EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
President
William Monroe, PhD (2021)
Vice President – Fundraising
Andrew Davis, PhD (2022)
Vice President – Scholarship
Jennifer Shade Wilson, PhD (2022)
Vice President – Finance
Lindsay C. McConn (2021)
Vice President – Membership Engagement
Ryan S. Bowley (2020)
Treasurer
William S. Nichols, IV (2020)
Secretary
Fritz Lanham (2020)
DIRECTORS
John B. Connally IV, JD (2020)
Jude A. Dworaczyk, JD (2022)
Christina Hughes (2021)
Daniel M. McClure, JD (2022)
Kathryn Schoer (2022)
John Shaddix (2022)
George Shybut, MD (2022)
Martin J. Siegel, JD (2020)
ADVISORY DIRECTORS
Eileen Miggins Hohlt, JD (2021)
Cristina Moore (2022)
Lyndsey Ray, JD (2022)
Joseph R. Wood III (2022)
OTHER CONTACTS
Dinner Chair Emeritus
Jenard M. Gross
Development Coordinator
Ann Chai Dick
info@pbkhouston.org
Database Coordinator
Susan Antley
Our Organization
The Phi Beta Kappa Alumni Association of Greater Houston is a not-for-profit organization of more than 200 members. It is affiliated with but does not receive funding from the national organization. Local programs such as the annual scholarship program are funded entirely from dues and contributions.
The Phi Beta Kappa Alumni Association of Greater Houston has been nationally recognized by the Phi Beta Kappa Society as an Outstanding Association 2003-2006.
PBK National Association
Phi Beta Kappa, America’s oldest and most prestigious honor society, was founded in December 1776 by students at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Within a few years, chapters were established at Yale and Harvard. The letters “Phi Beta Kappa” stand for the Greek words “Love of Wisdom, the Helmsman of Life,” and they express the high ideals of the Society and its members.
During the century after its founding, the Society added more chapters until, in 1833, it organized itself as the United Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa. Today, there are over 276 chapters at colleges and universities across the country and 53 alumni associations in the United States and an estimated 500,000 members.
The original chapter was an all-male, secret society. Members swore to “preserve inviolate” its lore and rituals. By the 1830’s, however, secrecy was repealed; in 1875, women were admitted. In 1926, the 150th anniversary was observed by raising an endowment fund and developing ways to encourage scholarship in American colleges and universities. More recently, the Society has joined in the defense of freedom of teaching and inquiry and has promoted the ideals of higher liberal arts education.
Membership in the Society is a significant achievement, which honors excellence in the arts and sciences. Election to Phi Beta Kappa is based on outstanding academic performance reflecting a love of learning for its own sake as opposed to narrow technical specialization or vocational preparation. To demonstrate the breadth of their intellectual curiosity, most students will have taken more than the required number of courses and studied in traditional academic fields outside their major.
For more information, please visit the national site at www.pbk.org.
PBK Houston's Founding
In 1972, Willoughby Williams, a respected Houston businessman, invited Phi Beta Kappa members living in the Greater Houston area to an organizational meeting held on Rice University campus. Approximately 50 enthusiastic attendees expressed strong interest in organizing and elected Jenard M. Gross to serve as the group’s first president. Although the Association was not officially chartered until 1977, meetings began in 1972, and a scholarship program to award academic, merit-based college scholarships was initiated soon afterward.