Famous Betas of Achievement
With more than 200,000 initiated brothers since 1839, many influential men have worn the Beta Badge and gone on to have a large impact on society. The Fraternity is proud to claim among its members the 17th Vice President of the United States, the 17th Prime Minister of Canada, 200+ members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives – including two Speakers of the House, eight U.S. Supreme Court Justices, a Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, 32 ambassadors, 50 governors to 23 states, two Canadian Premiers, six Congressional Medal of Honor recipients and seven Presidential Medal of Freedom honorees, 34 Olympic gold medalists, three Nobel Prize winners, 85 Rhodes Scholars, 12 Pulitzer Prize winners and many more. Scan the gallery below to discover some of these influential Betas, and click here to see a list of even more.
John Wooden, Purdue ’32
UCLA Basketball Coaching Legend
Sam Walton, Missouri ’40
Founder and Chairman, Walmart
Richard Lugar, Denison ’54
U.S. Senator, Indiana
Stephen Sondheim, Williams ’50
Broadway Composer
John Turner, British Columbia ’49
Prime Minister of Canada
Shahid Khan, Illinois ’70
Owner, NFL Jacksonville Jaguars
Bill Bowerman, Oregon ’65
Co-founder, Nike
Bruce Nordstrom, Washington ’55
CEO, Nordstrom
John Backe, Miami ’54
CEO, CBS
Donald E. Petersen, Washington ’46
CEO, Ford Motor Co.
Howard Fineman, Colgate ’70
Huffington Post, MSNBC Analyst
Dale Mortensen, Willamette ’61
Nobel Prize in Economics
John Warnock, Utah ’61
Co-founder, Adobe Systems, Inc.
Jimmy Yen, Yale 1918
Humanitarian and Worldwide Educator
Ray Mabus, Mississippi ’69
U.S. Navy Secretary; Amb. to Saudi Arabia
Harold Hook, Missouri ’53
CEO, American General Corp.
President, Boy Scouts of America
Bill Nelson, Florida/Yale ’65
U.S. Senator, Florida
Astronaut
Owen D. Young, St. Lawrence 1894
President and Chairman, General Electric
1929 Time Magazine Man of the Year
Neil Everett, Oregon ’84
Broadcaster, ESPN’s Sportscenter
Hugh McColl, North Carolina ’57
CEO, Bank of America
Mike Schmidt, Ohio ’71
MLB Hall of Famer
Dan Carney, Wichita State ’63
Co-founder, Pizza Hut
Frank Shrontz, Idaho ’53
CEO, Boeing
William Anderson (Adam West), Whitman ’51
“Batman”
Ken Cameron, MIT ’71
Astronaut
Jay Fiedler, Dartmouth ’94
NFL Quarterback
Ed Roski, Southern California ’62
CEO, Majestic Realty
Co-owner, L.A. Lakers, Kings and Staples Center
Dr. Bill Fox, St. Lawrence ’75
President, St. Lawrence University
Jerry R. Lucas, Ohio State ’62
NBA Hall of Fame, New York Knicks
David Mulford, Lawrence ’59
Ambassador to India
Stephen Bechtel Jr., Purdue ’47
CEO, Bechtel Construction
Glen Holden, Oregon ’51
Ambassador to Jamaica
Joe Albaugh, Oklahoma State ’74
Director of FEMA
Eric Javits, Columbia ’52
Ambassador to the OPCW (The Hague)
Mark Hatfield, Willamette ’43
U.S. Senator & Governor, Oregon
John Dolibois, Miami ’42
Ambassador to Luxembourg
James K. Arness, Beloit ’46
Marshal Matt Dillon on “Gunsmoke”
Stephen Sample, Illinois ’70
President, University of Southern California
George Peppard, Purdue ’52
Paul Varjak on “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”
Hannibal on “The A-Team”
Mike Bennet, Wesleyan ’87
U.S. Senator, Colorado
Stan Smith, Southern California ’69
Wimbledon Tennis Champion
Paul Weitz, Penn State ’54
Astronaut
John Rietz Jr. (Robert Reed), Northwestern ’54
Mike Brady on “The Brady Bunch”
Frank Murphy, Kansas ’36
Chancellor, University of Kansas & UCLA
Brian White, Dartmouth ’95
“Moesha,” “Stomp the Yard,” “CSI: Miami,”
“Tyler Perry’s For Better or Worse”
Spencer F. Eccles Sr., Utah ’56
Chairman and CEO, First Security Corp.
Donald D. Coryell, Washington ’47
Coach, NFL Cardinals and Chargers
James A. Collins, UCLA ’50
CEO, Worldwide Restaurant Concepts, Inc.
Don Nickles, Oklahoma State ’71
U.S. Senator, Oklahoma
Warren Staley, Kansas State ’65
CEO, Cargill
Colgate Betas: Kevin Heffernan ’91, Steve Lemme ’91, Erik Stolhanske ’91, and Jay Chandrasekhar ’90
Broken Lizard Comedy Group; “Super Troopers”
Barney Calame, Missouri ’61
Public Editor, The New York Times
John Warner, Washington and Lee ’50
U.S. Senator, Virginia
Joe Allen, DePauw ’59
Astronaut
Richard Heckert, Miami ’44
CEO, DuPont
David Holl, Clemson ’82
President and CEO, Mary Kay, Inc.
Dick Gephardt, Northwestern ’62
Congressman, Missouri
Jim Martin, Davidson ’57
North Carolina Governor
Robert F. Engle III, Williams ’64
Nobel Prize in Economics
Richard Karn, Washington ’78
Al Borland on “Home Improvement”