Tau Kappa Epsilon members (commonly referred to as ''Tekes'') are individuals who have been initiated into

Tau Kappa Epsilon Tau Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as or Teke, is a social college fraternity founded on January 10, 1899, at Illinois Wesleyan University. The organization has chapters throughout the United States and Canada, making the Fraternity an interna ...

() Fraternity. The fraternity was founded by five men – Joseph Lorenzo Settles, James Carson McNutt, Clarence Arthur Mayer, Owen Ison Truitt, and Charles Roy Atkinson on January 10, 1899, at

Illinois Wesleyan University Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockford ...

in Bloomington, Illinois. Members traditionally are initiated into a chapter during their collegiate career, although honorary members may not necessarily have attended a

university 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 States ...

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offerin ...

. As of 2022, the fraternity has more than 295,000 initiated members, 221 active chapters and colonies, and almost 12,000 collegiate members. The list of Tau Kappa Epsilon brothers spans over multiple careers including politics, business, athletics, and entertainment. Among the most recognized include U.S. President Ronald Reagan who was the recipient of the Order of the Golden Eagle, the fraternity's highest honor. Other widely recognized political figures include former

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

Senator

Robert Byrd Robert Carlyle Byrd (born Cornelius Calvin Sale Jr.; November 20, 1917 – June 28, 2010) was an American politician and musician who served as a United States senator from West Virginia for over 51 years, from 1959 until his death in 2010. A ...

, who at the time of his death was the longest-serving member in the history of the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

, and former

Arkansas Governor The governor of Arkansas is the head of government of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The governor is the head of the executive branch of the Arkansas government and is charged with enforcing state laws. They have the power to either approve or v ...

and Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, who while running for president launched a -specific website and visited Tekes on the campaign trail. Dozens of top

chief executive officers A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

(CEOs) and university presidents have also made the list such as Starbucks CEO

Howard Schultz Howard D. Schultz (born July 19, 1953) is an American businessman and author who served as both chairman and CEO of Starbucks from 1986 to 2000, from 2008 to 2017, and as interim CEO since 2022. Schultz also owned the Seattle SuperSonics baske ...

Salesforce Salesforce, Inc. is an American cloud-based software company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It provides customer relationship management (CRM) software and applications focused on sales, customer service, marketing automation, a ...

CEO

Marc Benioff Marc Russell Benioff (born September 25, 1964) is an American internet entrepreneur and philanthropist. He is the co-founder, chairman and CEO of Salesforce, an enterprise cloud computing company. In September 2018, Benioff acquired ''Time (mag ...

, and

Steve Forbes Malcolm Stevenson Forbes Jr. (; born July 18, 1947) is an American publishing executive and politician who is the editor-in-chief of ''Forbes'', a business magazine. He is the son of longtime ''Forbes'' publisher Malcolm Forbes and the grandso ...

of ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

'' magazine, who was the fraternity's 250,000th initiate. Numerous athletic and music superstars are also Tekes including NFL quarterbacks

Terry Bradshaw Terry Paxton Bradshaw (born September 2, 1948) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the National Football League (NFL). Since 1994, he has been a television sports analyst an ...

Phil Simms Phillip Martin Simms (born November 3, 1955) is an American former football quarterback who spent his entire 15-year professional career playing for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He is currently a television sport ...

, and Aaron Rodgers, Olympians

Douglas Blubaugh Douglas Morlan Blubaugh (December 31, 1934 – May 16, 2011) was an American wrestling, wrestler and Olympic Champion. He competed at the 1960 Summer Olympics, 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, where he became the freestyle Olympic Gold Medalist at wel ...

Sim Iness Simeon "Sim" Garland Iness (July 9, 1930 – May 23, 1996) was an American discus thrower who won a gold medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics, breaking the Olympic record several times in the process. Next year he set a new world record at 57.93 m. ...

, and

Johnny Quinn Johnny Quinn (born November 6, 1983) is an American bobsledder and former gridiron football player. He is a member of the U.S. National Bobsled Team and competed in the 2014 Winter Olympics. Quinn is a former wide receiver for the Saskatchewan ...

, and singers

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album '' Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of '' Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (1 ...

, and

the Everly Brothers The Everly Brothers were an American rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly (February 1, 1937 – August 21, 2021) and Phillip "Phil" Everly (January 19, 193 ...

Federal government and military

President of the United States

U.S. Senate

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Courts

Agency executives and ambassadors

Military and uniformed services

NASA

State and local government

Governors

State government

Mayors

Native American government

Canadian government

Business and industry

Journalism and broadcasting

Education

Discoverers and researchers

Athletics

Baseball

Basketball

Football

Olympics

Soccer

Wrestling and Boxing

Entertainment

Writers

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tau Kappa Epsilon brothers

brothers A brother is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to non-familia ...