History of Auburn University Chapter
Alabama Polytechnic Insitute
Auburn, Alabama
(now known as Auburn University)
Established November 10, 1914
The Auburn University Chapter of Phi Kappa Phi was established November 10, 1914, the installation exercises being conducted by the Treasurer General, Dr. C. H. Gordon, of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
Eighteen members of the faculty of the institution compromised the charter members. The first officers were: President, Dr. J. S. Caldwell, professor of botany; vice-president, Professor John J. Wilmore, dean of the School of Engineering; secretary, professor Olin D. Wannamaker, head of the department of English; Treasurer, Professor George S. Templeton, professor of animal husbandry. Additional members of the Executive Committee were, Dr. C. A. Cary, dean of veterinary medicine, B. H. Crenshaw, professor of mathematics, and A. St. C. Dunston, professor of electrical engineering. In the thirteen years of its existence, the chapter has elected 52 faculty members and 262 student members, a total of 314 members. No alumni nor honorary members have been elected.
(excerpt from Gordon, C. H. (Ed.). (1927). The Catalogue of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi (3rd ed.). ****)
Eugene Current-Garcia, Hargis Professor of American Literature at Auburn University, was the first Phi Kappa Phi Scholar. He accepted the award at the Triennial Convention in Knoxville in 1974.