Student, professors receive PBK awards
PBK Awards (Left to right) Barbara Watkinson, Allison Oldham '13 and Robert Leventhal pose for a photo with their awards. Photo courtesy of Matthew Allar
The College of William & Mary’s Alpha of Virginia chapter of Phi Beta Kappa recently gathered for the annual celebration of its members’ academic and professional achievements.
On Feb. 28, the chapter held a dinner in honor of Allison Oldham ’13, an outstanding student in mathematics and economics; Robert Leventhal, associate professor of German studies in modern languages and literatures; and Barbara Watkinson, associate professor of art and art history.
Leventhal was awarded the John D. Rockefeller Award for the Advancement of Scholarship, and Watkinson received the Rockefeller Award for Excellence in Teaching. Oldham was presented an award for academic achievement in honor of Clyde Haulman, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Economics.
Founded by five students at the College of William & Mary in 1776, during the American Revolution, Phi Beta Kappa, for over two and a quarter centuries, has embraced the principles of freedom of inquiry and liberty of thought and expression.
According to the national PBK website, “Laptops have replaced quill
pens, but these ideas, symbolized on Phi Beta Kappa's distinctive gold key,
still lay the foundations of personal freedom, scientific inquiry, liberty of
conscience and creative endeavor.
“Phi Beta Kappa celebrates and advocates excellence in the liberal arts and
sciences. Its campus chapters invite for induction the most outstanding arts
and sciences students at America’s leading colleges and universities. The society
sponsors activities to advance these studies — the humanities, the social
sciences, and the natural sciences — in higher education.”
Additional information about the College of William & Mary’s founding chapter of Phi Beta Kappa may be found at: http://www.wm.edu/sites/pbk/index.php.
