09/13/2007
OXFORD, Miss. – University of Mississippi doctoral student
and graduate assistant Deborah Worley of Oxford is one of
50 students nationwide to receive the inaugural Love of
Learning Award, a scholarship given by the Honor Society of
Phi Kappa Phi.
“The Phi Kappa Phi Love of Learning Award helped me by
providing support to present my dissertation research on
college students’ integrated work experiences at an
international conference,” Worley said.
Worley is pursuing a Ph.D. in higher education
administration and is slated to graduate in 2008. She plans
to seek a post-doctoral position in educational research or
a faculty position teaching student affairs and higher
education.
The Love of Learning scholarship program was initiated this
year to assist in funding graduate or professional studies,
doctoral dissertations, continuing education, career
development and travel related to teaching for active
members of the society.
Fifty awards of up to $500 each are given annually to those
applicants exhibiting academic success, community
involvement and leadership. Applicants must also include
detailed information regarding how the money will be
applied to their studies and what their plans are after
graduation.
Phi Kappa Phi, founded in 1897, is the nation’s oldest,
largest and most selective all-discipline honor society.
Membership is by invitation only and reserved for the top
10 percent of seniors and graduate students and 7.5 percent
of juniors at 300 select colleges and universities in North
America and the Philippines.
The honor society has initiated more than a million members
since its founding, including best-selling author John
Grisham, a graduate of the UM law school, and UM graduate
James Barksdale, former CEO of Netscape and president of
The Barksdale Group. Other notable members include Supreme
Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and former President
Jimmy Carter.
For more information on Phi Kappa Phi, go to