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

Broadway Composer

Bill Bowerman, Oregon ’65
Co-founder, Nike

Donald E. Petersen, Washington ’46
CEO, Ford Motor Co.

John Warnock, Utah ’61
Co-founder, Adobe Systems, Inc.

CEO, American General Corp.
President, Boy Scouts of America

Neil Everett, Oregon ’84
Broadcaster, ESPN’s SportsCenter

Dan Carney, Wichita State ’63
Co-founder, Pizza Hut

Ken Cameron, MIT ’71
Astronaut

Dr. Bill Fox, St. Lawrence ’75
President, St. Lawrence University

Stephen Bechtel Jr., Purdue ’47
CEO, Bechtel Construction

Eric Javits, Columbia ’52
Ambassador to the OPCW (The Hague)

James K. Arness, Beloit ’46
Marshal Matt Dillon on “Gunsmoke”

Mike Bennet, Wesleyan ’87
U.S. Senator, Colorado

John Rietz Jr. (Robert Reed), Northwestern ’54
Mike Brady on “The Brady Bunch”

Spencer F. Eccles Sr., Utah ’56
Chairman and CEO, First Security Corp.

Don Nickles, Oklahoma State ’71
’71U.S. Senator, Oklahoma

Barney Calame, Missouri ’61
Public Editor, The New York Times

Richard Heckert, Miami ’44
CEO, DuPont

Jim Martin, Davidson ’57
North Carolina Governor

Founder and Chairman, Walmart

John Turner, British Columbia ’49
Prime Minister of Canada

Bruce Nordstrom, Washington ’55
CEO, Nordstrom

Howard Fineman, Colgate ’70
Huffington Post, MSNBC Analyst

Jimmy Yen, Yale 1918
Humanitarian and Worldwide Educator

Bill Nelson, Florida/Yale ’65
U.S. Senator, Florida
Astronaut

Hugh McColl, North Carolina ’57
CEO, Bank of America

Frank Shrontz, Idaho ’53
CEO, Boeing

Jay Fiedler, Dartmouth ’94
NFL Quarterback

Jerry R. Lucas, Ohio State ’62
NBA Hall of Fame, New York Knicks

Glen Holden, Oregon ’51
Ambassador to Jamaica

Mark Hatfield, Willamette ’43
U.S. Senator & Governor, Oregon

Stephen Sample, Illinois ’70
President, University of Southern California

Stan Smith, Southern California ’69
Wimbledon Tennis Champion

Frank Murphy, Kansas ’36
Chancellor, University of Kansas & UCLA

Donald D. Coryell, Washington ’47
Coach, NFL Cardinals and Chargers

Warren Staley, Kansas State ’65
’65CEO, Cargill

John Warner, Washington and Lee ’50
U.S. Senator, Virginia

David Holl, Clemson ’82
President and CEO, Mary Kay, Inc.

Robert F. Engle III, Williams ’64
Nobel Prize in Economics

Richard Lugar, Denison ’54
U.S. Senator, Indiana

Shahid Khan, Illinois ’70
Owner, NFL Jacksonville Jaguars

John Backe, Miami ’54
CEO, CBS

Dale Mortensen, Willamette ’61
Nobel Prize in Economics

Ray Mabus, Mississippi ’69
U.S. Navy Secretary; Amb. to Saudi Arabia

Owen D. Young, St. Lawrence 1894
President and Chairman, General Electric
1929 Time Magazine Man of the Year

Mike Schmidt, Ohio ’71
MLB Hall of Famer

William Anderson (Adam West), Whitman ’51
“Batman”

Ed Roski, Southern California ’62
CEO, Majestic Realty
Co-owner, L.A. Lakers, Kings and Staples Center

David Mulford, Lawrence ’59
Ambassador to India

Joe Albaugh, Oklahoma State ’74
Director of FEMA

John Dolibois, Miami ’42
Ambassador to Luxembourg

George Peppard, Purdue ’52
Paul Varjak on “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”
Hannibal on “The A-Team”

Paul Weitz, Penn State ’54
Astronaut

Brian White, Dartmouth ’95
“Moesha,” “Stomp the Yard,” “CSI: Miami,”
“Tyler Perry’s For Better or Worse”

James A. Collins, UCLA ’50
CEO, Worldwide Restaurant Concepts, Inc.

Colgate Betas: Kevin Heffernan ’91, Steve Lemme ’91, Erik Stolhanske ’91, and Jay Chandrasekhar ’90
Broken Lizard Comedy Group; “Super Troopers”

Joe Allen, DePauw ’59
Astronaut

Dick Gephardt, Northwestern ’62
Congressman, Missouri

Richard Karn, Washington ’78
Al Borland on “Home Improvement”