The Kolb Society awarded its first fellowship in 1981. Since that date numerous graduate students from across the University have been inducted into the society as Junior Fellows based on academic excellence and participation in fields of study related to the Penn Museum. Junior Fellows have been drawn from the graduate groups and departments of Ancient History, Anthropology, Art and Archaeology of the Mediterranean World, Art History, Classical Studies, East Asian Languages and Civilizations, and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations. Professors from those departments are elected as Kolb Senior Fellows, guiding the work of Junior Fellows of the Society.

Currently there are eleven Senior Fellows representing Anthropology, Art and Archaeology of the Mediterranean World, Art History, Classical Studies, and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations. The Director of the Penn Museum serves as the President of the Society. As each Junior Fellow graduates, they become a lifelong Fellow of the Kolb Society as they move on in their career. Since 1981 the Kolb Society has graduated nearly 100 Fellows, who have followed up their graduate work with academic careers, fieldwork, and research reflecting the interests of the Kolb Society.

The Society itself is unique—the only academic society supporting graduate work. In this way, the Kolb Society has formed strong bonds among its Junior and Senior Fellows based at Penn, and its graduated and far-flung Fellows. From the hub of the Penn Museum, the Kolb Society and its fellows have spread throughout the world to academic institutions and excavations furthering the pursuit of archaeology.