245 students inducted into Phi Beta Kappa

On Saturday, April 5, 245 University of Wisconsin–Madison Letters & Science undergraduates were inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa (ΦΒΚ) academic society, in a ceremony at the Monona Terrace.

The ΦΒΚ chapter at UW–Madison was founded in 1899 and honors students who rigorously explore the sciences, arts and humanities.  ΦΒΚ stands for philosophia biou kubernetes in ancient Greek, which translates to “the love of wisdom is the helmsman of life,” meaning that the pursuit of knowledge should guide one’s life.

Professor Jeff Hardin of the integrative biology department led the opening procession and welcome. As the president of ΦΒΚ’s Alpha chapter of Wisconsin, Professor Hardin also presented the land acknowledgment and ΦΒΚ history. Professor Jeanne Schueller, the president-elect of the Alpha chapter, led the ΦΒΚ declaration and pledge.

In addition to the new undergraduate inductees, the ceremony honored four members of the UW–Madison community.

• Young Mie Kim, Professor of Journalism and Mass Communication, received the 2025 Excellence in Teaching Award. Kim was nominated by inductee Kate Lewicki, a junior majoring in journalism, communication arts and psychology. “Dr. Kim’s seminars are the highlight of my academic week,” Kate stated. “Her ability to break down complex concepts and facilitate meaningful discussions has sharpened my analytical skills and deepened my appreciation for the intersection of law, media and technology. Learning from her is both a privilege and inspiration.”

• Gloria Mari Beffa, Professor of Mathematics and Associate Dean for Research for the College of Letters & Science, was inducted into the chapter as an honored member.

• Orion Risk, a member of the UW–Madison chapter of the Edward A. Bouchet Society and a PhD candidate in interdisciplinary theater studies, was inducted into ΦΒΚ.

• Dorothy Lsoto, a member of the UW–Madison chapter of the Edward A. Bouchet Society and a PhD candidate in the environment and resource program in the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, was inducted into ΦΒΚ.

In her speech at the ceremony, undergraduate inductee Lily Hamacher advocated for “taking a bite of everything on your plate,” meaning that students should learn many different disciplines, highlighting the necessary variety in a liberal arts education. Hamacher is majoring in economics (honors) and mathematics, with certificates in business and political economy, philosophy and politics, and is pursuing honors in the liberal arts.

Inductees excel in all areas of study, from anthropology to zoology, and must have a cumulative GPA of 3.80 or above and meet strenuous math, language, and breadth requirements.

A committee of faculty and staff review the student record for nomination into the chapter. Inductees have a love for learning in multiple areas of study at the intermediate and advanced levels, exploring far beyond their major area of study at UW–Madison.

The students inducted were:

Madeleine Afonso, Sammamish, WA

Sydney Albert, Closter, NJ

Eric Araujo, Wilmette, IL

Isabella Augustynski, Wilmette, IL

Sary Baker, Norwalk, CT

Spencer Ball, Woodside, CA

Nicole Baschky, Shoreview, MN

Sam Baumohl, Chesterfield, MO

Elise Beckman, Buffalo, MN

Tudor Belean, Clayton, MO

Isabella Bellini, Plymouth, MN

Reuben Berkowitz, Milwaukee, WI

Samikshya Bhatta, De Pere, WI

Quincy Bianchi, Scarsdale, NY

Chloe Binstock, Port Washington, NY

Violet Bluestein, Burlington, VT

Sophie Boes, Rochester, MN

Shaina Bond, Madison, WI

Katelyn Bowman, Madison, WI

Jordan Boysen, Comstock, WI

Caroline Brennan, Glenview, IL

Sadie Brenneman, Madison, WI

Lucia Breuer, Slinger, WI

Sara Browne, Saint Paul, MN

Isabelle Bubnick, Lewis Center, OH

Ian Burton, Hartland, WI

Avery Byrnes, Madison, WI

Julian Callegari, New Rochelle, NY

Samuel Cann, Madison, WI

Luke Canning, Norwell, MA

Amber Chang, Colgate, WI

Kayla Chang, Winnetka, IL

Ziyang Chen, Shenzhen, China

Ella Chevalier, Menomonee Falls, WI

Spencer Chun, Lake Forest, IL

Anna Chung, Louisville, KY

Liam Clarke, Madison, WI

Nate Colburn, Lexington, MA

Aiden Cook, Madison, WI

Mara Corum, Shoreview, MN

Aiden Culver, Richland Center, WI

Rebecca Damelin, Mc Lean, VA

Saskatoon Damm, Medford, WI

Marin Danz, Mount Horeb, WI

Collin Dewey, Dallas, TX

Connor Dewey, Dallas, TX

Reyna Dogru, Deforest, WI

Sabine Dolan-Gaschignard, Madison, WI

Julia Donaldson, Cedarburg, WI

Cecelia Donegan, Burlington, WI

Lilah Dottori, Crozet, VA

Steven Doyiakos, Skokie, IL

Honor Durham, Pelham, NY

Brandon Else, North Oaks, MN

Natalie Ernst, Prior Lake, MN

Jonas Ewart, Oconomowoc, WI

Sadie Fanton, Winchester, MA

Elizabeth Field, Brookfield, WI

Gavin Forsythe, Boulder, CO

Aly Fry, Milton, WI

Rachel Fu, Jinchang, China

Samuel Garsha, Verona, WI

Anna Gaul, Bloomington, MN

Julia Gehrs, Northbrook, IL

Andreea Ghenciu, River Falls, WI

Gabriel Gibbons, Monona, WI

SOFIA Gisiner, Northbrook, IL

Ciana Gleissner, Hartford, WI

Bryna Goeking, Oshkosh, WI

Katie Goldish, Glencoe, IL

Hannah Goldman, Erie, CO

Eimy Gonzalez Alvarez, Madison, WI

Mackenzie Graff, Two Rivers, WI

Andrew Gravino, Rockford, IL

Jessica Griffin, Glen Ellyn, IL

Emily Grimes, Geneva, IL

Jackson Gurvitz, Malibu, CA

Allison Haldane, Sun Prairie, WI

Lily Hamacher, Saint Paul, MN

Samuel Handel, Blue Bell, PA

Jonah Harris, River Falls, WI

Grace Heise, Verona, WI

Dara Heiss, Marlboro, NJ

Lucy Henry, Oak Park, IL

Maxwell Herman, Saint Charles, IL

Hailey Hessler, Germantown, WI

Daisy Hester, Bethesda, MD

Natasha Hicks, Pleasanton, CA

Marek Higley, Eau Claire, WI

Brynne Hill, Pewaukee, WI

Elizabeth Hitesman, Mt Prospect, IL

Jacob Hoertdoerfer, Winchester, MA

Ainslie Homan, Lake Forest, IL

William Horner, Hartland, WI

Anika Horowitz, Milwaukee, WI

Johanna Hougum, Madison, WI

Max Hsu, Brookfield, WI

Yuxuan Hu, Ningbo Zhejiang, China

Joshua Huck, Greenfield, WI

Thomas Hughes, Waunakee, WI

Daisy Jagoditsh, Stevens Point, WI

Kshitij Jhunjhunwala, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Anna Johnson, Spring Green, WI

Olivia Jury, Shell Lake, WI

Mandeep Kaleka, Neenah, WI

Brian Kee, Mosinee, WI

Alex Kern, Silver Spring, MD

Olivia Kider, Jacksonville, FL

Rowan Kilian, Hutchinson, MN

Laila Kirstein, Parsippany, NJ

Felicity Klingele, Madison, WI

Caroline Knizner, Pittsburgh, PA

Sydney Kostelac, Sun Prairie, WI

Natalie Kozlowski, Hartland, WI

Ethan Kruger, Shavertown, PA

Genevieve Lambert, Waukesha, WI

Molly Lanning, Grafton, WI

Chelone Laws, New York, NY

Katya Leek, Stevens Point, WI

Maggie Lenar, Wausau, WI

Grace Lessila, Milwaukee, WI

Kate Lewicki, Fitchburg, WI

Anyu Li, Beijing, China

Leon Li, Nanjing Shi, China

Lily Li Li, Madison, WI

Sirui Li, Shenzhen, China

Arielle Lipkin, Mahwah, NJ

Alexis Liu, Xi’an, China

Jerry Liu, Redlands, CA

Emmett Lockwood, Norwich, VT

Andrew Lu, Apple Valley, MN

McKeon Lucas, Wisconsin Rapids, WI

Anders Magnuson, Sugar Grove, IL

Ellise Markevitch, Madison, WI

Eloise Massee, Madison, WI

Bridget McBride, Glen Ellyn, IL

Molly McCormack, Fish Creek, WI

Annika McElduff, Whitefish Bay, WI

Carson McGrath, Chicago, IL

Maxwell McLean, Green Bay, WI

Quinn Meece, Milwaukee, WI

Abby Miller, Glencoe, IL

Anya Molek, Madison, WI

John Monahan, Norwell, MA

Izzy Moore, Pacific Palisades, CA

Olivia Moroney, Waukesha, WI

Jonathan Morris, Stoughton, WI

Merlin Morton, Minnetonka, MN

Andrew Moysis, Pewaukee, WI

Anna Mueller, Madison, WI

Maggie Munson, Plymouth, WI

Noah Murray, Malibu, CA

Sanjay Nagarimadugu, Madison, WI

Martina Napoli, Highland Park, IL

Greta Nashold, Stoughton, WI

Teresa Nelson, Cedarburg, WI

Gia-Bao Nguyen, Mequon, WI

Brooke Nielsen, Verona, WI

Erik Nuenninghoff, Baraboo, WI

Vanessa Palma, West Bend, WI

David Panner, Chevy Chase, MD

Owen Parsons, Chappaqua, NY

Niha Patankar, Fitchburg, WI

Norah Paulsen, River Hills, WI

Justin Peikin, Gaithersburg, MD

Gianni Perez, Rockford, IL

Katie Perkins, Oak Park, IL

Ronan Piontek, Milwaukee, WI

Rayane Prado Nunes, Cuiabá, Brazil

Kai Prawitz, Cedarburg, WI

Landon Prokopinski, Chippewa Falls, WI

Zoey Puacz, Naperville, IL

Thomas Pyle, Waunakee, WI

Alethea Quick, Manitowoc, WI

Alexander Rader, Lake Mills, WI

Zoe Regenstein, River Forest, IL

Ainsley Reichert, Pewaukee, WI

Nathaniel Richmond, Madison, WI

Emmett Robison, La Grange, IL

Zoe Roell, Washington, DC

Michael Roemer, West Bend, WI

Sadie Rosenthal, Chevy Chase, MD

Daria Rudykh, Madison, WI

Laura Salman, Madison, WI

Emma Sametz, Madison, WI

Janani Sampath, De Pere, WI

Ilyas Sattar, Madison, WI

Michael Schatz, Lakeville, MN

Shu Lan Schaut, Kenosha, WI

Jessica Schiltz, Mukwonago, WI

Trey Schlingmann, Sacramento, CA

Julia Schmitt, Shorewood, WI

Chloe Schmitz, Malone, WI

Ella Schraufnagel, Pewaukee, WI

Jenna Seidl, Hazelhurst, WI

Molly Sell, Plymouth, MN

Maria Serrano, Milwaukee, WI

Elizabeth Shoop, Oakmont, PA

Gabriel Singer, Keego Harbor, MI

Courtney Snoberger, Madison, WI

Hadley Southworth, Eau Claire, WI

Sydney Spiegel, Sammamish, WA

Sydney Stahlschmidt, Chesterfield, MO

Alicyn Stephens, Spring Green, WI

Randi Stockwell, Cambridge, WI

Jordan Stoecker, Merrill, WI

Lauren Stoneman, Fitchburg, WI

Katerina Stuopis, Amherst, NH

Lia Sweeney, Redwood City, CA

Holden Swindell, Alexandria, VA

Cate Tarr, Washington, DC

Neha Thalpur, Madison, WI

Hannah Tiscornia, Madison, WI

Clinton Tompkins, Marshfield, WI

Avery Trohkimoinen, La Crosse, WI

Michael Trotier, Pewaukee, WI

Ruixuan Tu, Nanchang, China

Sophie Verkoulen, Libertyville, IL

Emma Vinopal, Eau Claire, WI

Shaelee Wallner, Wisconsin Rapids, WI

Eric Wan, Mequon, WI

Vivian Wang, Milwaukee, WI

Corey Ward, Hartland, WI

Luke Weiss, Roslyn, NY

Kayla Wells, Oconomowoc, WI

Victoria Wen, Jinan, China

Whitney West, Bend, OR

Katie Weston, Pewaukee, WI

Jack Wherry, Minnetonka, MN

Megan Wiertzema, Madison, WI

Maya Wille, Milwaukee, WI

Anna Williams, Westlake, OH

Danielle Williams, Glencoe, IL

Hunter Willis, Oshkosh, WI

Meghan Wokurka, Joliet, IL

Jesse Wolf, Vancouver, WA

Je-In Woo, Madison, WI

Maxwell Wu, New Berlin, WI

Sherrie Wu, Marinette, WI

Tianyi Xu, Qingdao, China

David Yang, Madison, WI

Nolan You, Palo Alto, CA

Wenhan Zhang, Beijing, China