Notable Alumni

  • John E. Andrus, Class of 1862
    Andrus served as Wesleyan Trustee from 1889 to 1934 and as Treasurer of the University from 1892 to 1902. Andrus also served in the U.S. House of Representatives for New York’s 19th Congressional District from 1905 to 1913. He founded the SURDNA Foundation in 1917 which continues active support of Wesleyan, including projects like the Public Affairs Center and the University Student Center. 
  • George W. Davison, Class of 1892
    Davison served as a Wesleyan Trustee from 1912 until his death in 1953 and served as President of the Board from 1928 to 1943. The Arts Center, the print collection, the infirmary, and many other Wesleyan landmarks were contributed by him during his board service.
  • John Bell Scott, Class of 1881
    A central campus building was named in his honor, John Bell Scott Memorial Laboratory. You can see the original inscription on the outside what is now Allbritton Center above the main doors. Interesting historical note: the architect who designed the building also designed our chapter house.
  • Walter Guyton Cady, Brunonian class of 1895
    From 1902 to 1946, Cady was a professor of physics here at Wesleyan. In 1921, he invented the quartz crystal oscillator used in watches. His lab was in… (you guessed it) the John Bell Scott Memorial laboratory. Cady held more than 50 patents.
  • William Butler Davis, Class of 1894
    Davis, a Middletown native, wrote the words and music to Wesleyan’s Alma Mater. You can check out his commemorative plaque on the steps of North College.
  • Harvey B. Gram, Jr., Class of 1927
    Gram received the Distinguished Alumnus award in 1977. The restored foyer of Olin Library is dedicated to him, and his wife, in recognition of their support of the library expansion completed in 1986. In 1972 he inaugurated the Johnston Lemon Scholarships for women at Wesleyan which continue to this day.
  • Robert Ludlum, Class of 1951
    Famous author of The Bourne Supremacy and many other worksEstimates of the number of copies of his works in print range from 290 million to 500 million. He also published books under the pseudonyms “Jonathan Ryder” and “Michael Shepherd.”
  • William Wasch, Class of 1952
    Wasch is a former Wesleyan Trustee. Additionally, the Wasch Center for Retired Faculty on Lawn Ave. is named after him.
  • Robert G. McKelvey, Class of 1959
    McKelvey is a former Wesleyan Trustee as well as a former President of both the Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity’s international organization and the Alpha Delta Phi Society’s organization. McKelvey received Wesleyan’s Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2009.
  • William B. Blakemore, Class of 1965
    Blakemore works as both a domestic and foreign correspondent for ABC news. He also served as an Alumni Trustee from 1986-1989.
  • John Perry Barlow, Class of 1969
    Barlow founded the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and is former lyricist for the
    Grateful Dead. You can check out some of the songs he’s written here.
  • Michael S. Roth, Class of 1978
    Roth was appointed the 16th President of Wesleyan University in 2007. He has been a professor of history and humanities since 1983, and is recognized curator and author. He is noted for founding the Scripps College Humanities Institute in Claremont, CA as a center for intellectual exchange across disciplines, for his scholarly leadership in the arts community as associate director of the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles, and for enhancing the academic excellence, national reputation and financial strength of California College of the Arts (CCA).
  • Monica Louwerens, Class of 1995
    Louwerens was crowned Miss Mississippi 1995, and a finalist for Miss America 1995.

Alpha Delts from other chapters include both Teddy Roosevelt and FDR; the late David Packard (as in Hewlett-Packard); Chief Justices of the Supreme Court Salman Chase and Harlan Amherst; plus Justices Oliver Wendell Holmes, Henry B. Brown, William Day, and George Shiras, Jr.; researcher William H. Masters (of Masters & Johnson); and Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, Governor of Maine, President of Bowdoin and decorated hero of the civil war. A more complete list is available here.