Alpha Zeta (professional)

Alpha Zeta is a professional fraternity for students and industry professionals in agricultural and natural resources fields. It was founded in 1897 at Ohio State University and was the first collegiate society for agriculture.

WWW alphazeta.org

History

Charles W. Burkett and John F. Cunningham, roommates and students at the College of Agriculture at Ohio State University, founded the Alpha Zeta fraternity on November 4, 1897. Three years prior, Burkett and Cunnigham had the idea of forming an organization to support agricultural students, create fellowship, and promote agriculture. They recruited ten other agriculture students who became the fraternity's charter members, including
Alpha Zeta formed as a professional fraternity but became an honorary fraternity in 1936. Its chapters were limited to land-grant institutions until 1951.
At the fraternity's 1940 Conclave, a proposal was presented to open membership to non-white males. This was presented at each Conclave for twelve years, finally passing in 1952. Also in 1952, a proposal to admit women was defeated with a tied vote. The fraternity's constitution was amended in 1972, allowing its chapters to initiate women.
The fraternity was headquartered in Washington, D.C. in the 1960s. It was located in Lafayette, Indiana from 1974 to 1994, when it moved to St. Louis, Missouri. Its headquarters is currently located in Paducah, Kentucky. As of 2023, Alpha Zeta has chartered 74 chapters.
Its print publication was the Quarterly of Alpha Zeta, first published in the early 20th century. AZ News is now its primary publication.

Symbols

The fraternity's badge is a monogram of the letter Α on top of the letter Ζ, with a small star at the center of the Α. Its key is the shape of two overlapping circles in gold and black. Its colors are old gold and sky blue. Its flower is the pink carnation.

Charitable activities

In 1942, Alpha Zeta began issuing scholarships to a select number of members for graduate studies. The Washington, D.C. Alumni Association helped form the National Alpha Zeta Foundation of America, Inc. in 1960, allowing the expansion of the scholarship program. The foundation accepts and manages donations for "scientific, educational and charitable purposes which best advance agriculture for the public good."
The Alpha Zeta Foundation, Inc. was formed in Indiana on April 4, 1984, to oversee the fraternity's national scholarship program and to support its leadership development program.

Governance

The fraternity is overseen by a seven-member High Council that is elected by student representatives of each chapter at Biennial Conclaves held on odd calendar years. The council includes the High Chancellor, High Censor, High Scribe, High Treasurer, High Chronicler, Alumni Representative, and student representative. Alpha Zeta also has staff who oversee the fraternity's operations and communications.

Membership

To be eligible for membership in Alpha Zeta, students must be majoring in agriculture or a related field, must have completed one year of study, and must be in the upper two-fifths of their class. Prospective members are also evaluated for character and leadership.
As of 2023, Alpha Zeta has initiated 125,000 members and has 1,000 active members. Its membership types are student, alumni, associate, and honorary. Honorary members can be nominated by chapters every ten years after their Charter date.
Membership was limited to white males for the fraternity's first 55 years but became open to any male in 1952. Membership was made open to women starting in 1972.

Chapters

Following is a list of Alpha Zeta chapters. Active chapters are indicated in bold. Inactive chapters are in italics. Chapters are named in some way concerning agriculture or after the locality of the chapter.

Chapter	Charter date and range	Institution	Location	Region	Status
Townshend		Ohio State University	Columbus, Ohio	Northeast	Active
Morrill	–1900; 1903	Pennsylvania State University	University Park, Pennsylvania	Northeast	Active
Morrow		University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign	Urbana, Illinois	North Central	Active
Cornell		Cornell University	Ithaca, New York	Northeast	Active
Kedzie		Michigan State University	East Lansing, Michigan	North Central	Inactive
Granite		University of New Hampshire	Durham, New Hampshire	Northeast	Inactive
Nebraska		University of Nebraska–Lincoln	Lincoln, Nebraska	North Central	Active
North Carolina		North Carolina State University	Raleigh, North Carolina	Southeast	Active
La Grange	–1973	University of Minnesota	Saint Paul, Minnesota	North Central	Inactive
Green Mountain		University of Vermont	Burlington, Vermont	Northeast	Inactive
[James James Wilson (Secretary of Agriculture)\|Wilson (Secretary of Agriculture)\|Wilson]		Iowa State University	Ames, Iowa	North Central	Active
Babcock		University of Wisconsin–Madison	Madison, Wisconsin	North Central	Inactive
Centennial		Colorado State University	Fort Collins, Colorado	Western	Inactive
Maine		University of Maine	Orono, Maine	Northeast	Inactive
Missouri		University of Missouri	Columbia, Missouri	North Central	Inactive
Elliott		Washington State University	Pullman, Washington	Western	Inactive
California	–1957	University of California, Berkeley	Berkeley, California	Western	Inactive
Purdue		Purdue University	West Lafayette, Indiana	North Central	Active
Kansas		Kansas State University	Manhattan, Kansas	North Central	Active
Dacotah		North Dakota State University	Fargo, North Dakota	North Central	Inactive
Scovell		University of Kentucky	Lexington, Kentucky	Southeast	Inactive
Morgan		University of Tennessee	Knoxville, Tennessee	Southeast	Inactive
Georgia		University of Georgia	Athens, Georgia	Southeast	Inactive
Louisiana		Louisiana State University	Baton Rouge, Louisiana	Southeast	Inactive
Oklahoma		Oklahoma State University–Stillwater	Stillwater, Oklahoma	Southwest	Active
Arkansas		University of Arkansas	Fayetteville, Arkansas	South Central	Inactive
Oregon		Oregon State University	Corvallis, Oregon	Western	Inactive
Maryland		University of Maryland	College Park, Maryland	Northeast	Inactive
Idaho		University of Idaho	Moscow, Idaho	Western	Inactive
Montana		Montana State University	Bozeman, Montana	Western	Active
Florida		University of Florida	Gainesville, Florida	Southeast	Active
Cook		Rutgers University	New Brunswick, New Jersey	Northeast	Active
West Virginia		West Virginia University	Morgantown, West Virginia	Northeast	Inactive
South Dakota		South Dakota State University	Brookings, South Dakota	North Central	Active
New Mexico		New Mexico State University	Las Cruces, New Mexico	South Central	Inactive
Arizona		University of Arizona	Tucson, Arizona	Western	Inactive
Mississippi		Mississippi State University	Starkville, Mississippi	Southeast	Inactive
South Carolina		Clemson University	Clemson, South Carolina	Southeast	Inactive
Virginia		Virginia Tech	Blacksburg, Virginia	Southeast	Active
Wyoming		University of Wyoming	Laramie, Wyoming	Western	Inactive
Rhode Island		University of Rhode Island	Kingston, Rhode Island	Northeast	Inactive
California Beta	–1961	University of California, Los Angeles	Los Angeles, California	Western	Inactive
Utah		Utah State University	Logan, Utah	Western	Inactive
California Gamma		University of California, Davis	Davis, California	Western	Inactive
Alabama		Auburn University	Auburn, Alabama	Southeast	Inactive
Delaware		University of Delaware	Newark, Delaware	Northeast	Active
Texas Alpha		Texas A&M University	College Station, Texas	Southwest	Active
Texas Beta		Texas Tech University	Lubbock, Texas	Southwest	Active
Connecticut		University of Connecticut	Storrs, Connecticut	Northeast	Active
Massachusetts		University of Massachusetts Amherst	Amherst, Massachusetts	Northeast	Inactive
California Delta		California Institute of Technology	Pasadena, California	Western	Inactive
Puerto Rico		University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez	Mayagüez, Puerto Rico	Southeast	Active
Illinois Beta		Southern Illinois University Carbondale	Carbondale, Illinois	North Central	Active
California Epsilon	–xxxx?; 2005	California State University, Fresno	Fresno, California	Western	Active
Nevada		University of Nevada, Reno	Reno, Nevada	Western	Inactive
Arizona Beta		Arizona State University	Tempe, Arizona	Western	Inactive
Louisiana Beta		Southwestern Louisiana University	Lafayette, Louisiana	South Central	Inactive
California Zeta		California Polytechnic State University	San Luis Obispo, California	Western	Inactive
Illinois Gamma		Western Illinois University	Macomb, Illinois	North Central	Active
Utah Beta		Brigham Young University	Provo, Utah	Western	Inactive
Wisconsin Beta		University of Wisconsin–Platteville	Platteville, Wisconsin	North Central	Active
Texas Gamma		Tarleton State University	Stephenville, Texas	Southwest	Active
Wisconsin Gamma		University of Wisconsin–River Falls	River Falls, Wisconsin	North Central	Active
Illinois Delta		Illinois State University	Normal, Illinois	North Central	Active
Louisiana Gamma		Louisiana Tech University	Ruston, Louisiana	Southwest	Active
Tennessee Beta		University of Tennessee at Martin	Martin, Tennessee	Southeast	Inactive
Texas Delta		West Texas A&M University	Canyon, Texas	South Central	Inactive
Alabama Carver		Alabama A&M University	Huntsville, AL	Southeast	Inactive
Murray		Murray State University	Murray, KY	Southeast	Inactive
Mount Berry		Berry College	Mount Berry, Georgia	Southeast	Active
Oklahoma Beta		Oklahoma Panhandle State University	Goodwell, Oklahoma	Southwest	Active
Western Kentucky		Western Kentucky University	Bowling Green, KY	South Central	Inactive
California Eta		California State University, Chico	Chico, California	Western	Active
Louisiana Delta		Southern University	Baton Rouge, LA	Southeast	Active

Notable members

Named	Chapter and year	Notability
George Aiken	Green Mountain 1956	horticulturist, Governor of Vermont, U.S. Senate
Alfred Atkinson	Montana	agronomist, President of Montana State University, and president of University of Arizona
Liberty Hyde Bailey	Cornell 1901	Horticulturalist, founder of American Society for Horticultural Sciences, first dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University.
Robert C. Baker	Cornell 1943	Inventor of the chicken nugget and professor emeritus of Food Science at Cornell University
Leon Dexter Batchelor	Granite	horticulture professor and director of the University of California Citrus Experiment Station
Ezra Taft Benson	1953	U.S. Secretary of Agriculture
John Rusling Block		U.S. Secretary of Agriculture
Norman Borlaug	La Grange	Nobel laureate
Edgar B. Brossard	La Grange	college professor; economist; and chair of the U.S. Tariff Commission
Lester R. Brown	Cook	founder of the Earth Policy Institute
Earl Butz	Purdue 1931	U.S. Secretary of Agriculture
Herman Cain		former chairman and CEO of Godfather's Pizza
Elbert N. Carvel		Lieutenant Governor of Delaware and fertilizer manufacture
Arthur B. Chapman	Elliott	Animal genetic researcher
Walter Clore	Oklahoma	Father of the Washington wine industry
John Eliot Coit	North Carolina	horticulture professor specializing in avocado, citrus and carob
Dwight D. Eisenhower	Morrill	President of the United States
Arthur Rose Eldred	Cornell 1916	Agriculturalist, first Eagle Scout recognized by the Boy Scouts of America
Orville Freeman	1962	Governor of Minnesota, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture
Dan Glickman		U.S. Secretary of Agriculture; president of the Motion Picture Association of America
John A. Hannah	Kedzie	president of Michigan State College
Clifford M. Hardin	Purdue 1953	U.S. Secretary of Agriculture
Otto Frederick Hunziker	Purdue	pioneer in the dairy industry, educator, and technical innovator
William Marion Jardine	Kansas 1911	U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, agronomist and president of Kansas State Agricultural College
W. Pat Jennings	Virginia 1941	United States House of Representatives
Edwin Jackson Kyle	Cornell 1902	U.S. Ambassador to Guatemala and namesake of Texas A&M's Kyle Field
Jerry Litton	Missouri	United States House of Representatives
Richard Lugar	Purdue	United States Senator
Richard Lyng	Wilson 1974	U.S. Secretary of Agriculture
Al Maeder	La Grange	Professional football player
Ron Micheli	Wyoming	director of the Wyoming Department of Agriculture and Wyoming House of Representatives
Gerald A. Miller	Virginia	agronomist, professor, and associate dean emeritus at Iowa State University
Henry A. Munger	Cornell 1936	Vegetable breeder, professor and department chair Cornell University
Robert B. Patterson	Mississippi	football player, planter, and founder of the first Citizens' Councils
Stanley M. Powell	Kedzie	farmer and Michigan House of Representatives
Roland Renne	Cook	economist and president of Montana State College - Bozeman
Scott Rivkees	Cook	Surgeon General of Florida
Nelson Rockefeller	Cornell 1962	Governor of New York, Vice President of the United States
Richard Rominger	California Davis	Deputy Secretary of Agriculture
Henry P. Rusk	Missouri	dean of the Department of Agriculture, University of Illinois
Albert Schatz	Cook	microbiologist and co-discoverer of streptomycin
Robert W Scott	North Carolina	Governor of North Carolina
Bob Sikes	Georgia	United States House of Representatives
Mark G. Thornburg	Wilson	Secretary of Agriculture of Iowa
Victor A. Tiedjens	Babcock	horticulturist, agronomist, biochemist, and soil chemist
Selman Waksman	California Alpha	Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, microbiologist, and co-discoverer of streptomycin
Henry A. Wallace	Wilson 1908	Vice President of the United States, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, U.S. Secretary of Commerce
Henry Cantwell Wallace	1922	U.S. Secretary of Agriculture
Herbert John Webber	Nebraska	plant physiologist, professor, and first director of the University of California Citrus Experiment Station
James Wilson	Wilson	U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, academic
M. L. Wilson	Wilson 1907	Agronomist, professor, and Undersecretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture
Kenneth E. Wing	Cornell 1958	President of State University of New York at Cobleskill
Dale E. Wolf	Nebraska	Lieutenant Governor of Delaware and temporary Governor of Delaware
Clayton Yeutter	Nebraska 1950	U.S. Secretary of Agriculture