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Pi Beta Kappa Logo key

Phi Beta Kappa is the nation's oldest and most prestigious honorary society for students of the liberal arts and sciences. Membership in Phi Beta Kappa is highly selective, and merit-based.  PBK honors the best and brightest liberal Arts and Sciences students from top schools across the United States.  PBK membership connects members to a diverse network of high achievers (see some notable PBK members below).  PBK also brings a number of other benefits, including opportunities to apply for selective scholarships, and some partnership discounts.

If you have received an invitation letter, please visit this link to learn more about why you should accept a Phi Beta Kappa invitation.

Founded in 1896, Syracuse University has inducted over 4,000 
members to date.

Notable Phi Beta Kappa members include:

17 U.S. Presidents including:

  • John Quincy Adams, Harvard University, 1787
  • Chester A. Arthur, Union College, 1848
  • William Howard Taft, Yale University, 1878
  • Theodore Roosevelt, Harvard University, 1880
  • George H. W. Bush, Yale University, 1948
  • William Jefferson Clinton, Georgetown University, 1968

38 U.S. Supreme Court Justices, including:

  • John Marshall (Chief Justice), College of William & Mary, 1780
  • Salmon P. Chase (Chief Justice), Dartmouth College, 1826
  • Oliver Wendell Holmes, Harvard University, 1829
  • William Howard Taft (Chief Justice), Yale University, 1878
  • Harlan Fiske Stone (Chief Justice), Amherst College, 1894
  • Felix Frankfurter, City College of New York, 1902
  • William O. Douglas, Whitman College, 1920
  • Harry A. Blackmun, Harvard University, 1929
  • Byron R. White, University of Colorado, 1938
  • John Paul Stevens, University of Chicago, 1941
  • William H. Rehnquist (Chief Justice), Stanford University, 1948
  • Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Cornell University, 1954
  • Anthony M. Kennedy, Stanford University, 1958
  • Stephen Breyer, Stanford University, 1959
  • David H. Souter, Harvard University, 1961
  • Samuel Alito, Princeton University, 1972
  • John G. Roberts, Jr. (Chief Justice), Harvard University, 1976
  • Sonia Sotomayor, Princeton University, 1976
  • Elena Kagan, Princeton University, 1981

Other notable members include:

  • Eli Whitney, Yale College, 1792
  • Nathaniel Hawthorne, Bowdoin College, 1825
  • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Bowdoin College, 1825
  • John Dewey, Vermont College, 1879
  • W. E. B. Dubois, Fisk University, 1890
  • Pearl Buck, Randoph-Macon Woman’s College, 1914
  • Alfred Kinsey, Bowdoin College, 1916
  • Grace Hopper, Vassar College, 1928
  • Nelson Rockefeller, Dartmouth College, 1930
  • Jonas Salk, City College of New York, 1930
  • Betty Friedan, Smith College, 1941
  • Phyllis Schlafly, Washington University, 1943
  • Henry Kissinger, Harvard University, 1950
  • Stephen Sondheim, Williams College, 1950
  • John Updike, Harvard University, 1954
  • Gloria Steinem, Smith College, 1955
  • Pat Schroeder, University of Minnesota, 1961
  • Joseph Lieberman, Yale University, 1964
  • Angela Davis, Brandeis University, 1965
  • Richard Blumenthal, Harvard University, 1967
  • Benazir Bhutto, Radcliffe College, 1973
  • Glenn Close, College of William & Mary, 1974
  • Condoleezza Rice, University of Denver, 1974
  • Ben Bernanke, Harvard University, 1975
  • Jeff Bezos, Princeton University, 1986
Otto and PBK key