Contact: Allison Matthews

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Mississippi State’s chapter of Phi Kappa Phi has yet again achieved national recognition by the nation’s oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines—this year with a Circle of Excellence Gold Award.

The 2021-2022 honor recognizes the MSU chapter as a thriving organization, with award criteria including information about yearly initiation efforts and other chapter activities. The Circle of Excellence program was introduced in 2018 and recognized 74 chapters this year, including 23 with the Gold distinction. Phi Kappa Phi currently has chapters on more than 325 select campuses in the U.S., its territories and the Philippines.

“We are most grateful to the national office of Phi Kappa Phi for recognizing the Mississippi State University Chapter as a 2021-2022 Circle of Excellence Award-Gold recipient,” said MSU PKP chapter president Peter Ryan, who serves as the university’s executive vice provost and dean of the Graduate School. “We are indeed most grateful to all of the membership, faculty, staff and students that have enabled the MSU chapter to earn this distinction.”

Founded in 1897, Phi Kappa Phi awards nearly $1 million each year to outstanding students and members through graduate fellowships, study abroad grants, member and chapter awards, and grants for local, national and international literacy initiatives.

Membership is by invitation only to the top 10 percent of seniors and graduate students and 7.5 percent of juniors. Faculty, professional staff and alumni who have achieved scholarly distinction also qualify. The honor organization draws members from all academic disciplines within colleges and universities. The society’s mission is “to recognize and promote academic excellence in all fields of higher education and engage the community of scholars in service to others.”

“Phi Kappa Phi is one of the longest-standing academic honor societies in the country and has fostered the growth and development of young minds for many generations,” Ryan said. “These young adults learn to give of their time and talents for the betterment of their institution and the community in which they live.”

For more information, visit www.phikappaphi.org.

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.