The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi

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14-Year-Old Biomedical Engineering Student Initiated into Phi Kappa Phi at University of California, Davis

Baton Rouge, LA (05/09/2018) — Tanishq Abraham of Sacramento, California, was initiated into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi-the nation's oldest and most selective all-discipline collegiate honor society-on Tuesday, May 8. At only 14 years old, Tanishq is one of the youngest members to join Phi Kappa Phi.

From a very early age, Tanishq was fascinated by all things science. He channeled this love of learning into his education and began to excel in academics.

At the age of 7, Tanishq started taking college courses at American River College, a community college in his hometown, while concurrently completing his high school degree. By 11 years old, he had earned three associate's degrees from the college and graduated at this top of his class. At 12 years old, Tanishq was accepted into UC Davis and began studies in biomedical engineering during the fall of 2016.

"Being passionate about medical and engineering fields, I decided I would pursue a multidisciplinary field like biomedical engineering for my undergraduate degree," explained Tanishq.

With his credits earned from American River College, Tanishq started at UC Davis as a junior and began working as an undergraduate research intern in the university's Biomedical Engineering Department.

Just like any college student, he experienced the challenges that can accompany coursework, exams, studying and more. It was evident, though, that his hard work and achievements paid off when he received his invitation to join The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi this spring.

Tanishq is among approximately 30,000 students, faculty, professional staff and alumni to be initiated into Phi Kappa Phi each year. Membership in the Society by invitation only and requires nomination and approval by a chapter. Only the top 10 percent of seniors and 7.5 percent of juniors are eligible for membership. Graduate students in the top 10 percent of the number of candidates for graduate degrees may also qualify, as do faculty, professional staff and alumni who have achieved scholarly distinction.

Tanishq, who will graduate from UC Davis in June, is gearing up for the next phase of his academic career: the pursuit of a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering. In January of this year, Tanishq was accepted into the biomedical engineering graduate program at UC Davis and received the Deans' Distinguished Graduate Fellowship, which guarantees five years of funding.

Phi Kappa Phi was founded in 1897 under the leadership of Marcus L. Urann who had a desire to create a different kind of honor society: one that recognized excellence in all academic disciplines. Today, the Society has chapters on more than 300 campuses in the United States and the Philippines. Its mission is "To recognize and promote academic excellence in all fields of higher education and to engage the community of scholars in service to others."

More About Phi Kappa Phi
Since its founding, 1.5 million members have been initiated into Phi Kappa Phi. Some of the organization's notable members include former President Jimmy Carter, UC Davis Chancellor Gary May, NASA astronaut Wendy Lawrence, novelist John Grisham and YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley. Each biennium, Phi Kappa Phi awards $1.4 million to qualifying students and members through graduate fellowships, undergraduate study abroad grants, member and chapter awards, and grants for local, national and international literacy initiatives. For more information about Phi Kappa Phi, visit www.phikappaphi.org.

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