Resident membership shall be composed of members of the chapter who have Faculty or Staff status, and registered undergraduate and graduate members in course.

Resident Membership: 122
Active: ~25

2. Amendments to Chapter Bylaws.

None.

3. Honorary and Alumni Members.

None.

4. Speakers.

Phi Beta Kappa Luncheon speakers — see section 5.

5. Special Programs or Projects.

1. 2000 Sturm Award for Excellence in Faculty Research

Dr. Doris Zallen was the recipient of the 2000 Sturm Award for Excellence in Faculty Research. Dr. Zallen is the author of the book, Does It Run in the Family? A Consumer’s Guide to DNA Testing for Genetic Disorders. This award is named for and endowed by the late Albert Sturm, Phi Beta Kappa member and University Research Professor of Political Science. It honors scholarship by Virginia Tech faculty members in the College of Arts and Sciences that contributes significantly to the advancement of liberal learning. The recipient receives an engraved plaque and a cash award. The department of the recipient displays a plaque which rotates each year and lists all the recipients of the award.

2. John D. Wilson Essay Contest

Natalie Shaffer, class of 2003, was selected for the Wilson Writing Prize. The title of her essay was "Relationships in Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse." In the essayist’s own words, she sees the novel as being about "relationships — whether they are between characters and the setting or time, between the characters themselves, or between the title and the author’s purpose." Through her explanations of the characters and their times, the essay draws us, the modern reader, into self-reflection, into the examined life, one of the goals of Phi Beta Kappa. Ms. Shaffer is a Music and English major.

This award is funded by donations from chapter members in honor of Dr. John D. Wilson, a former provost at Virginia Tech and past-president of Washington and Lee University, who encouraged writing in the curriculum.

3. Phi Beta Kappa Scholars Luncheons

Members and guests meet twice yearly for scholars luncheons. On November 10, Dr. Nancy Simmons, a member of Virginia Tech’s Center for Interdisciplinary Studies, spoke on "Emerson the Lecturer." On March 1, Dr. David Toomey, instructor in the Department of English, spoke on "How I Met the Woman Who Might Have Been the First American in Space, Wrote a Book about Her, and Bought her a Gin-and-Tonic."

4. Phi Beta Kappa High School Book Awards

Gift certificates from the University Bookstore and award certificates were presented to top students at four county high schools. At the awards ceremony of each high school, a brief introduction to Phi Beta Kappa is given to the assembled parents and students when the student receives his/her award. Selected students have broad cultural interests and/or notable accomplishments in the arts and sciences, a minimum grade point average of 3.6/4.0 (excluding vocational and physical education courses), and are of good character.

5. Scholarship for a Rising Junior

The chapter provided a $250 Thomas Adriance scholarship to a rising junior, Justin Howard. The scholarship is named in memory of one of our charter members and long-time chair of the Members in Course Committee.

6. Campus Developments.

Dr. Robert Bates, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, has approved a yearly $2,500 discretionary fund for the Mu of Virginia chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. The funds can be used for scholarships, membership fees, and programs of the chapter.

The chapter will continue to seek ways to publicize Phi Beta Kappa and encourage elected members to accept invitations. In fall 1999, for example, President Barrow addressed several classes of honors students through our Virginia Tech University Honors program.

7. Website address.

http://www.cs.vt.edu/~pbk/. It resides on a server in the Department of Computer Science, home department of the chapter secretary. Philip Isenhour, Mu of Virginia PBK initiate, serves as the webmaster. The University Honors Program website has a link to the chapter page. The web address for Virginia Tech is http://www.vt.edu/.