MIT chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa Society inducts 75 graduating seniors

The Phi Beta Kappa Society, the nation’s oldest academic honor society, held its MIT induction ceremony on Wednesday, May 28, 2025, admitting 75 graduating seniors into the MIT chapter, Xi of Massachusetts.

Phi Beta Kappa (PBK), founded in 1776 at the College of William and Mary, honors the nation’s most outstanding undergraduate students for excellence in the liberal arts, especially in the humanities, arts, natural and social sciences. Only 10 percent of higher education institutions have PBK chapters, and fewer than 10 percent of students at those institutions are selected for membership.

Emily Richmond Pollock, Associate Professor of Music and President of Xi of Massachusetts, welcomed the students and their families. She was assisted in the ceremony by Anne McCants, the Ann F. Friedlaender Professor of History, who served as Historian of Phi Beta Kappa, and David McGee, Associate Professor of Earth, Atmospheric & Planetary Sciences, who served as Guide for the ceremony.

The annual lecture was delivered by Andrea Louise Campbell, Arthur and Ruth Sloan Professor of Political Science and member of Xi of Massachusetts. Campbell’s talk, The Promise of Civic Participation, detailed a grassroots group’s successful and historic push for universal preschool in Cincinnati, showing the power of working together with others to realize policy goals.

After the lecture, Pollock provided the inductees and their families with an overview of the PBK society and introduced the 2025 inductees to the rights and responsibilities of PBK members. The 75 inductees were then recognized individually, shown the society’s special handshake, and received by a group of MIT faculty and visiting members of PBK. After signing the register of the Xi of Massachusetts chapter, the new members received their certificates of membership.

The inductees:

Lauren Aguilar (Courses 18 & 1), New Orleans, LA

Antti Eero Asikainen (Course 8), Risulahti, Finland

Olivia Beniston (Course 10), Fairfield, CT

Peter Berggren (Course 6), Arlington, MA

Rhea Bhattacharjee (Course 6), Bethesda, MD

Mackenzie Bivin (Courses 15 & 14), San Diego, CA

Evan Boothe (Course 16), Purcell, OK

Julia Christina Camacho (Course 11), Lake Forest, CA

Claire Camacho (Course 6), Bainbridge Island, WA

Tomas Cantu (Courses 16 & 18), Mexico City, Mexico

Matthew Caren (Course 6), Palo Alto, CA

Jason Chen (Courses 2 & 21L), Hurley, NY

Eddie Chen (Course 8), West Windsor, NJ

Kenneth Choi (Courses 6 & 18), Salem, NH

Neil Chowdhury (Course 8), Bellevue, WA

Samuel Christian (Course 8), Austin, TX

David Dai (Course 8), Cambridge, MA

Sanjana Das (Course 18), Fremont, CA

Cameron Dougal (Course 11), Indian Orchard, MA

Kaelyn Dunnell (Courses 22 & 21L), San Juan Capo, CA

Mohammed Ehab (Course 6), Kafr El-Zayat, Egypt

Kate Ellison (Course 14), Newton, MA

Samuel Florin (Course 18), Greenwich, CT

Ananda Santos Figueiredo (Course 1), João Pessoa, Brazil

Andy Fong (Courses 10 & 12), Hawaiian Gardens, CA

Markey Freudenburg-Puricelli (Course 12), Detroit, MI

Gopal Goel (Courses 18 & 8), Portland, OR

Sebnem Gul (Course 5), Cankaya/Ankara, Turkey

Matthew Ho (Course 18), Palo Alto, CA

Sabrina Hu (Course 21E), Tallahassee, FL

Jonathan Huang (Courses 6 & 7), Saratoga, CA

Emily Jin (Course 14), New York, NY

Alice Le (Courses 8 & 21W), Willington, CT

Karen Lei (Course 8), Saratoga, CA

Alex Li (Courses 6 & 18), Lexington, MA

Josh Lian (Course 5), Miami, FL

Winona Liu (Course 7), Brooklyn, NY

Zixuan Liu (Courses 20 & 7), Brooklyn, NY

Dj Liveoak (Course 8), Allen Park, MI

Isaac Lopez (Course 18), Palmdale, CA

Nicolas Manno (Courses 5 & 18), General San Martin, Argentina

Jovan Markovic (Courses 8 & 18), Krusevac, Serbia

Kasra Mazaheri (Courses 6), Tehran, Iran

Anna Mikulevica (Courses 18 & 7), Sunisi, Latvia

Luis Alberto Modes Castillo (Course 18), Panama City, Panama

Kateryna Morhun (Course 6), North Haledon, NJ

Holden Mui (Courses 18 & 21M), Lisle, IL

Luca Musk (Courses 24 & 6), New York, NY

Jyotsna Nair (Courses 7 & 21W), Thiruvananthapuram, India

Daina Neithardt (Course 12), Exton, PA

Kayla O’Donnell (Course 8), Kalamazoo, MI

Anna Orgel (Course 8), San Francisco, CA

Andi Qu (Course 6), Johannesburg, South Africa

Mishael Quraishi (Course 3), Mattapan, MA

Syd Robinson (Course 3), London, United Kingdom

Gabriel Rodriguez Castillo (Course 11), Texcoco, Mexico

Bianca Santi (Course 9), Lexington, MA

Mia Sedgwick (Courses 9 & 18), Wilmette, IL

Georgia Severson (Course 15), London, United Kingdom

Iris Shi (Course 6), Riverside, CT

Benjamin Shimabukuro (Course 18), San Diego, CA

Tomasz Slusarczyk (Courses 18 & 8), Krakow, Poland

Anahita Srinivasan (Course 6), Fremont, CA

Kenta Suzuki (Course 18), Toshima-Ku, Japan

Max Tan (Courses 6 & 8), Manlius, NY

Katherine Taylor (Courses 18 & 6), San Carlos, CA

Christopher Tong (Courses 8 & 18), Potomac, MD

Vetri Vel (Courses 6 & 8), Veazie, ME

Kylie Walsh (Course 18), Portland, CT

Ellie Wang (Course 6), Auburndale, MA

Rachel Whyte (Course 7), Winter Springs, FL

Isias Workeneh (Courses 10 & 7), Houston, TX

Michelle Wu (Course 7), Winchester, MA

Anchi Xia (Courses 18 & 14), Bedford, MA

Grace Yang (Courses 10 & 7), Fishers, IN

Leo Yao (Courses 8 & 6), West Windsor, NJ

Photos by Jon Sachs