Taylor Albert Borradaile

...was born on May 15, 1885 in Camden, Ohio. Borradaile entered Miami University in 1904 and was active in almost every phase of university life during his four years as an undergraduate. Along with Founder Shideler he was a member of the Erodeplhian Literary Society and was its president during his junior year.

Borradaile's major contribution in the planning phase of the Non-Fraternity Association was to personally provide the necessary organizational leadership to start the association. When the Association held its first meeting on March 17, 1906, Borradaile was elected the first president.

Like Founder Douglass, Borradaile graduated with a degree in chemistry, but directed his talents towards the teaching field. After devoting a few years of high school work, both as a teacher and principal, he returned to chemistry as a profession, operating his own chemical laboratory in West Virginia. At the same time, he served the city of Charleston, West Virginia as chief chemist.

Borradaile subsequently accepted a position with the federal government and served for several years as the chief chemist in the materials testing section of the Veteran's Administration.

Founder Borradaile was well-known to members of the Fraternity for his quick sense of humor, his warm personality and his calm, genial nature. His later years were spent with his wife Letha in Beckely, West Virginia, where he died on June 25, 1977.

Clinton DeWitt Boyd

...was born in Mt. Orab, a town in Brown County, Ohio approximately 25 miles east of Cincinnati in October of 1884. He enrolled at Miami University in September 1904 and soon became recognized for his ability as a public speaker and debater as well as being a capable member of the Miami track team. He was track team captain in both 1906 and 1907.

Boyd, along with Founder Shideler, organized the non-affiliated members of the Miami student body into a working organization during the period when the Non-Fraternity Association evolved. He completed law school at the University of Michigan after graduating from Miami University in 1908 and opened a law office in Middletown, Ohio in 1910.

Boyd's son, Clinton D. Boyd, Jr. and grandson, Mark Boyd, are both members of Alpha Chapter at Miami University.

Dwight Ireneus Douglass

...was born and raised in the small McLean County community of Colfax, Illinois. He was the son of physician Dwight Ireneus Douglass and entered Miami University in September 1902 to study chemistry. In addition to his academic work, Douglass was active in Miami Eridelphian Literary Society, belonged to the tennis and golf clubs, played varsity football and was a member, as a senior, of the Athletic Board of Control.

Douglass continued his studies at Colorado College of Mines following graduation from Miami in 1906. He received a degree in mining engineering from that Colorado institution and worked in the mining field for some time. During World War I he served in France with 28th Engineers, and was gassed and wounded in the final days of hostilities. Following his discharge in 1919, he lost touch with the Fraternity for a period of time.

Because of poor health, due to his war service, Douglass accepted a position with the Veterans Administration in New Orleans in 1922. He retired in 1937, moving to nearby Hammond, Louisiana, where he spent his remaining years as a short story writer. He died on February 12, 1940.

 

William Henry Shideler

...was born near Middletown, Ohio on July 14, 1886 and was the youngest of the four Phi Kappa Tau Founders. Like the others, Shideler was a member of the North Dorm Senate and a member of the Campus Literary Society. He was the author of the Non-Fraternity Association constitution and was the guiding light in directing the preliminaries that had gone into the foundation of the Non-Fraternity Association.

In 1910, he received his PhD degree in Geology from Cornell and returned to Miami where he served as a member of the faculty until his retirement in 1957.

Founder Shideler held every Phi Kappa Tau national office during his long career of exemplary service to the Fraternity. He was National President from 1913-1914, Historian from 1917-1922, a member of the National Council from 1920 to 1923 and National Comptroller from 1929 until his death on December 18, 1958. He was also the Fraternity's acting National Secretary during World War II.

Shideler was known as "Doc" even as an undergraduate and was always interested in Miami sports. He first served as a member of the Miami varsity track team and then, following graduation, as a member of the Miami Athletic Board of Control. He was chairman of the Mid-American Conference and represented Miami at NCAA meetings. Shideler's two sons, William Watson & James Henry, are both members of the Fraternity. The naming, in 1967, of the Miami University's new earth science building as Shideler Hall is perpetuating Founder Shideler's memory as a great Miami teacher and scholar.