Betas of achievement; being brief biographical records of members of the Beta theta pi who have achieved distinction in various fields of endeavor

Preface

Some five years ago the editor had occasion to examine the then newly issued volume of "Who's Who in America," and in doing so was struck with the number of names of members of the fraternity which occurred therein. In 1912, being called upon to review a later edition of the same book, he made a list of the members of the fraternity whose biographies were in that volume and, without attempting seriously to compare each name, was surprised to find that more than four hundred of the names in the book were those of Betas. The striking fact, however, was that in many instances the catalog of the fraternity frequently gave only the name and occupation of the person referred to, while a much fuller account of his career appeared in such book.

The membership of the fraternity has increased so rapidly that it has been necessary to restrict the information concerning each member listed in our catalog to the lowest terms. The result is that there is nowhere to be found outside of compilations like "Wlio's Who in America," or "Men of Science in America," an adequate presentation, even in briefest form, of the careers of many of our members. Consequently, it occurred to the editor that it would be a good idea at the present time, in order that the fraternity might become aware of the achievements of its members, to compile a book somewhat on the lines of "Who's Who in America" (omitting the vital statistics) and restricting it to those listed on our rolls, but including deceased members. Therefore, the catalog of the fraternity was examined with a view to determining who might properly be included in such a list, although naturally, a somewhat wider range of selection was permissable than tliat which had been employed in the older publication.

There were listed all executive officers of the United States

Government and of the different state governments (excepting persons occupying merely clerical or subordinate positions), all United States senators, congressmen and bureau chiefs ; the presidents of colleges of higher education ; the deans of schools of universities and colleges, having different departments, and persons having the full rank of professor in colleges of the first grade. There were also included persons who had attained the rank of major, or above, in the military service and the rank of lieutenant commander and above in the naval service ; all ministers and ambassadors to foreign countries, and United States consuls at the more important foreign posts. Also men who had served two or more terms in a state legislature or who in addition to other political preferment had been members of a constitutional convention and all who had been presiding officers of either the upper or lower house of a state legislature; also the mayors of large cities and the executive officers of important corporations. In addition there were included editors of periodicals of general circulation and of the more important technical journals, authors of works of reference or of two or more books of other character, and a number of miscellaneous persons not readily classified but who were deemed worthy of inclusion on general principles of prominence.

The plan of the proposed book was submitted to the fraternity and its publication was authorized by the convention of 1913. As a preliminary step, there was prepared a biographical memorandum for each person whose name had been selected to be included and there was sent to all who were not known to be deceased a copy of such memorandum concerning himself with the request that such memorandum be corrected and returned. In the great majority of cases this was promptly done, but some names have been included where the memoranda has not had the benefit of such personal revision. Photographs were also requested, but this request was so generally disregarded, that we have been obliged to secure the bulk of the illustrations in the book from other sources. Several persons sent prints from half tones or engravings which could not be mechan-

PREFACE 5

ically reproduced with success, and others sent poor photos which could not be used, and consequently the selection of photographs may be regarded as a purely arbitrary one for which the editor alone is responsible.

There are doubtless in the book many errors of inclusion and exclusion. They are unavoidable in a compilation of this kind. For instance, we might find a man listed as "President and General Manager of the Amalgamated Universal Machinery Company," when actually he has a desk room in a small office building in a village, and another man listed as "Sixth Vice President of the General Oil Company and Local Superintendent," and find that he has charge of a business of millions of dollars a year and has under his jurisdiction an army of thousands of men. The necessary knowledge to make the right selection is not within the grasp of any one person. It may very well result, therefore, that persons widely known within their own communities have been omitted and those relatively obscure have been included. If attention is called to such fact, a record will be made of them for future use, if occasion for such use should ever arise. The statements are doubtless inaccurate somewhat in detail, due to forgetfulness, and the usual percentage of error arising from the transcription of hundreds of names with constantly recurring identical descriptive phrases and the usual errors of typesetting. The fraternity is to be congratulated on the magnificent showing it is enabled to make.

Wm. Raimond Baird Stevens, '78; Columbia, '82 September 1, 1914.