ASU Liberal Arts and Sciences advocate elected to Phi Beta Kappa senate

Kate Lehman, executive director of academic services for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and a faculty associate in political science at Arizona State University, has been elected to the senate of the Phi Beta Kappa Society.

The goal of the academic society, which was established by students during the American Revolution in 1776 at the College of William and Mary in Virginia, "is to promote and celebrate the benefits that a liberal arts and sciences education provides our nation and all Americans," says Lehman. "Phi Beta Kappa is the leader in advocating for liberal arts and sciences across the United States."

Members of the senate serve as the directors who guide the society in matters of policy and set the direction for Phi Beta Kappa's future, according to John Churchill, secretary and CEO of the society.

Lehman was one of 15 people recently elected as officers of the society. She will serve a six-year term. Others elected earlier this month include Linda Greenhouse, a Pulitzer Prize-winning legal writer; Lynn Pasquerella, provost and professor of philosophy at the University of Hartford; and Jeffrey Sammons, a professor of history at New York University.

Lehman was inducted into the society in 1988 into the Beta of Arizona Chapter at ASU. She is a past president of the chapter and currently serves as secretary and historian.

Each year, the Beta of Arizona Chapter invites the highest achieving college juniors and seniors studying the liberal arts and sciences to accept membership. On Oct. 15, the Beta of Arizona Chapter inducted 52 members: five juniors and 47 seniors and recent graduates.

"Not only does each of these students have the highest GPAs, they also have completed substantial study of foreign language and mathematics, and been judged to have the most rigorous transcripts by a committee of Phi Beta Kappa faculty and staff," Lehman says.

"Membership to Phi Beta Kappa is the highest honor a student in the liberal arts and sciences can achieve, and it opens many doors to students in acceptance to top graduate, medical and law schools."

Lehman has a master's degree in political science from ASU, as well as bachelor's degrees in political science and broadcast journalism.

More information about Phi Beta Kappa is at http://www.pbk.org.