Fifty-eight members of MIT's Class of 2002 were elected to membership in Phi Beta Kappa this year.
A lecture and initiation ceremony will be held tomorrow (June 6) and is open to all Phi Beta Kappa members at MIT, wherever initiated. This year's speaker will be Samuel Jay Keyser, the Peter de Florez Emeritus Professor, an emeritus member of the linguistics and philosophy faculty, and special assistant to the chancellor. His talk, "See the Pyramids Along the Nile," will take place at 2:45 p.m. in Killian Hall and will be followed by the initiation ceremony and a reception.
Founded in 1776, Phi Beta Kappa honors the nation's most outstanding undergraduate students for excellence in the liberal arts and sciences.
The newly elected students and their majors are Benjamin J. Balas of Monroeville, Penn. (brain and cognitive sciences [BCS]); Sanjay Basu of Lisle, Ill. (BCS); Richard D. Burstein of Arlington (physics and mathematics); Paul M. Chang of Glenview, Ill. (electrical engineering and computer science [EECS] and mathematics); Yi-Ning Cheng of San Diego (biology); Vanessa J. Cheung of Murrysville, Penn. (biology); Matthew J. Craighead of Mendota Heights, Minn. (EECS); Emily M. Craparo of Destin, Fla. (aeronautics and astronautics); Caroline C. Cutting of Narragansett, R.I. (mathematics).
Sudeb C. Dalai of Nevada, Mo. (BCS); Julia R. de Kadt of Durban, South Africa (BCS); Dobrin D. Draganov of Rousse, Bulgaria (biology); Jennifer A. Erwin of San Jose, Calif. (biology); Ahmed M. Ghazi of Cairo (chemistry); Lianne A. Habinek of Rochester, Minn. (BCS and literature); Jessica A. Hall of Woodstock, N.Y. (political science); Alexander E. Hasha of Arlington, Va. (mathematics); Marketa Havlickova of Prague (mathematics); Radha K. Iyengar of Mohegan Lake, N.Y. (economics); Maria S. Jelescu of Bucharest (economics and management); Allison M. Johnson of Detroit (chemical engineering).
Payal Kohli of Aurora, Colo. (biology and BCS); Abhinav Kumar of Jameshedpur, India (EECS, physics and mathematics); Chia-Hao La of Ridgefield Park, N.J. (EECS); Evonne C. Leeper of Tuscaloosa, Ala. (biology); Ana Li of Lake Forest, Calif. (economics); Sheng Li of Elmhurst, N.Y. (chemical engineering); Adora A. Lin of Granville, Ohio (biology); Monica L. Linden of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. (BCS and mathematics); Esa H. Hsien Masood of Singapore (EECS); Trisha M. Montalbo of State College, Penn. (materials science and engineering and physics); Daniel F. Morris of Santa Monica, Calif. (biology).
Lincoln Tse Kai Neo of Singapore (mechanical engineering and economics); Ian J. Parrish of Centralia, Ill. (physics and nuclear engineering); Brian A. Pasquinelli of St. Marys, Penn. (economics and mathematics); Vinod Rao of Monroeville, Penn. (biology and BCS); Daniel P. Riordan of Eatontown, N.J. (biology and mathematics); Jeffrey C. Roberts of Pittsfield (urban studies and planning); Hillary K. Rolls of Harrisonville, Mo. (BCS); Jill A. Rosenfeld of Cincinnati (biology).
Anand D. Sarwate of Urbana, Ill. (EECS and mathematics); Tamara L. Schlauch of Perry, Ohio (mathematics); John P. Ying-Ching Shen of St. Louis (chemistry); Angell C. Shieh of Princeton Junction, N.J. (biology); Brian C. Theisen of Wilmington, N.C. (BCS); Senkodan Thevendran of Singapore (EECS and economics); Luke D. Tomycz of Flint, Mich. (biology and chemical engineering); Michael M. Torrice of Chelmsford (chemistry); Daniel L. Tortorice of Bristol, R.I. (economics and mathematics); Michael J. Tsai of Etna, N.H. (EECS).
Urvashi M. Upadhyay of Concord (BCS); Kaitya J. Vadgama of Calgary (chemical engineering and urban studies and planning); Winston Wang of Voorheesville, N.Y. (EECS and mathematics); Hoe Teck Wee of Singapore (EECS and mathematics); Chuohao Yeo of Singapore (EECS); Patricia Young of Baldwin, N.Y. (chemistry and economics); Sheryl H. Yu Villa of Manila, the Philippines (chemical engineering); Boris Zbarsky of Rockville, Md. (physics and mathematics).
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on June 5, 2002.
