrMaz Custom Chemicals, Inc. and FiberVisions Corporation, and served as chairman of Excel Mining Systems, LLC prior to Snow Phipps’ sale.  

Chellgren was inducted into UK’s Hall of Distinguished Alumni in 2000 and the Gatton College of Business and Economics Hall of Fame in 1995, and served on the UK Board of Trustees for 11 years. His commitment to improving and enriching undergraduate education at UK continues to impact thousands of UK students, faculty and staff.

MEDIA CONTACT: Jenny Wells, (859) 257-5343; Jenny.Wells@uky.edu