The Phi Beta Kappa Society announced on May 19 that former University President Fred Lawrence will serve as its 10th Secretary and Chief Executive Officer, starting on Aug. 1.

He will head the organization’s national office in Washington, and his job will include fundraising and representing the organization as a national spokesman, according to a job posting on Chronicle Vitae.

The Phi Beta Kappa Society is the nation’s oldest honor society for college students in the liberal arts and sciences.

There are 286 active Phi Beta Kappa chapters at colleges across the country, including at Brandeis, and about 10 percent of graduates at each of those schools are invited to join the society each year.

Phi Beta Kappa also publishes a quarterly magazine, The American Scholar, and a member newsletter, The Key Reporter.

Lawrence succeeds current Phi Beta Kappa secretary John Churchill, who served for 14 years. In a press release, Lawrence said, “I am deeply honored by the opportunity to serve as Secretary. Phi Beta Kappa not only recognizes intellectual rigor and academic excellence, it also advocates for and embodies the values of the liberal arts and sciences, and its core tenets of free expression and academic freedom. These values have shaped me personally and professionally.”

Lawrence served as University President at Brandeis from 2011 to 2015, when he resigned.

He raised over $250 million while in office and restored the University to financial security. He is currently a senior research scholar at Yale University.

—Max Moran