Phi Beta Kappa Chapter Alpha of California

PBK Alpha of Calif0rnia celebrates its 125th Anniversary in 2023–2024 with a lecture series by distinguished scholars from the UC Berkeley faculty who are also PBK members.

Please self-identify as a Berkeley community member who was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa at an undergraduate institution or otherwise by completing our Anniversary Honor Roll form.

Alpha of California welcomed Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar Suzanne Marchand for a two-day visit, September 7–8, 2023, which included a public lecture on September 7,“Archaeology, the Bible, and Classical Antiquity in the 19th Century.”

PBK Office Hours are Tuesdays 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in 412 Evans Hall.

Invitations based on 2023 Spring Semester grades were emailed in early July. We look forward to you becoming a member!

Our next Initiation Ceremony will take place on Thursday May 2, 2024 at 5pm at International House on the UC Berkeley campus (date and location pending confirmation). At this ceremony, we will induct the new members elected to Phi Beta Kappa, Chapter Alpha of California in 2023-24 and honor the 2024 Graduate Fellowship recipients from PBKNCA and Alpha of California.

Remarks to Initiates at several previous Initiation Ceremonies may be viewed here:
2021 Prof. R. Jay Wallace Remarks
2019 Prof. Kinch Hoekstra Remarks
2017 Chancellor Carol Christ Remarks
2016 Prof. Panayiotis Papadopoulos Remarks

The 2023 Graduate Fellowship Application has closed. This Fellowship is usually given to those in the final stages of writing a dissertation and is open to UC Berkeley doctoral students who are PBK members from any institution.  Applications were due by February 1, 2023. Decisions were announced in April 2023.  More information here.

The national office of The Phi Beta Kappa Society is seeking PBK Writing Interns to help publicize the work of the Society and write stories about our alumni members. Applicants must be new members of Phi Beta Kappa to be considered for this position. Each intern receives a $1,000 stipend. Five publishable articles are required to complete the internship program.

The Phi Beta Kappa Society invites applications from UC Berkeley students for its Key into Public Service scholarship and mentoring program (2023 deadline was January 23, 2023). The Society awards up to 20 liberal arts and sciences majors around the nation with $5,000 undergraduate scholarships. Scholarship recipients will participate in an educational conference in Washington, DC from June 21-25, 2023, which will provide training, mentoring, and reflection on pathways into local, state, and federal government careers. Phi Beta Kappa membership is not required. We are proud to note the one of the 2023 Service Scholars is UC Berkeley’s very own Bryce Wallace!

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