About Us

Phi Kappa Phi Forum, Fall 2009

P hi Kappa Phi Forum is the multidisciplinary quarterly magazine of The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi. Each issue of the awardwinning journal reaches more than 100,000 active members as well as government officials, scholars, educators, university administrators, public and private libraries, leaders of charitable and learned organizations, corporate executives and many other types of subscribers.

It is the flagship publication of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation's oldest, largest and most selective all-discipline honor society, with chapters on more than 300 college and university campuses across the country. Phi Kappa Phi was founded in 1 897 at the University of Maine and upwards of one miflion members spanning the academic disciplines have been initiated since the Society's inception. Notable alumni include former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, former NASA astronaut Wendy Lawrence, The Ohio State University head football coach Jim Tressel, writer John Grisham, YouTube co-founder/CEO Chad Hurley and poet Rita Dove. The Society began publishing what's now called Phi Kappa Phi Forum in 1915.

Spring, summer and fall issues

The spring, summer and fall issues (usually mailed late February, late May and late August, respectively) feature a variety of timely, relevant articles from influential scholars, educators, writers and other authorities, oftentimes active Phi Kappa Phi members, who offer variations on an overall theme.

Notables to have contributed pieces include Ronald Reagan, fortieth President of the United States; Myrlie Evers-Williams. civil rights trailblazer; Warren Burger, the fifteenth Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court; Molefi Kete Asante. African-Americanstudiesgroundbreaker; Sally Ride, former NASA astronaut; Ernest Gaines, fiction writer; and Geoffrey Gilmore. former director of the Sundance Film Festival.

Phi Kappa Phi Forum also encourages movers and shakers to speak for themselves through exclusive interviews. Q & As have run the gamut from public servants such as Lynne Cheney, former chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities, to famous artists such as playwright August Wilson to literary critics such as Stanley Fish.

(For other significant contributors, go to www.PhiKappaPhi.org/Web/Publications/Forum/about_forum.html.)

The spring, summer and fall issues further contain columns on fields such as education and academics, science and technology, and arts and entertainment in addition to book reviews, poetry and cartoons. Plus, these issues compile member news, chapter updates and Society developments, along with letters to the editor, the Phi Kappa Phi bookshelf and general announcements of interest to keep readers abreast of Society programs and activities.

Through words and images. Web links and multimedia components, the magazine intends to appeal to the diverse membership of Phi Kappa Phi by providing thoughtful, instructive, helpful and sometimes provocative - material in smart, engaging ways.

Winter issue

The winter issue (mailed late November) celebrates those who win monetary awards from Phi Kappa Phi. The Society distributes more than $800,000 annually through graduate and undergraduate scholarships, member and chapter awards, and grants for local and national literacy initiatives, and Phi ?a??a Phi Forum applauds the recipients in this edition, listing them all and spotlighting a few.

(For more information about Phi Kappa Phi monetary awards, go to www.phikappaphi.org/Web/Scholarships/.)

As an arm of the Society, Phi Kappa Phi Forum helps uphold the institution's mission: "To recognize and promote academic excellence in all fields of higher education and to engage the community of scholars in service to others."