Phi Beta Kappa Students to Be Honored at Induction Ceremony

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Christopher Moutos

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Four University of Arkansas students, who were all inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa honor society last year as juniors, will be honored at this year’s induction ceremony. Top seniors and a few select juniors from the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences will become members the nation’s oldest and most prestigious honor society during the ceremony at noon, Friday, May 10, in Giffels Auditorium in Old Main. The university community is invited to attend.

Christopher Moutos, who was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa in 2012, will be named Senior Scholar during the ceremony. Moutous is an Honors College Fellow with a double major in the biological sciences and chemistry/biochemistry with a 4.0 cumulative grade point average. He is a finalist for a Rhodes Scholarship . He was chosen for Phi Beta Kappa as a junior because of his outstanding undergraduate research on antimicrobial peptides as well as his service at both the Hope Cancer Resources in Springdale and the Peer Safety Project in the Springdale Public Schools. Moutos has been accepted at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, where he plans to specialize in pediatric medicine. He also received a Fulbright grant to teach English in Turkey, however, and may decide to delay medical school for a year. 

Three other outstanding students inducted into Phi Beta Kappa as juniors in 2012 will serve in the honorary role of ushers at this year’s initiation.

Grant Hodges is an Honors College senior majoring in political science with a cumulative 4.0 grade point average. He has been active in both the U of A College Republicans, serving as chairman, and the Associated Student Government, where he has served in many capacities, including chair of the Senate. Hodges plans a career in legislative research and government service.

Derek Pyland is an Honors College Fellow completing a degree in biochemistry with minors in mathematics, history, and anthropology, and he also has maintained a 4.0 grade point average. He has researched protein folding and disease biomarkers with professor Wesley Stites and has been accepted into medical school at UAMS. Ultimately, Pyland would like to work in global health.

Kaila Pianalto, another 4.0 senior and Honors College Fellow, is majoring in chemistry/biochemistry with minors in biology and Spanish. Her research in professor Frank Millett’s lab is on the effect of phosphorylation of cytochrome c on interactions between cytochrome c and cytochrome oxidase. Pianalta works in the Volunteer Interpreter Program in the Springdale schools and will attend Duke University Graduate School in the fall to study cell and molecular biology.

Phi Beta Kappa was founded December 5, 1776, at William and Mary College in Williamsburg, Va. The Alpha of Arkansas chapter at the University of Arkansas was chartered in 1932. Trish Starks, professor of history, serves as president of the U of A chapter. This year’s initiation speaker is Fulbright College Dean Robin Roberts