List of Phi Beta Kappa members explained

This is a list of notable members of the Phi Beta Kappa who have Wikipedia biographies.

Notable members elected as undergraduates

Name	Year	College or University	Notability	References
	1778	College of William & Mary
	1779	College of William & Mary
	1780	College of William & Mary
	1780	College of William & Mary
	1781	Yale College
	1782	Harvard University		^[1]
	1787	Harvard University
	1792	Yale College
	1792	Yale College
	1798	Harvard University
	1799	Yale College
	1801	Dartmouth College
	1804	Yale College
	1809	Dartmouth College
	1810	Yale College
	1814	Harvard University
	1814	Dartmouth College
	1819	Union College
	1819	Dartmouth College
	1824	Bowdoin College
	1825	Bowdoin College
	1826	Dartmouth College
	1828	Yale College
	1828	Harvard University		^[2]
	1829	Harvard University
	1831	Yale College
	1833	Dartmouth College
	1836	Dartmouth College
	1837	Yale College
	1848	Union College
	1848	Amherst College
	1848	Yale College
	1852	Bowdoin College
	1852	Harvard University
	1853	Bowdoin College
	1853	Yale College
	1856	Yale College
	1856	Yale College
	1856	Williams College
	1860	Lafayette College
	1861	Harvard University
	1864	Brown University
	1866	Dartmouth College		^[3]
	1872	Harvard University		^[4]
	1872	Harvard University		^[5]
	1876	Harvard University
	1877	Bowdoin College
	1878	Yale College
	1879	University of Vermont
	1880	Harvard University
	1881	Brown University
	1874	Yale College
	1877	Case Western Reserve University
	1879	Amherst College
	1886	Harvard University
	1888	Yale University
	1889	City College of New York
	1889	Columbia College
	1890	Fisk University
	1890	Williams College
	1892	Radcliffe College
	1892	Williams College
	1893	Harvard University
	1893	Brown University
	1894	Randolph-Macon College
	1894	Amherst College
	1895	University of Pennsylvania
	1895	Brown University
	1895	Harvard University		^[6]
	1896	Mount Holyoke College		^[7]
	1897	Brown University		^[8]
	1898	Harvard University
	1899	Middlebury College
	1901	Johns Hopkins University
	1902	City College of New York
	1903	Hamilton College
	1903	Amherst College
	1904	Vanderbilt University
	1904	Harvard University		^[9]
	1905	Cornell University
	1907	University of Michigan		^[10]
	1907	Dartmouth College
	1907	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
	1908	Yale College
	1908	Princeton University
	1908	Harvard University
	1909	Bowdoin College
	1909	Bowdoin College
	1909	Harvard University
	1909	Princeton University
	1910	Yale University
	1913	Bowdoin College
	1913	Smith College
	1913	Smith College
	1914	Randolph-Macon Woman's College
	1914	Harvard University
	1914	Dartmouth College
	1914	University of California, Berkeley		^[11]
	1915	Yale University
	1915	Yale University
	1915	Amherst College
	1916	Bowdoin College
	1916	Harvard University		^[12]
	1917	Columbia University
	1917	Yale University
	1917	College of William & Mary
	1918	Harvard University
	1919	Rutgers University		^[13]
	1920	University of Wisconsin-Madison
	1920	Whitman College
	1920	DePauw University
	1920	DePauw University
	1922	New York University
	1923	Harvard University
	1923	University of Chicago
	1924	University of Nebraska
	1924	Miami University
	1925	Harvard University		^[14]
	1926	Johns Hopkins University
	1926	Fordham University
	1927	Ohio State University
	1927	University of Washington
	1928	Smith College
	1928	Vassar College
	1928	University of Virginia
	1928	Harvard University		^[15]
	1929	Harvard University
	1929	Harvard University
	1929	DePauw University
	1929	Vassar College
	1929	Swarthmore College
	1929	Washington & Lee University
	1930	Dartmouth College
	1930	City College of New York
	1931	University of Oklahoma
	1931	Davidson College
	1931	University of Alabama
	1932	University of Chicago
Eugene O'Neill Jr.	1932	Yale University
	1932	Yale University
	1932	Harvard University
(as Paul Wetstein)	1933	Dartmouth College
	1933	Johns Hopkins University
	1934	Case Western Reserve University
	1934	Harvard University
	1935	Williams College
	1935	Harvard University
	1935	Brown University
	1936	New York University
	1936	Bates College
	1936	University of California Berkeley
	1936	University of Texas
	1937	Yale University
	1937	University of Colorado
	1938	Harvard University
	1939	New York University
	1939	University of Nebraska
	1939	University of Iowa
	1940	Northwestern University
	1940	University of Minnesota
	1940	New York University
	1940	Mount Holyoke College
	1940	University of Texas
	1941	Kenyon College
	1941	New York University
	1941	Fisk University
	1941	Yale University
	1941	University of Chicago
	1942	Smith College
	1942	Roanoke College
	1942	Mills College
	1943	Kalamazoo College
	1943	Yale University
	1943	Washington University in St. Louis
	1945	Tufts University
	1947	Stanford University
	1947	University of Illinois
	1947	New York University
	1947	Harvard University
	1948	University of Chicago
	1948	Yale University
	1948	Columbia University
	1948	Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn
	1948	Stanford University
	1948	Mount Holyoke College
	1949	Washington University in St. Louis
	1949	Reed College
	1949	University of Alabama
		Syracuse University
	1950	Harvard University
	1950	Coe College
	1951	Reed College
	1951	Radcliffe College
	1951	University of Chicago
	1951	University of Pennsylvania
	1952	Harvard University
	1952	Williams College
	1952	Williams College
	1952	University of North Carolina
	1953	Yale University
	1953	Fisk University		^[16]
	1953	New York University
	1953	Dartmouth College
	1953	Bowdoin College
	1954	Cornell University
	1954	Cornell University
	1954	Denison University
	1954	Swarthmore College
	1954	Barnard College
	1954	Harvard University
	1954	Cornell University
	1955	Harvard University
	1955	Princeton University
	1955	Duke University
	1956	Carnegie Mellon University
	1956	Smith College
	1957	Haverford College
	1958	Duke University
	1958	Stanford University
	1958	Pomona College
	1958	Princeton University
	1958	University of Southern California
	1958	Virginia Tech
	1959	Stanford University
	1959	Hofstra University
	1959	Amherst College
	1959	University of Florida
	1959	Columbia University
	1959	Cornell University
	1959	Yale University
	1960	Harvard University
	1960	Harvard University
	1960	Harvard University
	1960	Rice University
	1960	Williams College
	1960	Williams College
	1961	University of Minnesota
	1961	New York University
	1961	Wellesley College
	1962	Vanderbilt University
	1962	University of South Dakota
	1962	Colorado College
	1962	Dartmouth College
	1962	University of Minnesota
	1962	University of Hawaii
	1962	Augustana College
	1963	Yale University
	1963	Columbia University
	1963	Morehouse College
	1963	University of Pennsylvania
	1963	Stanford University
	1964	University of Redlands
	1964	Harvard University
	1964	Harvard University
	1964	Yale University
	1965	Brandeis University
	1965	Yale University
	1965	Harvard University
	1965	Johns Hopkins University
	1965	Princeton University
	1965	University of North Carolina
	1966	Harvard University
	1966	Duke University
	1966	Massachusetts Institute of Technology
	1966	Smith College
	1966	Purdue University
	1967	California Institute of Technology
	1967	Harvard University
	1967	Brown University
	1968	Georgetown University
	1968	Harvard University
	1968	Swarthmore College
	1968	Dartmouth College
	1972	Boston University
	1969	Barnard College
	1969	University of Illinois
	1969	University of Michigan
	1969	City University of New York
	1969	University of Vermont
	1970	University of Rochester
	1970	Swarthmore College
	1970	University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
	1970	University of Chicago
	1970	Duke University
	1971	Rutgers University
	1971	Boston University
	1971	University of North Carolina
	1971	Harvard University
	1971	Georgetown University
	1971	Harvard University
	1972	Radcliffe College
	1972	Princeton University
	1972	University of California Berkeley
	1972	Bates College
	1973	Radcliffe College
	1973	University of Texas
	1973	Harvard University
	1973	Vanderbilt University
	1973	Miami University
	1973	University of Texas
	1973	University of California Berkeley
	1973	Lake Forest College
	1973	Massachusetts Institute of Technology
	1974	College of William & Mary
	1974	Brandeis University
	c. 1974	University of California, Los Angeles
	1974	University of Denver
	1975	Harvard University
	1975	St. Lawrence University
	1975	Harvard University
	1975	Harvard University
	1975	University of Denver
	1975	Swarthmore College
	1976	University of California, Los Angeles	actor and historian
	1976	Bowdoin College
	1976	Harvard University
	1976	Johns Hopkins University
	1976	Harvard University
	1976	Princeton University
	1976	Catholic University of America
	1977	George Washington University
	1977	DePauw University		^[17]
	1978	Tulane University
	1978	Hunter College
	1978	Southern Methodist University
	1978	Georgetown University
	1979	Barnard College
	1979	University of Texas at Austin
	1979	University of Santa Clara
	1984	Amherst College
	1980	University of California, Berkeley
	1981	University of Washington
	1981	College of William & Mary
	1981	Harvard University
	1981	Princeton University
	1981	Boston University
	1981	Princeton University
	1981	Cornell University
Jill Zimmerman	1981	Purdue University
	1982	Columbia University
	1982	Georgetown University
	1982	Amherst College
	1982	Princeton University		^[18]
	1982	Middlebury College
	1983	University of Vermont
	1983	Princeton University
	1983	Columbia University
	1983	Dartmouth College
	1983	University of Rhode Island		^[19]
	1984	Harvard University
	1984	Columbia University
	1985	Stanford University
	1985	Haverford College
	1985	Stanford University
	1985	University of Oregon
	1986	Yale University
	1986	Princeton University
Sabine Hyland	1986	Cornell University
	1986	Stanford University
	1987	University of California, Berkeley
	1987	Brandeis University
	1988	Georgetown University
	1988	Princeton University
	1989	Trinity Washington University
	1989	Millsaps College
	1990	University of Kentucky
	1990	Harvard University
	1991	Harvard University
	1991	Bowdoin College
	1991	Princeton University
	1991	Gettysburg College
	1991	Kansas State University		^[20]
	1991	University of Florida
	1992	Rhodes College
	1992	University of Oklahoma
	1993	University of New Mexico
	1993	Georgetown University
	1993	Georgetown University
	1993	Brown University
	1994	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
	1994	Rhodes College
	1994	University of Michigan
	1994	Stony Brook University
	1994	Harvard University		^[21]
	1995	Texas Christian University
	1996	Hampden-Sydney College
	1996	Reed College
	1996	University of California, Santa Cruz
	1996	Middlebury College	playwright
	1997	Grinnell College
	1997	University of California, Berkeley
	1997	University of Miami		^[22]
	1997	University of Tennessee		^[23]
	1997	Harvard University
Ro Khanna	1998	University of Chicago		^[24] ^[25]
	1998	George Washington University
	1998	Hope College
	1999	University of California, Los Angeles
	2000	Stanford University		^[26]
	2000	Claremont McKenna College		^[27]
	2000	Stanford University		^[28]
	2001	University of California, Berkeley
	2002	Stanford University
	2004	Harvard University		^[29]
	2004	University of California, Los Angeles
	2006	Harvard University
	2007	Harvard University
Isaiah Andrews	2009	Yale College
	2010	Columbia University
	2010	Yale University
	2011	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
	2016	Columbia University
	2019	University of Alabama
	2020	Harvard University

Honorary members

Name	Date	Notability	References
Alexander Graham Bell
Leonard Bernstein			^[30]
Barbara Bush			^[31]
Jimmy Carter			^[32] ^[33]
Rosalynn Carter			^[34]
Ta-Nehisi Coates			^[35]
Calvin Coolidge			^[36]
John Hope Franklin
R. Buckminster Fuller			^[37] ^[38]
Susan Haack
Rutherford B. Hayes			^[39]
David Johnston			^[40]
Helen Keller
Sandra Day O'Connor			^[41]
Mary Oliver			^[42]
Mamphela Ramphele
John D. Rockefeller
Fred Rogers			^[43]
Eleanor Roosevelt			^[44]
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Anne Sexton
Harry S. Truman
Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)			^[45] ^[46]
Booker T. Washington
Woodrow Wilson

Fictional members

• Ellis Loew, fictional District Attorney in James Ellroy's novels The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, and L.A. Confidential, is a member and he shows his key several times.
• Thomas Crown, title character of the movie The Thomas Crown Affair, toys with his golden Phi Beta Kappa key which he is wearing on a chain. It is stated that he is an alumnus of Dartmouth College and Harvard Business School.
• Richard Sumner, the main character of the movie Desk Set (1957), is mentioned as a member when Bunny Watson (Katharine Hepburn) reels off Sumner's character's accomplishments and says that he's a graduate of M.I.T. with a Ph.D. in Science and a Phi Beta Kappa, although he doesn't wear his key, which means either that he's modest or he lost it.
• Harry Bailey in the movie It's a Wonderful Life (1946) is greeted at the train station by George and Uncle Billy as “Professor Phi Beta Kappa Harry Bailey,” implying he is a member.
• Charley Bordelon West in TV show Queen Sugar is a member.^[47] This is referenced when she has to correct someone who incorrectly refers to it as a social fraternity.^[48]
• Rory Gilmore, the title character of the TV show Gilmore Girls, is referenced as a member of Emily and Richard Gilmore's graduation musical duo.
• Emily Sweeney in TV show The Big Bang Theory is revealed as a Phi Beta Kappa member. It is said to have been apparent on her online dating profile viewed by Rajesh Koothrappali. Also, Sheldon Cooper has a frame of Phi Beta Kappa in his office, suggesting that he is a member.
• Gavin Stevens, the protagonist of several pieces by William Faulkner exhibits the Phi Beta Kappa key from Harvard in the stories "Hand Upon the Water", "An Error in Chemistry" and "Knight's Gambit".
• Niles Crane of the TV show Frasier is a member.
• Greg Sanders of the TV show CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is a member.

Notes and References

1. Book: Phi Beta Kappa. Massachusetts Alpha (Harvard University) . Catalogue of the Harvard Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, Alpha of Massachusetts . Harvard University . 1912 . 5 . 3 March 2017.
2. Web site: 2018-01-16 . Phi Beta Kappa . 2023-07-20 . CSULB Phi Beta Kappa . en.
3. Web site: Notable Fellow Phi Beta Kappa Members . 3 March 2017 . bgsu.edu.
4. Web site: Who Is a Member of PBK? - PBK - UNCG . 3 March 2017 . phibetakappa.uncg.edu.
5. Web site: Phi Beta Kappa Willamette University . 3 March 2017 . willamette.edu.
6. Web site: PBK - Phi Beta Kappa Supreme Court Justices .
7. Web site: Lesko . Barbara S. . Caroline Louise Ransom Williams, 1872–1952 . 14 June 2023 . Breaking Ground: Women in Old World Archaeology.
8. Web site: Phi Beta Kappa : The Colonial Williamsburg Official History & Citizenship Site . 3 March 2017 . history.org.
9. Web site: Phi Beta Kappa: Alpha of Delaware Chapter Honors Program . 3 March 2017 . sites.udel.edu.
10. Book: Franklin, James Henry . Ministers of mercy . Methodist Book Concern . 1919 . New York.
11. Book: 胡先骕全集 . March 2023 . Jiangxi People's Publishing House . 978-7-210-10955-6 . Hu . Xiaojiang . 1st . 19 . March 2023 . 48–53 . zh . H. H. Hu: complete works.
12. Book: Tuten, N.L. . The Robert Frost Encyclopedia . Zubizarreta, J. . Greenwood Press . 2001 . 9780313294648 . 15 . 3 March 2017.
13. Web site: Paul Robeson, a brief biography . 3 March 2017 . CPSR University of Chicago.
14. Cassidy, David C. (2005). J. Robert Oppenheimer and the American Century. New York: Pi Press. ISBN 978-0-13-147996-8. OCLC 56503198, pp. 75–76, 88–89.
15. Book: Callahan, N. . Carl Sandburg: His Life and Works . Pennsylvania State University Press . 2010 . 9780271038179 . 33 . 3 March 2017.
16. Web site: John Hope Franklin » John Hope Franklin . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20170513160034/http://www.jhfcenter.org/john-hope-franklin/ . 13 May 2017 . 3 March 2017 . jhfcenter.org.
17. Web site: 2022 . Michael J. Stuart, M.D. . March 15, 2023 . Mayo Clinic.
18. Web site: PBK Famous Members . 3 March 2017 . depts.washington.edu.
19. News: 9 August 1998 . Weddings; Jamie Rubin, Christiane Amanpour . The New York Times .
20. Web site: PBK - Phi Beta Kappa Presidents .
21. Web site: Things you may not know about Mamphela Ramphele - Sowetan LIVE . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20170430011703/http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2014/05/06/things-you-may-not-know-about-mamphela-ramphele . 30 April 2017 . 3 March 2017 . sowetanlive.co.za.
22. Web site: Archived copy . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20161201081348/http://mals.fiu.edu/news/2013/guest-lecture/wholetruth.pdf . 1 December 2016 . 30 November 2016.
23. Web site: Plain and Simply Outstanding . 1 December 2013 . . He graduated Phi Beta Kappa in three years..
24. Web site: 2020-03-02 . Meet Ro . 14 May 2021 . Ro Khanna for Congress . en.
25. Web site: 2009-08-07 . Obama names prominent Fremont Indo-American to Commerce post . 14 May 2021 . The Mercury News . en-US.
26. Web site: Meet Miss California 2000, Rita Ng . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090504011238/http://www.misscalifornia.org/archives/formers/individuals/rita/rita_index.html . 4 May 2009 . 1 December 2013 . . At Stanford, Rita graduated with a 3.99 GPA (honors distinction) and was named to Phi Beta Kappa..
27. News: Parker . Ashley . October 23, 2013 . A Wife Committed to Cruz's Ideals, but a Study in Contrasts to Him . The New York Times . 30 October 2015 . 0362-4331.
28. Web site: Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees. United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. 5. October 18, 2021.
29. Web site: June 10, 2004 . Phi Beta Kappa elects 92 seniors to Harvard chapter . 28 January 2017 . Harvard Gazette.
30. Web site: Phi Beta Kappa : The Colonial Williamsburg Official History & Citizenship Site . 3 March 2017 . history.org.
31. Web site: Topham . P'nina . Phi Beta Kappa, Nation's Most Prestigious Honor Society, Installs Chapter at the University of Houston . 20 May 2016 . University of Houston.
32. Web site: Archived copy . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150909012851/https://www.pbk.org/WEB/pbkdocs/PBKPresidents.pdf . 9 September 2015 . 2 June 2016.
33. Web site: 2017-03-02 . Phi Beta Kappa Membership . 2023-07-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170302200218/https://www.pbk.org/WEB/PBK_Member/MEMBERSHIP/PBK_Member/Membership/Phi_Beta_Kappa_Membership.aspx?hkey=5795c605-a3ff-4d66-a110-31e1fcec17dc . 2017-03-02 .
34. Web site: The Phi Beta Kappa Society Installs 285th Chapter at Mercer University . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160604073304/https://www.pbk.org/web/PBK_Member/Pressroom/Press_Releases/Mercer_University.aspx . 4 June 2016 . 20 May 2016 . The Phi Beta Kappa Society.
35. Web site: WEB/PBK_Member/PRESSROOM/Press_Releases/Oregon_State_University . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20170407153727/https://www.pbk.org/WEB/PBK_Member/PRESSROOM/Press_Releases/Oregon_State_University.aspx . 7 April 2017 . 3 March 2017 . pbk.org.
36. Web site: www.pbk.org/WEB/PBK_Member/MEMBERSHIP/PBK_Member/Membership/Phi_Beta_Kappa_Membership.aspx?hkey=5795c605-a3ff-4d66-a110-31e1fcec17dc . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20170302200218/https://www.pbk.org/WEB/PBK_Member/MEMBERSHIP/PBK_Member/Membership/Phi_Beta_Kappa_Membership.aspx?hkey=5795c605-a3ff-4d66-a110-31e1fcec17dc . 2 March 2017 . 3 March 2017 . pbk.org.
37. Web site: Catalogue of Members: Harvard members elected from 1966 to 1981 . 31 January 2015 . Harvard College Phi Beta Kappa.
38. Web site: Sieden . L. Steven . 2011 . Biography of R. Buckminster Fuller - Section 4: 1947 - 1976 . 31 January 2015 . BuckyFullerNow.com.
39. Web site: Williams . Lewis Caleb . Atwater . George Parkin . 1899 . Catalogue of the Kenyon Chapter (Beta of Ohio) of Phi Beta Kappa . 17 May 2016 . John C. Rankin Co..
40. Web site: Office of the Governor General of Canada . 24 May 2013 . Governor General to Visit Boston and New York City . 11 July 2013 . Queen's Printer for Canada.
41. Web site: PBK - Phi Beta Kappa Supreme Court Justices .
42. Web site: Phi Beta Kappa • Remembering Phi Beta Kappa member and poet Mary... . Phi Beta Kappa.
43. Web site: Key Reporter August 1995 . 28 May 2019 . keyreporter.org.
44. Web site: Roosevelt . Eleanor . My Day: December 12, 1942 . 20 May 2016 . The My Day Project . The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project.
45. 1924 . Phi Beta Kappa Authors . The Phi Beta Kappa Key . 5 . 6 . 411–414 . 42913945.
46. Web site: Instagram. instagram.com. 3 March 2017.
47. Web site: www.vogue.com/13472914/queen-sugar-ava-duvernay-review/. vogue.com. 6 September 2016. 3 March 2017.
48. Web site: 01x01 - First Things First - Queen Sugar Transcripts - Forever Dreaming. transcripts.foreverdreaming.org. 3 March 2017.