Phi Kappa Psi (), also called "Phi Psi", is an American collegiate social fraternity founded at Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania on February 19, 1852. There are over a hundred chapters and colonies at accredited four year colleges and universities throughout the United States.
More than 112,000 men have been initiated into Phi Kappa Psi since its founding, and many have achieved recognition in their field. Phi Psis in public service include U.S. President and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Woodrow Wilson, over a hundred members of Congress (including 18 senators and Speaker of the House Warren Keifer), three-term New York City Mayor and Bloomberg L.P. founder Mike Bloomberg, over a dozen state governors, two directors of the Peace Corps, and "Wild Bill" Donovan, the founding director of the Office of Strategic Services (the Central Intelligence Agency's predecessor) and recipient of the Medal of Honor and of the Freedom Award. Academian Phi Psis include over a dozen university presidents (among these are Priestley Medal recipient Edgar Fahs Smith, and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Detlev Bronk), Rhodes scholars, and Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Frederick Jackson Turner. Amidst the Phi Psis who have served in the military are dozens of generals and admirals, including "Father of the U.S. Air Force" Billy Mitchell, World War I Army Chief of Staff Tasker Bliss, National Security Agency director Kenneth Minihan, and three Judge Advocate Generals. In the arts, Phi Psis have received Academy Awards, Emmys, Golden Globes, Grammys, and Tony Awards. Journalist Sy Hersh has won the Pulitzer Prize, Orwell Award and George Polk Award. Phi Psi businessmen include Bank of America founder Orra E. Monnette, Dow Chemical founder Herbert Dow, PIMCO founder Bill Gross, and Yahoo! founder Jerry Yang. Three Phi Psis have served as presidents of the American Bar Association. Sportsmen include Heisman Trophy winner Nile Kinnick, Olympic gold medalists including 7-time gold swimmer Mark Spitz, "Father of College Basketball Coaching" Phog Allen, NFL visionary Tex Schramm, and Commissioner of Baseball Ford Frick.
An active member of the fraternity is a full-time enrolled student at his chapter's host institution at the undergraduate, graduate, or post-graduate level; all others, including members who have graduated or transfer to a school without a Phi Psi chapter, are considered alumni. Men may be initiated into Phi Kappa Psi either by an active chapter, or as part of a colony that is being installed as a chapter. Members typically join Phi Kappa Psi when a chapter extends an offer to enter into a probationary period known as pledgeship, which lasts for six weeks and concludes with initiation.
Membership is normally only granted to men who are enrolled as full-time students at a chapter's host institution. There have been three exceptions to this: 1. Alumni of a colony which became a chapter after their graduation, and for two years after. 2. Men who have been of service to a chapter, but not students at the institution. 3. Honorary membership extended to men of prominence, a practice that was banned in 1885. __TOC__
Academia Name Original chapter Initiationyear Notability Pennsylvania Eta 1885 President of Franklin & Marshall College (1910–1935) South Carolina Alpha 1857 President of the University of Georgia (1889–1898) Indiana Alpha 1877 President of the University of Southern California (1903–1921) Pennsylvania Kappa 1915 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient (1964); a founder (1960) and past President of the World Academy of Art and Science; President of Rockefeller University (1953–1968); President of the National Academy of Sciences (1950–1962); President of Johns Hopkins University (1949–1953); credited with formulating the modern theory of the science of biophysics; allegedly a member of the Majestic 12 Pennsylvania Epsilon 1893 Dod Professor of Mathematics at Princeton University (1929–1945) Indiana Beta 1879 Prominent economist of the Austrian School; President of the American Economic Association (1913) Kansas Alpha 1888 Chancellor of Washington University (1923–1927); Governor of Missouri (1909–1913) Indiana Alpha 1933 President of the University of Hawaii (1963–1967); President of the State University of New York (1959–1962) West Virginia Alpha 1964 President of West Virginia University (1995–2007); Rhodes Scholar (1967) Pennsylvania Beta 1883 One of three advisors to President Wilson at the Paris Peace Conference, 1919, medieval historian at Harvard University (1912–1931) Illinois Alpha 1879 President of the University of Illinois (1904–1920); founder and President of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (1889–1895) Nebraska Beta 1970 President of Creighton University (2011–2015); President of Saint Joseph's University (2003–2011) Wisconsin Gamma 1906 Economist, lawyer, and business executive; CEO of the Chicago Association of Commerce and Industry (1939–1954); Executive vice-president of the Brookings Institution (1932–1939); Dean of Washington University's School of Commerce and Finance (1923–1925); 25th President of Phi Kappa Psi (1936–1938) South Carolina Alpha 1859 President of Virginia Tech (1891–1907); President of the University of South Carolina (1883–1891) New York Alpha 1885 Physicist; chair of Cornell's Physics department (1919–1935); president of the American Physical Society (1914–1916); first dean of Cornell's Graduate School (1909–1914); co-founder of Physical Review (1893) Kansas Alpha 1919 Economist; first dean of the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management; member of Franklin D. Roosevelt's Brain Trust Indiana Alpha 1935 President of Pennsylvania State University (1970–1983); Executive Vice President of the University of California (1968–1970); President of the University of Kentucky (1963–1968) Pennsylvania Alpha 1921 President of Washington & Jefferson College (1950–1970) California Gamma 1920 University of California Regent (1940–1972); Democratic National Committee Treasurer (1930s–1940s); namesake of the Pauley Pavilion (sports arena at UCLA) Nebraska Beta 1979 President of Creighton University (2000–2011); President of the University of San Francisco (1991–2000) Pennsylvania Epsilon 1873 Priestley Medal recipient (1926); Provost of the University of Pennsylvania (1911–1920); President of the American Philosophical Society (1902–1908); President of the American Chemical Society (1895, 1921); first editor of The Shield of Phi Kappa Psi; founder of Phi Psi's University of Pennsylvania chapter (1877) Virginia Gamma 1867 President of Hampden–Sydney College (1904) Ohio Beta 1901 President of Wittenberg University (1920–1949) Pennsylvania Eta 1916 President of Anne Arundel Community College (1961–1968); President of Hood College (1948–1961); 27th President of Phi Kappa Psi (1940–1942) Wisconsin Alpha 1878 Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for History for The Significance of Sections in American History (1933); professor of history at the University of Wisconsin (1890–1910) and Harvard University (1911–1924); President of the American Historical Association (1910); authored The Significance of the Frontier in American History (1893)
Arts, entertainment, and journalism
Drama
Name Original chapter Initiationyear Notability Maryland Alpha 1949 Actor famous for his role as Gomez Addams in The Addams Family television series; received an Academy Award nomination for Prelude, a short film that he wrote, produced, and directed Ohio Lambda 1982 Actor famous for playing Kevin 'Ug' Lee on the Nickelodeon sitcom Salute Your Shorts. Later known for voice acting roles as Tetsuya Kajiwara in Fushigi Yûgi, Millions Knives in Trigun, and Shin in Cowboy Bebop Illinois Alpha 1994 Actor, director, screenwriter, producer; played Dr. John Dorian on the television series Scrubs; won a Grammy Award for the Garden State soundtrack California Theta 1968 Actor in Masters of the Universe (film) & Road House (1989 film) as well as TV shows Star Trek: Voyager & Highlander: The Series. Well-known stunt choreographer. New York Alpha 1992 Actor and playwright, co-founder of The Defiant Ones writing and performance group Minnesota Beta 1946 Actor; won a Golden Globe Award for portraying James Phelps on the Mission: Impossible television series, and an Emmy Award for hosting Biography New York Zeta 1897 Actor and theater manager Pennsylvania Gamma 1962 Actor who earned an Emmy award for guest appearances on The Practice, and a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his portrayal of Frank Gardner in Mrs. Warren's Profession, Fulbright scholar California Delta 1982 Academy Award-nominated producer and screenwriter for Good Night, and Good Luck New York Zeta 1907 Stage, screen and television actor California Epsilon 1935 Produced the first three seasons of The Twilight Zone New York Alpha 1981 Actor who portrayed Liam Kincaid in Earth: Final Conflict California Delta 2010 Actor; played the role of Cato in The Hunger Games New York Alpha 1908 Academy Award-nominated actor; best known for playing five separate characters, including the title character, in The Wizard of Oz (1939). Kansas Alpha 1923 Actor and bandleader; starred in Wings (1927), the first movie to win the Academy Award for Best Picture; married movie legend and "America's Sweetheart" Mary Pickford Pennsylvania Eta 1954 Academy Award-winning Actor who portrayed Martin Brody in Jaws, won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in The French Connection, and was nominated for an Academy Award for his portrayal of Joe Gideon in All That Jazz Virginia Beta 1987 Actor, played the role of Christian in Clueless
Journalism and media Name Original chapter Initiationyear Notability Indiana Beta 1982 Broadcast journalist at WCBS-TV Kansas Alpha 1942 Television commercial advertising executive; wrote, produced and directed the original Mr. Clean television commercials and composed the "Mr. Clean" advertising jingle Illinois Beta 1956 Journalist and recipient of the Pulitzer Prize, Orwell Award and George Polk Award Indiana Beta 1923 Rhodes Scholar; New Hampshire State Representative (1969–1972, Majority Leader); directed Look Magazine (1939–1952); editor of Scribner's Magazine (1936–1939) Ohio Alpha 1866 First Executive Director of the Port of Tacoma (1918–1921); University of Washington Board of Regents (1910–1922); editor-in-chief of The Olympian (1891–1892); drafted the constitution adopted by North Dakota when it became a state in 1889; correspondent for the Chicago Tribune and the New York Herald, covered the 1877 flight of Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce to Montana and their final battle with the US Army, as well the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876; founder of Phi Psi's New York Alpha chapter at Cornell University Illinois Beta 1940 Feature film and television producer Pennsylvania Rho 1992 Financial writer and publisher Indiana Beta 1962 Founder and editor-in-chief of The American Spectator, New York Times bestselling author, and columnist New Hampshire Alpha 1927 Pioneering television executive and Emmy Award winner; creator of "The Today Show" and "The Tonight Show;" father of actress Sigourney Weaver
Literature
Name Original chapter Initiationyear Notability Indiana Gamma 1878 Humorist who first wrote for The Hawk Eye, and then for The Brooklyn Daily Eagle Indiana Alpha 1883 Poet and writer known as the "Hoosier Poet" Indiana Beta 1962 Screenwriter, playwright and novelist; won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Breaking Away Ohio Delta 1918 Tony Award-winning author and humorist, namesake of the Thurber Prize for American Humor New York Alpha 1995 Screenwriter who won an Emmy Award for his work with Late Night with Conan O'Brien in 2007
Music