The Phi Beta Kappa Association of Greater Tucson was formed by a small "Town and Gown" group of Phi Beta Kappans who met in 2000. We received our charter from The Phi Beta Kappa Society on December 6, 2003. Mr. Hugh Rose (Alpha of Arizona) was elected our first President. He served a two-year term, after which Donald Tempkin, M.D (Epsilon of the University of Southern California) was elected President.  He has served as President with distinction for fourteen years. Since our inception, the membership has grown to about two hundred, including Friends and Benefactors of the Association. PBK-AGT holds elections for President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and at-large Board members every two years.​

PBK President, Dolores Durán-Cerda, Ph.D., Acting Provost at Pima Community College, has been a member of Phi Beta Kappa since 1988. Since 2014 has been secretary of the Tucson Association. She writes and distributes the Association’s newsletters, co-coordinates the speakers for PBK-AGT events and has a particular interest in the scholarship programs.

Vice President, Jeanne Clarke, is Professor Emerita of the School of Government and Public Policy at the University of Arizona. She is a founding member of the Phi Beta Kappa Association of Greater Tucson, and has served on the Board of Directors for 16 years. Jeanne also served as president of the Alpha of Arizona chapter for several terms in the 1990s.

Secretary, Diane Paine joined PBK in 1982, through the Eta of Massachusetts Chapter at Wellesley College. She has been active in the Tucson Association since the spring of 2008 and Director-at-Large since 2014. She represented the PBK Association at two Triennial Councils. She takes particular interest in the scholarship programs.

Former President, Donald L. Tempkin, M.D., has been a member of Phi Beta Kappa since 1965. He is a graduate of the University of Southern California with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He served as the president of the Phi Beta Kappa Association of Greater Tucson for 14 years and has attended two Triennial Councils.

Bruce Barrett was elected to PBK in 1961 at the University of Kansas with a BSc in Physics. After obtaining a PhD in theoretical physics from Stanford University in 1967, he came to the University of Arizona in September 1970.He joined the local chapter of PBK soon his arrival. He was President of Alpha of Arizona for several years and he helped found the PBK Association of Greater Tucson.