Clemson's Diane Smathers elected president of national Phi Kappa Phi honor society
Published: August 23, 2012
Clemson University
CLEMSON — Diane G. Smathers, associate vice provost and director of the Emeritus College at Clemson University, has been elected president of The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation’s oldest, largest and most selective all-discipline honor society.
She will hold the office until 2014. She was president-elect for the past two years and has been a member of Phi Kappa Phi’s national board of directors since 2007.
Prior to election to the national board, Smathers served on the society’s Membership Opportunities Committee and authored the white paper Phi Kappa Phi and the Distance Learner. She also is a 2005 recipient of a Phi Kappa Phi literacy grant.
“I am extremely pleased and honored to serve as the 29th president of the society,” said Smathers. “I look forward to working with the new board of directors, which is the most diverse board in our history, as we undertake a strategic planning ‘pause.’ My goal is to position Phi Kappa Phi to be an influencing factor not only in higher education, but in society in general.”
Smathers replaces William A. Bloodworth Jr., the recently retired president of Augusta State University.
Founded in 1897 at the University of Maine, Phi Kappa Phi is the nation’s oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines. The Society has chapters on more than 300 select colleges and universities in North America and the Philippines.
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