Alpha Eta Rho () is a coed international

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who work (human activity), works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the partic ...

college

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as h ...

fraternity A fraternity (; whence, "wikt:brotherhood, brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club (organization), club or fraternal order traditionally of men but also women associated together for various religious or secular ...

. Established in 1929 at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

, it was the first professional aviation fraternity. It connects the aviation industry with educational institutions and mentors college students toward successful careers in aviation, aeronautical engineering, and aerospace sciences. Alpha Eta Rho has chartered over 140 chapters both domestically and internationally.

History

Earl W. Hill, a professor of aviation at the University of Southern California, established Alpha Eta Rho on April 10, 1929. The fraternity's purpose was to bring together students interested in commercial aviation for education and research and to connect them with professionals in the various aviation branches. It was formed with no boundaries for gender, race, religion, or nationality.Cunningham, Frank (October 1940).
Greeks With Wings
. ''Flying and Popular Aviation''. 27 (4): 44. Retrieved June 22, 2023 – via Google Books. Along with Hill, the fraternity's founding members were John Bonadiman, Joe Burchman, Adam E. Diehl, Dr. Rudolph Hirschberg, Richard Mogle, and Walter Sykes. Mogle was elected the student chapter's first president. An alumni and associate group was organized at the same time and included founding members Herbert Hoover Jr., James G. Wooley who was the vice president of Western Air Express, and five alumni and several instructors of the University of Southern California. Hill was elected the fraternity's national president and served in that capacity until he died in 1950.

Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, and author. On May 20–21, 1927, he made the first nonstop flight from New York (state), New York to Paris, a distance of . His aircra ...

later served as the fraternity's first vice president and Dr. John Franklin Bruce Carruthers was its national historian. By the end of 1933, the fraternity had 39 collegiate members, 72 alumni members, and 55 associate members. New members were selected based on scholarship, character, and an interest in aviation. Because it accepted international students and its founders included an exchange professor from Germany, the fraternity called itself "international". This label was also aspirational, as Alpha Eta Rho planned on expanding to Canada, Germany, and other countries. The fraternity expanded to other campuses, including the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

;

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

;

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and p ...

;

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

; Pasadena Junior College;

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CS ...

; and

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

. In 1937, the fraternity was incorporated in the State of California as Alpha Eta Rho International Aviation Fraternity with headquarters in Los Angeles. The fraternity's activities included meetings with guest speakers, weekly luncheons, trips to airplane factories and related industries, and cross-country flights. Some chapters had a flying team that engaged in intercollegiate aviation competitions with other organizations across the United States. Annually, it awards a scholarship key to the outstanding member of each chapter. The fraternity also awarded scholarships for aviation students. As of 2023, Alpha Eta Rho has more than 50,000 alumni. Its alumni work in all facets of the aviation industry and related management fields, including

airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers or freight (cargo). Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines ...

captains, military aviation

flag officer A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the position from which that officer exercises command. Different countries use the term "flag officer" in different ways: * ...

s, corporate CEOs,

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

engineers,

flight attendants A flight attendant is a member of the aircrew whose primary responsibility is ensure the safety of passengers in the cabin of an aircraft across all stages of flight. Their secondary duty is to see to the comfort of passengers. Flight attenda ...

, aircraft mechanics, aviation museum directors,

aerospace engineer Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...

s, and pilots. Alpha Eta Rho is incorporated in the state of Missouri. Its quarterly newsletter is ''The Beam''.

Symbols

The Greek letters Alpha Eta Rho stand spell the Greek work "aer" or "air". The letter Alpha also means "first and foremost". The lellter Eta represents the fraternity's seven founders because it is the seventh letter in the Greek alphabet. As the last letter in the word air, Rho stands for density and solar distance, symbolizing the strong bonds of the fraternity's members despite their travels through the aviation industry. The Alpha Eta Rho badge is shaped like a five-cylinder radial airplane engine with a diagonal propeller on top. The Greek letters and are above the propeller, with below the propeller. The heads of the cylinders are decorated with two emeralds and three rubies. Its pledge pin is shaped like a propeller. The fraternity's colors are chrome yellow, red, and black. Its motto is "Collegiate Aviation Leaders of Today... Aviation Industry Leaders of Tomorrow."

Governance

Alpha Eta Rho is overseen by a national board of directors. In addition, the fraternity has a National Student Executive Committee made up of student members. The day-to-day operations of the fraternity are run by Benjamin O'Brien, the organization's Chief Executive Officer.

Chapters

As of 2023, Alpha Eta Rho has chartered more than 140 chapters across the United States and abroad.

Notable members

* Pretto Bell (''Beta'') – aviator and second licensed female pilot in the United States * Kenneth P. Bergquist (''Pi Honorary'') – brigadier general and

Assistant Secretary of the Navy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (ASN) is the title given to certain civilian senior officials in the United States Department of the Navy. From 1861 to 1954, the Assistant Secretary of the Navy was the second-highest civilian office in the Depart ...

* John Franklin Bruce Carruthers (''Associate'') – minister and aviation historian * Iris Cummings (''Alpha'') – aviatior and swimmer in

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

* Ira C. Eaker (''Alpha'') – aviation pioneer and aerobatic pilot * Earle Foxe (''Associate'') –

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

actor, president, and co-owner of the Black-Foxe Military Institute * Rudy Frasca (''Chi'') – pioneer in aviation flight training simulation * Harold Gatty (''Associate'') – navigator and record-setting aviation pioneer * Arthur C. Goebel (''Honorary'' ''Associate'') – aviation pioneer and winner of the Dole Air Race * George Allan Hancock (''Iota'') – aviator, banker, railroad engineer, and the namesake of Allan Hancock Field and

Allan Hancock College Allan Hancock College is a public community college in Santa Maria, California. It offers associate degrees at its Lompoc Valley campus and at nearby Vandenberg Space Force Base. The college is part of the California Community College System ...

* Herbert Hoover Jr. (''Associate'') – engineer,

United States Under Secretary of State Under Secretary of State (U/S) is a title used by senior officials of the United States Department of State who rank above the United States Assistant Secretary of State, Assistant Secretaries and below the United States Deputy Secretary of State, ...

, and eldest son of President

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was the 31st president of the United States, serving from 1929 to 1933. A wealthy mining engineer before his presidency, Hoover led the wartime Commission for Relief in Belgium and ...

* Joe W. Kelly (''Pi Honorary'') – U.S. Airforce General and Commander,

Military Air Transport Service The Military Air Transport Service (MATS) is an inactive United States Department of Defense, Department of Defense Unified Command. Activated on 1 June 1948, MATS was a consolidation of the United States Navy's Naval Air Transport Service (NA ...

* Ronald D. Kelly (''Sigma Second'') – aviation academic and director of the

Southern Illinois University Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois. Board of trustees The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of T ...

Air Institute and Service * Rufus B. von KleinSmid (''Associate'')– president of the

and the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

* Eugene S. Kropf (''Pi)'' –aviation historian, public affairs officer of the

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...

, and namesake of the Eugene S. Kropf Scholarship * Frank Kurtz (''Alpha'') – record-setting aviator and champion high diver at the

1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932, in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held du ...

(''Alpha'') – aviator who made the first nonstop flight from

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

* Jack Northrop (''Lambda'') – aircraft industrialist, aircraft designed, and founder of the

Northrop Corporation Northrop Corporation was an American aircraft manufacturer from its formation in 1939 until its 1994 merger with Grumman to form Northrop Grumman. The company is known for its development of the flying wing design, most successfully the B-2 Spiri ...

and Northrop Aeronautical Institute * Jean Piccard (''Associate'')– chemist, engineer academic, and high-altitude balloonist *

Tyrone Power Tyrone Edmund Power III (May 5, 1914 – November 15, 1958) was an American actor. From the 1930s to the 1950s, Power appeared in dozens of films, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads. His better-known films include ''Jesse James (193 ...

(''Alpha Honorary'') – actor *

Elliott Roosevelt Elliott Roosevelt may refer to: * Elliott Roosevelt (socialite) (1860–1894), American socialite, father-in-law of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, father of Eleanor Roosevelt, younger brother of President Theodore Roosevelt, and grandfather of G ...

(''Associate'') – brigadier general, general manager of Gilpin Airlines, and the son of President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

and

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ( ; October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States, first lady of the United States, during her husband Franklin D ...

* Lee Shippey (Honorary) – journalist and author * Ernie Smith (''Alpha'') – professional football player * Robert E. Stuck (''Eta'') –

United States Army Air Force The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

pilot *

Roscoe Turner Roscoe Turner (September 29, 1895 – June 23, 1970) was a record-breaking American aviator who was a three-time winner of the Thompson Trophy air race and widely recognized by his flamboyant style and his pet, Gilmore the lion, Gilmore the L ...

(''Associate'') – record-breaking aviator * Lee Ya-Ching (Honorary) – actress and pioneering aviator

References