The UNLV chapter of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation's oldest, largest and most selective all-discipline academic honor society, will honor media pioneer and community leader Barbara Greenspun at its 2006 Induction Ceremony on Tuesday, April 25 at 7:00 p.m. The event will be held in the Blasco Event Wing of the UNLV Foundations building. The chapter will this year welcome 150 students, faculty and staff members into the prestigious society. Greenspun will be inducted into the society as an honorary member, in recognition of her numerous contributions to education and community.
"Barbara Greenspun has been a wonderful community leader and great supporter of programs and activities at UNLV," said Shashi Nambisan, UNLV professor and President, Phi Kappa Phi Chapter 100. "Our chapter and the entire national Phi Kappa Phi organization are honored by her association with us."
Greenspun's support of education and involvement with UNLV has spanned many years, and has included the founding of such programs as the Barbara Greenspun Lecture Series and the Barbara Greenspun Journalism Scholarship. She is a member of the UNLV Foundation Board of Trustees, and has been awarded both an Honorary Doctorate (1998) and the Distinguished Nevadan Award (1991). Known as a visionary leader in all forms of media as well as an advocate for many important community causes, Greenspun currently serves as publisher of The Las Vegas Sun and Las Vegas Life Magazine, on the Board of Directors for American Nevada Corporation, and as Director of the Greenspun Family Foundation.
Among student honorees at the Phi Kappa Phi induction ceremony will be Tondra De, a 2005 summa cum laude graduate of UNLV, with dual degrees in mathematics and electrical engineering. She was recently awarded the prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. De was one of only 60 students selected for the Phi Kappa Phi National Fellowship Award. She will be awarded both this national honor and the Robert Maxson Scholarship from UNLV's chapter at Tuesday's ceremony.
Nationally, the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi inducts annually approximately 30,000 students, faculty, professional staff, and alumni. Once inducted, Phi Kappa Phi members gain a lifelong passport to a global network of academic and professional opportunities. Since its founding in 1897, more than 1 million members have been initiated. Some of the organization's notable members include former President Jimmy Carter, writer John Grisham, NASA astronaut Wendy Lawrence, and Netscape founder James Barksdale. Chapter 100 was established at UNLV in 1967. Among the chapter's Distinguished Members are U.S. Senator Harry Reid, philanthropist Marjorie Barrick, author John Irsfeld and UNLV President Carol Harter.
Phi Kappa Phi has chapters on nearly 300 select colleges and universities in North America and the Philippines. 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.
