Arkansas Alpha Chapter of Tau Beta Pi Celebrates 100 Years on Campus

The Arkansas Alpha Chapter of Tau Beta Pi has welcomed a new class of initiates this spring as part of the continuing growth of this 100-year-old organization. In addition to the student initiates, professor Lalit Verma was an initiated as an Eminent Engineer. Verma serves as the department head for Biological Engineering and was nominated for membership based on his service to the college and continued efforts to effectively educate future engineers.  

This year, the Arkansas Alpha chapter is celebrating its centennial anniversary on campus. This spring, a banquet was held for all student and faculty members who were joined by Curtis Gomulinski, executive director and secretary-treasurer, and Brenda Kramer, the district nine director. During the coming academic year, the chapter plans on installing a new statue on campus in the shape of their symbol, the bent, to celebrate the 100-year anniversary.

In addition to initiating new members, elections for the 2014-15 officers for Arkansas Alpha were held. The new officers include the following:

• President: John Carradini
• Vice President: Rachel Reynolds
• Corresponding Secretary: Michaela Mertz
• Recording Secretary: Cale White
• Treasurer: Cody Johnson
• Program Chair: Emily Callaway
• Service Chair: Anna Arnaud
• Co-Initiate Trainers: Kayli Quinton and Jesus Martinez
• Publicity Chair: Hannah Smith

This year, the Arkansas Alpha chapter has awarded approximately $22,000 in scholarships to its members through the Ray L. Belknap class of 1919 Tau Beta Pi Scholarship. Awards are given for general academic funding, materials and supplies for design projects, and for travel to design competitions. Recipients for the 2014 calendar year are Anna Arnaud, John Carradini, Rachel Reynolds, Cale White, Hannah Smith, Hannah Koehn, Chris Plate, Kaitlin Denny, Ben Sissons, William Carlisle, Koura Sall, Michaela Mertz, Melanie Garcia, Chris Bayles, Daniel Huck, Tyler Scoggins, and Jake Pitts.

Tau Beta Pi is the oldest engineering honor society in the United States, and the second oldest Greek letter honor society to Phi Beta Kappa in the liberal arts. Tau Beta Pi’s public motto of “Integrity and Excellence in Engineering” serves as the founding principle for the organization. Currently, there are 248 active chapters of which Arkansas Alpha is the 28th oldest. The chapter is active in community service projects and promoting leadership in all disciplines of engineering.

To learn more about the Arkansas Alpha chapter of the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society, check out its website.