BATON ROUGE, LA — Giselle Schmitz of Hidden Valley Lake, California, was recently awarded a Love of Learning Award worth $1,000 from The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation's oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines.

Schmitz is one of 200 recipients to receive the award.

Love of Learning Awards are designed to help fund post-baccalaureate professional development for active Phi Kappa Phi members including graduate or professional studies, doctoral dissertations, continuing education, travel related to teaching and research, career development and more.

Schmitz, a PhD student and Arrell Scholar at the University of Guelph, will use funds from the award to complete a PhD in geography focusing on access and equity in commercial fisheries in the Pacific.

Schmitz was initiated into Phi Kappa Phi in 2022 at Fordham University.

Established in 2007, the Love of Learning Program gives 200 awards annually in support of post-baccalaureate professional development. The selection process for a Love of Learning Award is based on the applicant's academic achievement, campus and community service, intended use of award funds as it relates to academic and career goals, and a personal statement.

Since 1932, Phi Kappa Phi's award programs have recognized members and students on its chapter campuses for outstanding academic achievement. In addition to the Love of Learning Program, Phi Kappa Phi awards graduate and dissertation fellowships, study abroad grants, and grants for local, national and international literacy initiatives. Each year more than $1 million is awarded through programs.

Founded in 1897, Phi Kappa Phi is the nation's oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines. Phi Kappa Phi inducts approximately 20,000 students, faculty, professional staff and alumni annually. The Society has chapters on more than 300 select colleges and universities in the United States, its territories 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.

The society's mission is to “cultivate a community that celebrates and advances the love of learning.”

For more information, visit www.PhiKappaPhi.org.