USA Chapter Recent News and Events
Phi Kappa Phi Poster Awards at the USA Undergraduate Research Symposium 2022
PKP Outstanding Poster Award: Shubhangi Singh, International Studies: Differences in Tumor Vascular Density Between Smoker and Non-Smoker Cancer Patients (Mentor: Dr. Santanu Dasgupta)
PKP Poster Award of Excellence: Danielle Flores, Chemical Engineering: Quantification of Western Diet and Physical Activity Effects on Drosophila Simulans Hearts Using Novel Edge-Detection Software (Mentor: Dr. Yang Liu)
PKP Induction and Scholar-of-the-Year Award 2022-23
The University of South Alabama Chapter of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi held its Fall 2022 Initiation. At the ceremony, 112 new members were initiated. The Scholar of the Year Award was bestowed upon, Dr. Glen Borchert, Associate Professor holding dual appointments in USA’s College of Medicine’s Department of Pharmacology and the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Biology. Dr. Kip Franklin, Associate Professor of Music, was the recipient of the 2022 Artist of the Year award. Dr. Franklin wowed the audience with a selection played on the clarinet. Dr. Franklin earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in 2014 from Michigan State University, and he joined the faculty at South in 2015.
PKP Induction and Scholar-of-the-Year Award 2021-22
PKP's 2021-22 Induction Ceremony took place on Tuesday, November 2, 2021 in the Student Center Ballroom. PKP selected Dr. Charlotte Pence, associate professor of Creative Writing, as its Artist of the Year and Dr. Na Gong, associate professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, as its Scholar of the Year for 2021-2022.
Phi Kappa Phi Poster Awards at the USA Undergraduate Research Symposium 2021
PKP Outstanding Poster Award: Noah Baker, Biomedical Sciences: The Synthesis and Testing of Potent and Selective Protein Phosphatase Inhibitors (Mentor: Dr. David Forbes)
PKP Poster Award of Excellence: Noel Godang, Biomedical Sciences: Novel Small RNA Contributors to Prostate Cancer (Mentor: Dr. Glen Borchert)
Love of Learning Award 2021
Abritty Abdullah, a student in the Instructional Design and Development doctoral program, was awarded the Love of Learning Award this year. Her project reflects on her experiences as an international student and what other international students have been going through amidst the pandemic. Congratulations, Abritty, on this national award!
PKP Induction, Lifetime Achievement Award, and Artist and Scholar of the Year Awards 2020-21
PKP's 2021-22 Induction Ceremony took place on Wednesday, February 24, 2021 on Zoom. Watch here.
Dr. Lesley Gregoricka, associate professor of anthropology, was selected as Scholar of the Year, Dr. Joseph Hair, professor of marketing and quantitative methods, receives Lifetime Achievement Award, Dr. Thomas Rowell, professor of music, was selected as Artist of the Year.
Phi Kappa Phi Poster Awards at the USA Undergraduate Research Symposium 2020
PKP Outstanding Poster Award: Hannah Giannini, Dept. of Chemistry; Determining How PPP2R5D Variants Alter Normal Biology
PKP Poster Award of Excellence: Michelle Pomier, BSN Program at the College of Nursing; Introducing Psychiatric Advanced Practice Careers to Undergraduate Nursing Students: Impact and Interest
PKP 2020 Fellowship Winner
The USA nominee for the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society national fellowship, Evan Mazur, was selected as a fellow for 2020 and will receive an $8500 award for graduate study. She is one of the Hohenstein Fellows, which go to the top-ranking nominee in each division. Congratulations, Evan!
2020 Phi Kappa Phi Literacy Award
USA Faculty Brenda Beverly and Victoria Henbest were granted the 2020 Phi Kappa Phi Literacy Award of $2500 to carry out their project: Tele-coaching for home early literacy practices: Impact on early literacy skills and parent engagement. Congratulations on this national award!
PKP Names Laura Moore and Silas Leavesley Artist and Scholar of the Year 2019-20!
Phi Kappa Phi named Dr. Laura Moore, associate professor and chair of music, as its Artist of the Year and Dr. Silas Leavesley, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, as its Scholar of the Year. Read more about their accomplishments at USA News.
Children's Book Drive
Phi Kappa Phi hosted a Children's Book Drive with Mortar Board this spring to benefit the Boys and Girls Club of South Alabama’s Blue Roof Library Trail, collecting almost 700 books!
Phi Kappa Phi Poster Awards: USA Undergraduate Research Symposium 2019
PKP Outstanding Poster Award: Scott Spurgeon, Mechanical Engineering
PKP Award of Excellence: Dustin Arden, Chemical Engineering
Mishra Memorial Lecture
Barry D. Nussbaum presented "It's Not What We Said, It's Not What They Heard, It's What They Say They Heard" on Wednesday, October 16th. Co-sponsored by the Department of Mathematics and Statistics and PKP.
2019 Phi Kappa Phi National Fellowship
Graduating Senior Donavon Dahmer won a 2019 Phi Kappa Phi National Fellowship for graduate study, the 5th USA student to win a national PKP award in recent years. Donavon, who majored in Biomedical Sciences, is attending the College of Medicine at the University of South Alabama.
Children's Book Drive
Phi Kappa Phi hosted a Children's Book Drive this spring to benefit the Boys and Girls Club of South Alabama’s Blue Roof Library Trail. Student VPs Kassidy Reynolds and Sam Formichella helped collect almost 1000 books!
Phi Kappa Phi Poster Awards: USA Undergraduate Research Symposium 2018
PKP Outstanding Poster Award: Zachary Nix (Physics); Department of Physics
"The Search for Charged Lepton Flavor Violation at Mu2e Experiment"
PKP Award of Excellence: Samantha Darring (Meteorology), Department of Earth Sciences
"Preferred Location for Sea and Bay Breeze-driven Thunderstorm"
Josh Ritter Event
The Annual Songwriter Keynote 2019 featured world-renowned singer-songwriter Josh Ritter, live at Laidlaw on March 7, 2019. This free event featured a musical performance, a reading, and a moderated Q&A.ASK 2019 was co-sponsored by the Stokes Center for Creative Writing, the USA Department of Theatre and Dance, the USA Department of English, and the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi.
PKP National Fellow at USA
Graduating Senior Phiwat Klomkaew won a 2018 Phi Kappa Phi National Fellowship for graduate study, the 4th USA student to win a national PKP award in recent years.
PKP Induction | Scholar-of-the-Year Award 2018-19
PKP's 2018-19 Induction Ceremony took place on Thursday, October 25, 2018 in the Student Center Ballroom. Dr. Philip Habel, Chair of the Department of Political Science and Criminal Justice, was chosen by Phi Kappa Phi's USA Chapter as its Scholar of the Year.
Satya Mishra Memorial Lecture
Phi Kappa Phi co-sponsored the 5th Annual Satya Mishra Memorial Lecture: Professor Nagaraj Neerchal, UMBC, spoke on October 24, 2018 at 6:00 p.m. in the Marx Library Auditorium.
Roxane Gay Event at USA
Writer and cultural critic Roxane Gay spoke on Thursday, September 13 in the USA Student Center Ballroom. Co-sponsored with the Stokes Center for Creative Writing and AAUW.
Elizabeth Kolbert Lecture: The Sixth Extinction
Elizabeth Kolbert, the science writer who won a Pulitzer Prize for her book, The Sixth Extinction, gave a lecture on Wednesday, April 4, 2018 at 7 p.m. in the Student Center Ballroom. PKP co-sponsored this lecture with the Stokes Center for Creative Writing at USA.
Martin Parsons Lecture: Operation Pied Piper
Martin Parsons, Research and Honorary Life Fellow at the University of Reading, gave a lecture titled "'Operation Pied Piper': Dispelling the Myths of Civilian Evacuation in the UK 1939-45" on Tuesday, February 20, 2018 at 7 p.m. in the Marx Library Auditorium. PKP co-sponsored this lecture with the Center for War and Memory.
PKP Induction | Artist and Scholar-of-the-Year Awards 2017-18
PKP's 2017-18 Induction Ceremony took place on Wednesday, October 25, 2017 in the Student Center Ballroom. Prof. Ben Shamback of Visual Arts was chosen as PKP's Artist of the Year, and Dr. Romulus Godang of Physics was chosen by Phi Kappa Phi's USA Chapter as its Scholar of the Year.
Satya Mishra Memorial Lecture
Phi Kappa Phi co-sponsored the 4th Annual Satya Mishra Memorial Lecture: H. N. Nagaraja, College of Public Health, Ohio State University spoke about Statistical Methods for Public Health and Medicine on October 18, 2017 at 6:00 p.m. in the Marx Library Auditorium.
Reading and Celebration of Sue Walker's New Book of Poems
A Reading and Celebration of Professor Emerita Sue Walker's New Book, Let Us Imagine Her Name, was held Wednesday, September 27, 2017 at USA's Faculty Club at 7:00 p.m. Sponsored by the Stokes Center, the English Department, and Phi Kappa Phi.
Student VP Attends Leadership Summit
USA Chapter Student VP Josh Crownover attended the PKP Leadership Summit July 14-15, 2017 in Denver, CO.
Annette Becker Lecture on War and Memory
Annette Becker, Professor of History at Paris X, gave the keynote for the conference "France and the Memory of the Great War" on Thursday, March 2, 2017 at 7 p.m. in the Student Center Ballroom. PKP was a co-sponsor for this event, which was hosted by the Center for the Study of War and Memory.
PKP Induction and Scholar-of-the-Year Award 2016
PKP's 2016-17 Induction Ceremony took place on Wednesday, November 16, 2016 in the Student Center Ballroom. Dr. Ronald P. Kiene of Marine Sciences has been chosen by Phi Kappa Phi's USA Chapter as its Scholar of the Year. His research focuses on the role of microorganisms in the cycling of organic matter and important elements such as sulfur and nitrogen in aquatic systems.
Mishra Memorial Lecture by Barry Arnold
PKP co-sponsored the Mishra Memorial Lecture 2016 by Dr. Barry Arnold, “What population does your sample represent?” The lecture took place on Thursday, October 13, 2016 in the Marx Library Auditorium.
Marcus L. Urann Fellow at USA
USA Student Catherine Zivanov has been awarded a Marcus L. Urann Fellowship by the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, a $15,000 award. Catherine was nominated for the fellowship by the USA Phi Kappa Phi Chapter. Catherine was honored in a reception at the USA Faculty Club on Thursday, July 7, 2016. She has been featured on the PKP national website and in The Chronicle of Higher Education.