Alpha Zeta () is a professional fraternity for students and industry professionals in the agriculture and natural resources fields. Founded in 1897 at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best pub ...

, Alpha Zeta is the first and oldest collegiate society for agriculture. Today, Alpha Zeta has over 125,000 alumni and 1,000 student members at 30 universities.

History

The fraternity was founded on November 4, 1897 by Charles Burkett, John Cunningham, and ten other agriculture students at

.''Baird's manual of American college fraternities''. Volume 19. 1977. p 558

Chapters

Chapters are named for individuals prominent in some way with respect to agriculture or after the locality of the chapter. * Townshend -

- 1897 * Morrill -

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State becam ...

- 1898 * Morrow -

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Un ...

- 1900 * Cornell -

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

- 1901 * Kedzie -

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It ...

- 1902 * Granite -

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant college in Hanover in connection with Dartmouth College ...

- 1903 * Nebraska - University of Nebraska-Lincoln - 1904 * North Carolina -

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The univers ...

- 1904 * Wilson -

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of th ...

- 1905 * Green Mountain -

University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a public land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is among the oldest universities in the Unite ...

- 1905 * La Grange -

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

- 1905 * Centennial -

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado S ...

- 1906 * Babcock -

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

- 1906 * Maine - University of Maine-Orono - 1906 * Missouri -

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in ...

- 1907 * Elliott -

Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant uni ...

- 1907 * Purdue -

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and ...

- 1908 * California -

University of California-Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

- 1908 * Kansas -

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public inst ...

- 1909 * Dacotah - North Dakota State University - 1909 * Montana -

Montana State University Montana State University (MSU) is a public land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana. It is the state's largest university. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's degrees in 68 fields, and doctoral degrees in 35 fie ...

- 1912 * Scovell -

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a public land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, the university is one of the state ...

- 1912 * Georgia -

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

- 1914 * Delaware -

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 ma ...

- 1916 * Oklahoma -

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

- 1916 * Florida -

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

- 1922 * Cook -

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

- 1922 * South Dakota -

South Dakota State University South Dakota State University is a public land-grant research university in Brookings, South Dakota. Founded in 1881, it is the state's largest and most comprehensive university and the oldest continually-operating university in South Dakota. The ...

- 1924 * Virginia -

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also has educational facilities in six re ...

- 1932 * Nevada -

University of Nevada, Reno The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a public land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada. It is the state's flagship public university and primary land grant institution. It was founded on October 12 ...

- 1963 * California Eta - California State University, Chico - 2004 * California Epsilon -

California State University, Fresno California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bache ...

- 2005

Notable members

* Morris N. Abrams - Louisiana educator (LSU) * John R. Block - Secretary of Agriculture under

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

* Norman Borlaug -

Nobel laureate The Nobel Prizes ( sv, Nobelpriset, no, Nobelprisen) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make o ...

* Earl Butz - U.S. Secretary of Agriculture (1971–1976) (Purdue, '31) * Robert C. Baker - Professor Emeritus of Food Science, Cornell University; Inventor of the chicken nugget (Cornell '43) *

Herman Cain Herman Cain (December 13, 1945July 30, 2020) was an American businessman and Tea Party movement activist within the Republican Party. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Cain grew up in Georgia and graduated from Morehouse College with a bachelor's d ...

- former chairman and CEO of Godfather's Pizza *

Walter Clore Walter J. Clore (July 1, 1911 – February 3, 2003) was a pioneer in wine growing and agricultural research in Washington state and has been formally recognized by the Washington State Legislature as the "Father of Washington Wine". Among his ...

- Father of the Washington Wine Industury * Dwight D. Eisenhower - U.S. President *

Arthur Rose Eldred Arthur Rose Eldred (August 16, 1895 – January 4, 1951) was an American agricultural and railroad industry executive, civic leader, and the first Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). As a 16-year-old candidate for the highest rank ...

- Agriculturalist, first

Eagle Scout Eagle Scout is the highest achievement or rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle Sc ...

recognized by the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded in ...

(Cornell '16) * Dan R. Glickman - U.S. Secretary of Agriculture (1995–2001); current president of the

Motion Picture Association of America The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distrib ...

* Edwin Jackson Kyle - Former U.S. ambassador to Guatemala (1945–1948), namesake of Texas A&M's

Kyle Field Kyle Field is the American football stadium located on the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, United States. It has been the home to the Texas A&M Aggies football team in rudimentary form since 1904, and as a permanent con ...

(Cornell, '02) *

Henry C. Wallace Henry Cantwell "Harry" Wallace (May 11, 1866 – October 25, 1924) was an American farmer, journalist, and political activist who served as the Secretary of Agriculture from 1921 to 1924 under Republican presidents Warren G. Harding and Calv ...

- U.S. Secretary of Agriculture (1921–1924) (Honorary, '22) * William Jardine - U.S. Secretary of Agriculture (1925–1929) (Kansas, '11) *

Henry A. Wallace Henry Agard Wallace (October 7, 1888 – November 18, 1965) was an American politician, journalist, farmer, and businessman who served as the 33rd vice president of the United States, the 11th U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, and the 10th U.S. ...

- Vice President of the United States, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture (1933–1940), Founder of Pioneer Hi-Bred, Secretary of Commerce (Wilson, '08) * Ezra Taft Benson - U.S. Secretary of Agriculture (1953–1961) (Honorary, '53) * Orville Freeman - U.S. Secretary of Agriculture (1961–1969), Minnesota Governor (Honorary, '62) * Clifford Hardin - U.S. Secretary of Agriculture (1969–1971) (Purdue, '53) * Richard Lyng - U.S. Secretary of Agriculture (1986–1989) (Wilson, '74) * Albert Schatz - Co-discoverer of streptomycin with Selman Waksman (Cook) * Selman Waksman - Discoverer of streptomycin and coined the word "

antibiotic An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the treatment and prevention ...

", Nobel laureate (Cook) * Kenneth E. Wing - President (1992–2002) of SUNY Cobleskill (Cornell '58) *

Clayton Yeutter Clayton Keith Yeutter, ONZM (; December 10, 1930 – March 4, 2017) was an American politician who served as United States Secretary of Agriculture under President George H. W. Bush from 1989 to 1991 before serving as Counselor to the President i ...

- U.S. Secretary of Agriculture (1989–1991) (Nebraska, '50) * Lester Brown - Founder of the Earth Policy Institute (Cook)

References

External links

* http://www.alphazeta.org/ - Official Page * http://www.alphazeta-cornell.org/ - Cornell Chapter Website {{Professional Fraternities Student organizations established in 1897 Professional fraternities and sororities in the United States 1897 establishments in Ohio Professional Fraternity Association