History of the University of Chicago Chapter, The Iota of Kappa Alpha Psi ® Other Distinguished Members
of nuclear power’s impact. In 1976, he became the second African American elected to the National Academy of E n g i n e e r i n g , one of the highest honors an engineer can receive. The Wilkins Effect, plus the Wigner- Wilkins and Wilkins Spectra, a number of p h e n o m e n o n in physics discovered during the 1940s, are
Thus, he was singularly responsible for the majority the fraternity’s administrative tasks such as bookkeeping, maintenance of membership records, tax reporting, issuance of new chapter charters, and Grand Chapter correspondence. His resignation in 1952 ended a consecutive string of 31 years where a “Wilkins” managed the fraternity’s administrative and business affairs. During this period,
Ewart Abner (Iota 1949): Record Company Executive
After graduating from DePaul University, Abner joined Chicago’s Vee-Jay Records where he became president in 1961 and was responsible for musical acts such as Jerry Butler, Gene Chandler and the Four Seasons. In 1963, Abner negotiated the deal for Vee-Jay to market the first American releases of recordings by the Beatles. In 1967, Abner left Vee-Jay for Motown Records where he help manage the careers of the Temptations, the Supremes, the Jackson Five and Stevie Wonder and eventually rose to president of Motown Records in the 1970s. Abner entered the Chapter Invisible in 1998.
“One day I will fly to the moon with math.”
Wilkins Jr. also served as 1949 chairman of the Kappa Alpha Psi Handbook Committee as well as member of the History of Kappa Alpha Psi committee, the Scholarship Fund and Memorial Chapter House Fund Commissions respectively. From 1946-1970 Wilkins then worked in private industry with a variety of companies. He also earned bachelor and master degrees in mechanical engineering from New York University in 1957 and 1960 respectively. In 1970, he became the Distinguished Professor of Applied Mathematical Physics at Howard University where he help establish the school’s Ph.D. program in Mathematics. In 1974, he was elected president of the American Nuclear Society. Throughout his career, he wrote numerous scientific papers, helped recruit minority students into the sciences and provided significant contributions in the areas of pure and applied mathematics, civil and nuclear engineering, and optics. Wilkins Jr. returned to nuclear engineering field working at EG & G, Inc., a scientific technology firm, from 1977 to 1984 and then serving as a fellow at the Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory from 1984 to 1985. In 1990, he became the Distinguished Professor of Applied Mathematics and Mathematical Physics at Clark-Atlanta University, a position he held until transition to the Chapter Invisible on May 12, 2011 at the age of 87. Physics Today wrote in its obituary of Brother Wilkins: “J. Ernest Wilkins, Jr. was a quiet, kind, gracious, sophisticated, and complex person who mentored many students and colleagues, and was ‘worshipped’ by several generations of friends and young students seeking careers in mathematics, engineering, and the physical sciences.” Of his many awards and achievements, his principal achievement was the study and development of radiation shielding against gamma radiation. Wilkins’ research and calculations created breakthroughs in the understanding
Dr. Major Armstead (Iota 1959): Educator Graduate of Chicago Teachers College (now Chicago State University), Armstead worked as administrator and principal in the Chicago Public School system. Armstead served as the 44 th Polemarch of the Chicago (IL) Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi® and president of the Edward G. Irvin Foundation, a 501(c)(3), the philanthropic entity of the Chicago Alumni (IL) Chapter.
named or co-named in his honor. In 1980, the U.S. Army presented him with its Outstanding Civilian Service Award. In 1997, the University of Chicago Alumni Association bestowed him with its Professional Achievement Award. In 2007, the University of Chicago recognized Wilkins’s achievements by placing his portrait and a plaque in his honor in the university’s Eckhart Hall Tea Room.
Brig. Gen. Frank C. Bacon, Jr. (Iota 1962): Educator, U.S. Army, Retired
Graduate of West Virginia State College (now University), Gen. Bacon served in the U.S. Army, the U.S Army Reserves, and in the Chicago Police Department prior to transitioning to Education. He taught at Chicago’s Adam Clayton Powell School prior to the opportunity to develop a military school as a high school within the Chicago Public School System in a deserted facility in Bronzeville that had served as the Eighth Regiment Armory. Named the Chicago Military Institute, Gen. Bacon served as the institution’s first superintendent. Gen. Bacon entered the Chapter Invisible in 2003. The American Legion Post 2091 is named in his honor.
NOTE: 1. Graduation photo of Brother Wilkins is from the Febru- ary 1943 issue of Kappa Alpha Psi Journal 2. Journal cover photo featuring Brother Wilkins and his father, the Grand Polemarch Wilkins, is from the October 1947 issue of The Kappa Alpha Psi Journal ®
Maurice E. Baptiste (1940): Executive, City Comptroller
Baptiste earned a B.A. degree in 1940 and an M.B.A. degree in 1942 from the University of Chicago. He worked in the private sector in finance for years in Gary, IN. He also served in various management positions in Gary, IN including as the city comptroller. He was one of the first African Americans to hold the office of Chief Finance Officer/ Comptroller of a large municipality in the United States. During his presidency, U.S. President Jimmy Carter appointed Baptiste to the U.S. Department of Transportation. In 1969, the University of Chicago named him as one of its Alumni of the Year with a citation “for outstanding service to the community, the nation and humanity” and the University of Chicago Booth School of Business honored Baptiste in 1998 with its distinguished Alumni Award. Brother Baptiste entered the Chapter Invisible in 2007.
62 | WINTER ISSUE THE JOURNAL
Publishing achievement for more than 100 years
Publishing achievement for more than 100 years
THE JOURNAL WINTER ISSUE | 63
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