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Hotchkiss Elected to Phi Beta Kappa Senate

October 23, 2009

press release courtesy of Phi Beta Kappa

The Phi Beta Kappa Society is pleased to announce the election of Valerie Hotchkiss to its senate. The decision was made October 3 at the Society's 42nd Triennial Council in Austin, Texas. Hotchkiss will serve a six-year term.

Hotchkiss is the head of the Rare Book and Manuscript Library; professor of medieval studies, religious studies, and library science; and director of the Midwest Book and Manuscript Studies Program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her most recent book, English in Print from Caxton to Shakespeare to Milton, written with Fred Robinson, was published by the University of Illinois Press in 2008.

Hotchkiss earned her bachelor's degree in classical languages and literatures in 1982 from the University of Cincinnati, where she graduated summa cum laude and became a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

In response to her election, Hotchkiss remarked, "As a scholar-librarian, I feel that I can bring a useful perspective to discussions of the changing world of scholarly communications that will be part of the work of Phi Beta Kappa in the 21st century."

"As academic communities evolve, the place of Phi Beta Kappa as a golden standard and a unifying force on our campuses has never been more important,” she added.

"Phi Beta Kappa is very fortunate to have secured the services of Valerie Hotchkiss as a senator," observed John Churchill, secretary and chief executive officer of the Society.

Other senators elected in Austin are as follows: YOLANDA BROYLES-GONZALEZ, University of Arizona; FRED H. CATE, Indiana University; LINDA GREENHOUSE, Yale Law School; GEORGE GREENIA, College of William and Mary; JEAN E. HOWARD, Columbia University; ROBERT C. KOONS, University of Texas at Austin; RACHEL MORAN, Berkeley Law School; GILDA L. OCHOA, Pomona College; LYNN PASQUERELLA, University of Hartford; JEFFREY T. SAMMONS, New York University; ANDREW D. MCNITT, Eastern Illinois University; THEOPOLIS FAIR, La Salle University; MICHAEL GAUGER, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; KATE LEHMAN, Arizona State University.

"Members of our senate serve as the directors who guide the Society in matters of policy and set the direction for Phi Beta Kappa's future. This group of senators brings a deep understanding of education in the liberal arts and sciences and a variety of perspectives for assessing the best ways to advance the values of liberal education in American society. I look forward to working with them," Churchill said.

About the Phi Beta Kappa Society

Founded in 1776, Phi Beta Kappa is the nation's oldest academic honor society. It has chapters at 280 institutions and more than half a million members throughout the country. Its mission is to champion education in the liberal arts and sciences, to recognize academic excellence, and to foster freedom of thought and expression. Among its programs are academic and literary awards, lectureships, a fellowship, a professorship, and publication of The American Scholar, an award-winning quarterly journal.

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