The Fellowship will enable Barrera, who graduated in May from Winthrop with a biology
degree, to pursue a medical degree from the University of South Carolina program in
Greenville. Barrera was one of four seniors to receive the President's Award for Academic Excellence
at the undergraduate Commencement for having the top grade point average in the class.
ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA — John William (J.W.) Barrera of Florence, South Carolina, was awarded a $5,000 Fellowship this summer by The Honor
Society of Phi Kappa Phi for the 2016-17 academic year.
The Fellowship will enable Barrera, who graduated in May from Winthrop with a biology
degree, to pursue a medical degree from the University of South Carolina program in Greenville. He is the son of Dorie Sturgill and John M. Barrera of Florence.
Barrera was one of four seniors to receive the President's Award for Academic Excellence at the undergraduate Commencement for having the top grade point average in the class.
He was a member of four honor societies: Book and Key, Alpha Lambda Delta, Omicron
Delta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi. He also served as a member of the fraternity Pi Kappa
Phi, the Council of Student Leaders, the Fraternal Conduct Board and the Parking Appeals
Committee, and was the undergraduate student representative on the Strategic Planning
Work Group on Retention.
Since its creation in 1932, the Fellowship program has become one of the society's most visible and financially well-supported endeavors,
allocating nearly $380,000 annually to deserving students for first-year graduate
study. Currently, six Fellowships of $15,000 and 51 Fellowships of $5,000 are awarded
each year.
Founded in 1897 and headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Phi Kappa Phi is the nation's oldest, largest and most selective all-discipline honor society.
Phi Kappa Phi inducts annually more than 30,000 students, faculty, professional staff
and alumni. The society has chapters on more than 300 select colleges and universities
in North America and the Philippines. Membership is by invitation only to the top
10 percent of seniors and graduate students and 7.5 percent of juniors. Faculty, professional
staff and alumni who have achieved scholarly distinction also qualify.
For more information on Phi Kappa Phi, please call 800/804-9880 or e-mail fellows@phikappaphi.org.
