Phi Beta Kappa was founded in 1776 as a debating society. Our motto, Φιλοσοφία Βίου Κυβερνήτης, means literally (in modern Greek) “The love of wisdom is the governor of life” (note for fans of Star Trek and the Odyssey: the word Κυβερνήτης originally meant “helmsman”). In his 1837 address to Phi Beta Kappa, Ralph Waldo Emerson urged the members of Phi Beta Kappa to use their wisdom to benefit their country: “the scholar is the delegated intellect… Him the past instructs. Him the future invites… A nation of men will for the first time exist, because each believes himself inspired by the Divine Soul which also inspires all men.”

University of Illinois: Gamma of Illinois Chapter

The Gamma of Illinois chapter has been honoring outstanding undergraduate performance in the Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois since 1907. Accomplished members of our chapter include Nobel Prize Winners Edward Doisy, Robert W. Holley, and Edwin G. Krebs, Pulitzer Prize Winners Richard Powers and James Reston, and the former governor of New Jersey, Jon Corzine.