Kappa Alpha Society (ΚΑ), founded in 1825, was the progenitor of the modern fraternity system in North America. As of 2015, there are nine active chapters in the United States and Canada. Over the course of its nearly 200-year history, The Kappa Alpha Society has produced a substantial number of notable members in widely varied fields. Following are some of the society's notable members.

Academia

NameChapterInitiation yearNotabilityJames Phinney Baxter IIIWilliams College1913President of Williams College; winner of the 1947 Pulitzer Prize for HistoryPaul A. ChadbourneWilliams College1846President of the Massachusetts Agricultural College, the University of Wisconsin, and Williams CollegeCharles F. ChandlerUnion College1858President of New York College of Pharmacy; organizer and first president of the American Chemical SocietyThomas Frederick CraneCornell University1868Dean and acting-president of Cornell UniversityAmos DeanUnion College1826Founding president of the University of Iowa; president and organizer of Albany Law School; organizer of Albany Medical College; manager of Albany Normal School Gordon P. EatonWesleyan University (as a local)Provost and academic vice president of Texas A&M University; president of Iowa State University; director of the United States Geological SurveyJohn Hart HunterUnion College1825Founder of Kappa Alpha SocietyEdward ReganHobart College1949President of Baruch College; president of Jerome Levy Economics InstituteLaurenus Clark SeelyeUnion College1855First president of Smith CollegeJames N. WoodWilliams College1960Former president and director of the Art Institute of ChicagoLeonard WoodsUnion College1826President, Bowdoin College,

Art and architecture

Earl A. Powell III, Williams College, 1963. Currently the director of the National Gallery of Art, in Washington, DC. John Kirk Train Varnedoe, Williams College, 1964. Former chief curator of painting and sculpture, Museum of Modern Art, New York City, 1988–2001. Was dubbed "the most powerful man in the modern art world," by Newsweek before his death in 2003.

Business Adolph Coors III, Cornell University, 1934. Executive Coors Brewing. Joseph Coors, Cornell University, 1936. Executive, Coors Brewing. Theodore P. Gilman, Williams College, 1862. From 1898 to 1908 presented the plans that Congress adopted to establish the Federal Reserve Banking System. Arthur Labatt, McGill University, 1953. Founder of Trimark Investment Management, former Chancellor of the University of Western Ontario and Officer of the Order of Canada in 1996. William "Bill" Scandling, Hobart College, 1946. Founder of the college meal plan, at one time was the king of the food service industry, and founder of Saga Corporation (sold to Marriott Corp., 1986). Augustus Schell, Union College, 1830. Railroad magnate and the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, 1860 and 1872–1876

Entertainment Hume Cronyn, McGill University, 1930. Actor. Was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1944. Nathan Fillion University of Alberta, 1994 - Saving Private Ryan, Firefly, Serenity, Castle, Lost, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Two Guys a Girl and a Pizza Place, One Life to Live, Desperate Housewives, Slither, The Rookie. Raymond Hart Massey, University of Toronto, 1914. Actor. Was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1940. Christopher McDonald, Hobart College, 1977. Has acted in over 85 films along with numerous television and theater productions, commonly known for his character "Shooter McGavin" in Happy Gilmore (1996). Ronald D. Moore, Cornell University, 1984. Writer and Producer of TV and film, notably Star Trek and the remake of Battlestar Galactica. Two-time winner of Hugo Award for Excellence in Science Fiction. Naren Shankar, Cornell University, 1981. Writer/editor/producer for television. Science consultant, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Writer/editor, Star Trek: Next Generation. Writer, The Outer Limits and Farscape. Executive producer, CSI. Winner Emmy Award. Nominee for two additional Emmy Awards. Winner, Writers' Guild of Canada Award.

Law

Supreme Court Ward E. Hunt, Union College, 1828. Founder of the New York Republican Party, 1856. Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, 1872–1882. Ian Binnie, McGill University, 1960. Justice of Canadian Supreme Court from 1998 to 2011.

State and provincial courts Francis R. E. Cornell, Union College 1840. Attorney General of Minnesota, 1868–1874. Justice, Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1875–1881. George Franklin Danforth, Union College, 1838. Justice, New York Court of Appeals, 1879–1889. Hugh Farthing, McGill University, 1909. Justice, Supreme Court of Alberta. Frank H. Hiscock, Cornell University, 1871. Justice, New York Supreme Court, 1896–1906. Justice New York Court of Appeals, 1906–1926. Chief Judge of New York, 1916–1926. Chairman of the Board, Cornell University, 1917–1939. Levi Hubbell, Union College, 1825. Chief Justice of Wisconsin, 1853–1856. Ward E. Hunt, Union College, 1828. Chief Justice, New York Court of Appeals, 1865–1872. Charles B. Lawrence, Union College, 1840. Chief Justice of Illinois, 1864–1873. Rufus Wheeler Peckham, Union College, 1826. Justice, Supreme Court of New York, 1859–1870. Justice, New York Court of Appeals, 1870–1873. Lyman Sanford, Union College, 1831. Adjutant General of New York, judge of Schoharie County, New York. Clarence John Shearn, Cornell University, 1886. Justice, New York Appellate Division, 1916–1919. He had been the 1908 nominee of the Independence League for Governor of New York.

Attorney General

Gabriel Bouck, Union College, 1846. Attorney General of Wisconsin, 1858–1860. Wheeler Hazard Peckham, Union College, 1851. Appointed New York City District Attorney by Governor Grover Cleveland, 1884. Prosecuted New York Mayor Abraham Hall and "Boss" Tweed of Tammany Hall for corruption. Appointed to United States Supreme Court in 1894 by President Grover Cleveland. Not confirmed by U. S. Senate.

Literature and journalism

Thomas Jefferson Farnham, Union College, 1831. Leader of one of the earliest overland expeditions to explore the American West. His books were influential in opening the Oregon Trail and California. Fitz Hugh Ludlow, Union College, 1856. Author who revolutionized the social understanding of addiction, inspiring what it has become today. Archibald Rutledge, Union College, 1905. Poet-laureate of South Carolina, author of Home by the River. Leland Stowe, Wesleyan University (as a local). Pulitzer Prize for Journalism, 1930. Runner-up for a second Pulitzer in 1940, as war correspondent in World War II.

Medicine James Collip, University of Western Ontario, 1948. Discoverer of cortisone and co-discoverer of insulin. Chairman, Canadian Research Council. Shared John Macleod portion of the 1923 Nobel Prize for medicine. James R. Tryon, Union College, 1855. Surgeon General of the United States Navy 1893–1899 (retired). See Armed Forces

Military

Canada Douglas Gordon Cunningham, Brigadier General (CAN), Appointed CBE, Recipient of DSO, ED and QC; University of Toronto, 1930. Andrew George Latta McNaughton, Lieutenant General (CAN), Recipient of PC, CH, CB, CMG, DSO, CD; McGill University, 1905. Chief of the General Staff, 1929–1935; Minister of National Defence 1944-1945 (resigned); First Canadian Ambassador to the UN, 1950. Wounded at Ypres 1915. Inventor of the "box barrage" artillery firing system, 1918 & the Cathode-ray direction finder (the forerunner to radar), 1926. Christopher Vokes, Major General (CAN); McGill University, 1926.

United States Edward Stuyvesant Bragg, Brigadier General (U.S.); Hobart College, 1844. See American Politics and Law: Congress Edward Peck Curtis, Williams College, 1914. Major General, U. S. Army Air Force, World War II. Chief of Staff, Strategic Air Force in Europe. Hasbrouck Davis, Williams College, 1842. Brigadier General, Union Army. Henry Martyn Hoyt, Williams College, 1849. Brigadier General, Union Army. Joseph Lovell, Williams, 1841. General, Confederate States Army. Ranald S. Mackenzie, Williams College, 1856. Major General, Union Army. Albert James Myer, Brigadier General (U.S.); Hobart College, 1845. "Father of Army Signal Corps" and founder of the U.S. Weather Bureau Amasa Junius Parker, Union, 1860. Major General, New York National Guard. Charles Eskridge Saltzman, Cornell University, 1920. Major General, U. S. Army, World War II. President, West Point Alumni Association. U. S. Assistant and Under Secretary of State. Jesse C. Smith, Brigadier General, Union Army. John Converse Starkweather, Union, 1846. Brigadier General, Union Army. James R. Tryon, Rear Admiral (U.S.); Union College, 1855. Surgeon General of the U. S. Navy. See Medicin

Politics

Great Britain

Member of Parliament William Traven Aitken, University of Toronto, 1924. MP for Bury St. Edmonds 1950–1964. Died in office.

Canada

Prime minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, University of Toronto, 1893. Prime Minister of Canada, 1921–1926, 1926–1930, and 1939–1945.

Federal Parliament Ronald George Atkey, University of Western Ontario, 1960. MP for St. Paul's, 1972–1974, 1979–1980. Minister of Employment and Education. Loran Ellis Baker, McGill University, 1923. MP for Shelburne-Yarmouth-Clare, 1945–1949. Brooke Claxton, McGill University, 1919. MP for St. Lawrence-St. George, 1940–1954. Minister of Health. Minister of National Defense. William Herbert Jarvis, University of Western Ontario, 1950. MP for Perth-Wilmot, 1972–1984. National President of Progressive-Conservative Party. Denton Massey, University of Toronto, 1919. MP for Toronto-Greenwood, 1935–1946. Officer, Order of the British Empire, 1946. Dr. Wilfrid Laurier McDougald, McGill University. 1903. Canadian Senate 1926–1942. Walter George Mitchell, McGill University, 1899. MP for St. Antoine, 1921–1924. William Pate Mulock, University of Toronto, 1915. MP for York North, 1934–1945. Postmaster General of Canada, 1940–1945. David Vaughan Pugh, University of Toronto, 1934. MP for Okanagan Boundary, 1958–1968. Robert Douglas George Stanbury, University of Western Ontario, 1949. MP for York-Scarborough, 1965–1977. Minister of National Revenue. Michael Holcombe Wilson, University of Toronto, 1955. MP for Etobicoke Centre, 1978–1993. Minister of State for International Trade, 1979–1980; Minister of Finance, 1984–1991; Minister of International Trade, 1991–1993; Minister of Industry, Science & Technology, 1991–1993. He introduced the unpopular Goods and Services Tax in 1990. Chancellor of University of Trinity College, Toronto, 200?-present. Appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2003. Appointed Canada's Ambassador to the United States, March, 2006.

Provincial premiers Donald Ross Getty, University of Western Ontario, 1953. MLA for Strathcona West, 1967–1971; Edmonton West, 1971–1979; Stettler, 1989–1993. Premier of Alberta, 1985–1993. Officer of the Order of Canada, 1998 and recipient of the Alberta Order of Excellence, 1999.

Diplomatic corps Robert R. Fowler, McGill University, 1962. Deputy Minister for National Defense, 1986–1995. Permanent Ambassador to the United Nations, 1995–2000. President of the U. N. Security Council. Ambassador to Italy, 2000–2006. William Duncan Herridge, University of Toronto, 1905. Minister Plenipotentiary to the United States, 1931–1935. Mastermind of the Canadian version of the New Deal, 1935. Andrew George Latta McNaughton, McGill University, 1905. First Canadian Ambassador to the UN, 1950. Michael Holcombe Wilson, University of Toronto, 1955. Ambassador to the United States, March, 2006–2009. Humphrey Hume Wrong, University of Toronto, 1911. Permanent Delegate to the League of Nations, 1937–1946. Ambassador to the United States, 1946–1953. Under Secretary of State for External Affairs, 1953–1954.

Legislative Assembly (Alberta) Donald Ross Getty, University of Western Ontario, 1953. See Canadian Politics and Law: Provincial Premiers