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Theta Tau was founded as the "Society of Hammer and Tongs," on
October 15, 1904, by Erich J. Schrader, Elwin L. Vinal, William M. Lewis,
and Isaac B. Hanks, mining engineering students at the University of
Minnesota. They agreed that character qualifications should have top
priority in membership selection.
FOUNDER SCHRADER
The Fraternity fulfilled the dream of its principal Founder, Erich
Schrader, that there be established in engineering a fraternity similar to
those already existing in law, medicine, and dentistry. Founder Schrader
established a record of service unequaled in the Fraternity's history. He
served as its first Grand Regent until 1919, and then for 35 years as Grand
Scribe. At its Founders' Golden Anniversary Convention (1954), Theta Tau
established the position of Counsellor to be held only by him. His
unselfish service continued until his death in 1962, at the age of 81. The
other Founders also maintained their interest in the Fraternity throughout
their lives. The last, Brother Vinal, passed away in 1971.
Brother Schrader was chiefly responsible for the Ritual, Constitution,
and the Bylaws adopted by the Founders. The first badge was a gold skull
with the letters T and T on its forehead, and a crossed hammer and tongs
beneath. The Constitution provided for the establishment of additional
chapters at other leading engineering schools, and the Fraternity soon
began to take on its national character.
Founder Hanks spoke of Theta Tau to his friend, Robert Downing, a member
of the Rhombohedron Club at Michigan College of Mines; after correspondence
and an inspection trip by Brother Hanks, the club (established in 1903) was
installed as Beta Chapter in 1906.
The oldest symbol of the Fraternity still in use is the coat of arms
adopted in 1906. It may only be displayed or worn by members.
Founder Lewis transferred to the Colorado School of Mines and there made
contact with the Square Set Club which became Gamma Chapter in 1907. The
Southwestern Alumni Association, the Fraternity's first, was established in
Douglas, Arizona, in 1908.
In 1911, representatives of the three chapters and the alumni
association met at the University of Minnesota for the first national
Convention, the name was changed to Theta Tau, a revised Ritual approved,
and the present badge adopted. Perhaps most important for its future
expansion, it was decided that Theta Tau would include all branches of
engineering.
In the next two years, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, and Eta Chapters were
installed. The Second Convention was held in Houghton, Michigan, in 1913.
That Convention designated The Gear of Theta Tau as the national
Fraternity's magazine and appointed Jack E. Haynes, A '08, as its first
Editor-in-Chief. Previously, the magazine had been published by Beta
Chapter with Herman H. Hopkins, B '08, as Editor. Brother Hopkins, a member
of the Rhombohedron Club, had been initiated by Beta Chapter as an alumnus.
He served until 1919 as the Grand Scribe, and later (1935) was elected
Grand Regent.
The Third Convention (1915) and the Fourth (1919) were held in
Cleveland, Ohio. Meanwhile, Theta, Iota, and Kappa Chapters were installed;
and the Fraternity was well established. Elected as Grand Regent in 1919
was Dr. George D. Louderback, E '96, a charter member of Epsilon Chapter.
During his tenure, rapid growth continued, with nine more chapters being
installed.
J. Sidney Marine, H '21, was elected Grand Regent in 1925, the youngest
one to serve in that position. In 1926, Donald D. Curtis, O Hon. '19, was
appointed Editor. He reorganized the magazine and established membership
files still in use. He later (1950-1952) served as Grand Regent.
Three more chapters were installed during the terms of Grand Regent Dr.
Richard J. Russell, E '19. He designed and issued the first 5,000
membership certificates and also designed the officer robes.
Joseph W. Howe, O '24, and Paul L. Mercer, O '21, became Editors of The
Gear in 1929 and for 32 years diligently maintained regular semiannual
publication despite economic conditions.
Fred Coffman, L '22, served as Grand Regent during the depression years
through 1935. Despite the conditions, three more chapters were installed. A
period of very conservative extension began during the thirties with
charters generally being granted only to petitioning long-established
locals.
Regional Conferences were established during Brother Hopkins' term as
Grand Regent (1935-37). Dr. John M. Daniels, N Hon. '22, was the last to
serve out his term as Grand Regent in the pre-World War II period. At the
1939 Convention, Russell G. Glass, S '24, the first of two charter members
of Sigma Chapter to serve in the Fraternity's top position, was elected
Grand Regent, and reelected in 1941. In 1940, Grand Regent Glass made a
nation-wide tour visiting nearly every chapter and many alumni associations.
At the 1941 Convention, Theta Tau began its tradition of honoring a student
chapter Delegate as the Convention's "Outstanding Delegate."
Because of World War II, Conventions were discontinued and chapters were
reduced in size, but few went inactive during this period. Brother Hopkins
was named Acting Grand Regent for the 27-month period that Grand Regent
Glass served abroad in the Navy. When Conventions were resumed in 1946,
Ralph W. Nusser, Z '28, was elected Grand Regent. During his term, the
chapters were unusually large due to the influx of returning veterans.
Norman B. Ames, GB '17, the charter member responsible for Gamma Beta
Chapter's affiliation with Theta Tau, was elected Grand Regent in 1948. He
was later to succeed Founder Schrader as Grand Scribe.
Donald D. Curtis, who a few months after his initiation into the
Fraternity had been appointed Editor in 1926, climaxed his years of
continuous service as a national officer with his term as Grand Regent
beginning in 1950. Another longtime Fraternity officer, Jamison Vawter, Z
'16, was elected Grand Regent for the term concluding Theta Tau's first
half century. He had served for 27 years as Grand Treasurer and was honored
by being the first for whom a Theta Tau Convention was named (1935).
The Founders' Golden Anniversary Convention was held in Minneapolis,
scheduled to include Founders' Day. It was a gala occasion marred only by
the absence of Founder Schrader and Editor Howe due to illness. It was
attended by Founders Lewis and Vinal, and by many Past Grand Regents,
including Brother Louderback.
A. Dexter Hinckley, T '25, was elected Grand Regent at the 1954 Convention.
During his first term, Brother Ames, newly elected Grand Scribe, resigned
to accept a Fulbright Lectureship in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). On his return,
he visited schools as Special Representative of the Executive Council to
promote extension. The position of Regional Director was established by the
1956 Convention.
At the 1958 Convention, Charles W. Britzius, A '33, was elected Grand
Regent, the restriction of membership to those who were white was removed,
and the Fraternity appropriated funds to support extension efforts.
Robert E. Pope, Z '52, appointed Grand Scribe in April, 1956, to succeed
Brother Ames, and repeatedly elected to that office for 38 years, was first
employed by the Fraternity as Travelling Secretary in October, 1959.
Brother William E. Franklin, Z '57, then Assistant Editor, was appointed
Editor-in-Chief of The Gear in 1961, succeeding Brothers Howe and Mercer.
He served until 1969.
At the Convention in 1962, William K. Rey, M '45, was elected Grand
Regent, and the Fraternity established the position of Executive Secretary
(now Executive Director) to which Brother Pope was appointed. In 1963, for
the first time, the Fraternity had a Central Office. Brother Britzius,
retiring as Grand Regent, was elected Grand Treasurer, a position he was to
hold for twelve years. The decade of the sixties was one of moderate growth
with seven new chapters installed. Annual alumni gifts, now so important to
the Fraternity, were first solicited in 1964.
OFFICIAL FLAG
The Convention in 1964 adopted the colony program as the standard route
which a local fraternity would follow in becoming a Theta Tau Chapter. It
also adopted the official flag featuring four quadrants - dark red in upper
left with the coat of arms and lower right with stepped gold letters "QT." The other two quadrants are
gold.
The four items of official jewelry remain the member's badge, gear pin
(called "sister pin" until 1994), pledge insigne, and official
recognition button. Other insignia have been adopted over the years. The
colony program sparked design of the simple colony pin, and colony pledge
pin, and contributed to adoption of an alternative flag divided along its length
into three equal sections, the left and right dark red with gold in the
center bearing dark red letters Q
and T arranged vertically. Other jewelry items are the Greek letter and
coat of arms recognition buttons, alumni charm, and Greek letter lavaliere.
The coat of arms is also available as a tie tac, in "Founders'
size," on a ring, cuff links, and the "annual award key."
Available since 1989 is the identification pin displaying the crest (hand
grasping hammer and tongs) and gear wheels with the member's name, chapter,
and year engraved on its face. To this may be attached an engraved bar for
each Theta Tau national meeting attended by the member.
The 1966 Convention elected C. Ramond Hanes, '24, another Sigma charter
member, as Grand Regent. The 1968 Convention elected Dr. Charles E. Wales,
'53, an Epsilon Beta charter member, as Grand Regent. The position of
Student Member of the Executive Council was created in 1970.
The Executive Council Bulletin, in newsletter format, was first
published during the 1970-72 biennium. Now generally issued monthly during
the school year, it provides timely news and reminders to officers of the
national Fraternity, chapters, and alumni organizations.
F. Garn Hatch, ZB '56, edited the Fall, 1970, issue of The Gear, the first
issue with 8-1/2x11-inch page size. He was succeeded by James M. Walter,
Phi '68, who served through 1975, and then Steven A. Williams, LB '73,
Editor-in-Chief, through 1977. During this period the page size returned to
7x10 inches.
Dr. George G. Dodd, Z '60, was elected Grand Regent in 1972; and the
Delegate-at-Large (immediate Past Grand Regent) was made officially a
member of the Executive Council.
The 1976 Convention elected as Grand Regent Stephen J. Barth, LB '67, a
charter member of Lambda Beta Chapter, the first second-generation Theta
Tau to hold this position. In 1977, a plan adopted by the 1976 Convention
was implemented, making women eligible for membership.
Returning to the tradition of Editors-in-Chief from Omicron Chapter,
Richard A. Rummelhart, O'76, was appointed to this position in 1978 and was
succeeded by Arthur T. Petrzelka, O'79, who edited the magazine 1979-88.
With the Spring, 1979, issue, The Gear adopted the standard 8-1/2x11-inch
page size which has been continued.
The first membership directory in forty years was published in 1979, and
others in 1985, 1990, and 1994. A History of Theta Tau, compiled by Past
Grand Regent Charles W. Britzius, was published in 1980. Regional
Conferences were replaced by a special Convention in 1981, establishing the
pattern of holding national meetings annually in August rather than
biennially in the week after Christmas.
In 1982, A. Thomas Brown, M '77, like Brother Barth, a member's son, was
elected Grand Regent. During 1983, Theta Tau purchased its first computer;
moved the Central Office from the Executive Secretary's home to space in
the Theta Xi Memorial Headquarters Building in the St. Louis suburb of
Creve Coeur; held its first National Conference; and first employed a
second member, Dean W. Bettinger, T '81, as Extension Director/Chapter
Consultant. Since then, others have been employed for limited periods,
including Michael T. Abraham, EB '92, who served as Administrative
Assistant in 1988 and briefly in 1989.
The Theta Tau Alumni Hall of Fame was established in 1986 to honor those
members of the Fraternity who have distinguished themselves through the
excellence of their contributions to their professions and/or to the
Fraternity. Being nominated is itself a distinct honor since a chapter or
the Executive Council may nominate no more than two annually. From among
the nominees, the Selection Committee may name no more than five to be
inducted at the national meeting each year. Beginning with the Founders, a
total of sixty-three have been inducted over the years (twenty-one of them
posthumously). Each laureate is presented with a plaque, and his name is
engraved on a large plaque displayed in the Central Office and at each
national meeting.
Randall J. Scheetz, O '79, was first elected Grand Regent in 1986. The
Fraternity experienced significant growth during his tenure with the
installation of eight chapters and the certification of thirteen colonies.
This extension effort was sparked by Jerome R. Palardy, EB '90, (then
Student Member of the Executive Council) in the Detroit area (Xi Beta,
Omicron Beta, and Phi Beta Chapters resulting, the latter installed in
1991). Highlighting extension at other schools was the reestablishment of
Pi and Gamma Beta Chapters (inactive since the late seventies). Other
chapters installed were Pi Beta, Rho Beta, Sigma Beta, and Tau Beta; and
four new alumni clubs were authorized.
The Rube Goldberg (TM) Machine
Contest originated at Purdue University in 1949 as a competition between
Theta Tau and Triangle held annually until 1956. Phi Chapter revived the
contest in 1983 as a competition open to all Purdue students. Since 1988,
the Theta Tau Rube Goldberg Machine Contest has been a national competition
held at Purdue University in March each year with participation by winning
entries from local competitions sponsored by Theta Tau Chapters across the
nation. The national contest has gained much coverage by the press and
television media.
Sean Donnelly, T'88, and Lawrence El-Hindi, T '87, were appointed
Co-Editors-in-Chief of The Gear of Theta Tau in 1988. At the direction of
the Executive Council, the Central Office staff assumed responsibility for
the regular publication of the magazine beginning with the Spring, 1994,
issue. In 1996, the Executive Council appointed as the Board of Editors,
Robert E. Pope, Editor-in-Chief, and Michael T. Abraham. Although it had
remained nominally a semiannual periodical, for a variety of reasons its
publication had sometimes been irregular during the previous quarter
century.
Dean W. Bettinger, who had served as a staff member in 1983, was first
elected Grand Regent at the 1990 Convention and subsequently reelected in
1992 and 1994. During his tenure, nine chapters were installed: Upsilon
Beta, Phi Beta, Chi Beta, Psi Beta, Tau (reestablished), Omega Beta, Delta
Gamma, Epsilon Gamma, and Zeta Gamma; and six colonies certified.
The Theta Tau Outstanding Student Member Program was inaugurated to
provide the mechanism by which each chapter could designate its outstanding
student member for recognition by the national Fraternity. The criterion
for selection is service to the Fraternity (at any level) during the
previous calendar year. The national Fraternity provides an engrossed
certificate and an award dangle which the recipient displays on his badge's
guard chain. One of these each year is selected as the Fraternity's
Outstanding Student Member with the announcement made at the national
meeting. The national honoree is presented with a special certificate and
with a jeweled dangle. The award was first presented in 1991 for service to
the Fraternity during the calendar year 1990.
In 1991, the Central Office moved to the 655 Office Building in the
Creve Coeur Executive Office Park. Michael T. Abraham returned as a
permanent staff member with the title Assistant Executive Director in 1992
and was elected Grand Scribe in 1994. In 1994, the appointive position of
Executive Director was added to the Executive Council. Brother Pope who had
served on the Fraternity's staff for 37 years retired in 1996 and was
designated Executive Director Emeritus by the Executive Council. Brother
Abraham was appointed Executive Director.
Lee C. Haas, P '62, was elected Grand Regent in 1996 and reelected in
1998. He was instrumental in establishing the Theta Tau Educational
Foundation in 1998 and served as its first President. In 1999 the
Foundation sponsored the Fraternity's first Leadership Academy replacing
the National Conference. He presided at the Installation of Eta Gamma,
Theta Gamma, and Iota Gamma Chapters bringing to fifty-two the number of
schools at which Theta Tau Chapters have been established over the years.
At the Fraternity's first Convention held in Arizona, Glen A. Wilcox,
Omega '90, was elected Grand Regent. At the 2000 meeting, many structural
changes were made in the Constitution and Bylaws to more fully integrate
the Central Office into our laws. These changes reflected many practices
already in place and allowed the Executive Council to focus on its
responsibilities as the Fraternity's Board of Directors. The Ritual was
amended to provide for a specific Memorial Service that may be used by
chapters. The Convention also endorsed without dissent and without
modification the national Fraternity liability insurance standard adopted
by the Executive Council in the Spring 1999. The 2000-2001 school year
brought the installation of two new chapters. Past Grand Regent Haas
installed Kappa Gamma Chapter at the Virginia Commonwealth University. VCU
had just began its engineering school in 1996 with 92 students; a Theta Tau
Colony was established with the assistance of Brothers Lee Haas and Mike
Livingston, Gamma Beta '92, the following year. Grand Regent Wilcox
presided at the installation of Lambda Gamma at Clemson University on
January 13, 2001, and he later presided at the installations of Mu Gamma
and Nu Gamma in the spring of 2003. Also, in November 2001, the Central
Office moved from the St. Louis metropolitan area to the 815 Brazos
building in downtown Austin, Texas.
About 30,000 members had been initiated as
the Fraternity approached its centennial with 41 active student chapters,
more than at any other time in its history.
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