Home to the Alpha Chapter Beta Beta Beta Biological Honor Society Chartered in 1924 www.tri-beta.org

A Brief History of TriBeta

"Beta Beta Beta was founded in 1922 at Oklahoma City University by Dr. Frank G. Brooks and a group of his students. Chapters at several other midwestern colleges were established in the next few years, and the national organization was formed in 1925 by three faculty members: Dr. Brooks, Dr. William M. Goldsmith from Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas, and Dr. John C. Johnson, Sr., from Western State College in Colorado. Since that time biennial conventions with both student and faculty representatives have been held regularly with only a few exceptions. A Silver Anniversary Convention in Chicago, Illinois, in 1947, and a 50th Anniversary Celebration in Washington, D.C. in 1972 have been marked by special celebrations. The number of chapters and number of new initiates per year has increased steadily. There are now (1997) 400 chapters; in total over 150,000 young biologists have been inducted as regular members of TriBeta in addition to thousands of associate members."
The preceding section was excerpted from a TriBeta publication.

The Alpha Chapter at OCU

The Alpha Chapter was officially chartered on November 20, 1924. Dr. Brooks served on the OCU faculty from 1919 to 1936 (his portrait hangs in the student study room, LO 210). He served as the Secretary-treasurer of the national organization from 1925 until his death in 1955. He also helped to establish BIOS, the journal of the society and served as its managing editor. After his death his wife, Laura Jean Brooks, took over his duties and performed them until she retired in 1967.

Membership Criteria

Any person interested in the biological sciences is eligible to join TriBeta as an associate member. Associate members must pay a one-time fee of $30 (submitted to the national office) plus dues of $10 per semester (payable to the Alpha chapter). Full membership requires completion of 12 semester hours of coursework in biology (three semesters), with a G.P.A. of 3.0 or higher. To upgrade to full membership, an additional one-time fee of $10 must be paid to the national office, in addition to the regular semester dues.

Alpha Chapter Officers

The officers for 2006-2007 are:

Christopher Conrady, President
Cody Barnes, Vice-President
Kim Ewing, Secretary
Andy Anderson, Treasurer
Katie Horsley, Historian

Upcoming Events

Southcentral Region 1 and Region 2 Research Conference March 30-April 1 at The University of Oklahoma Biological Station at Lake Texoma.

Faculty Sponsor

Dr. Helen M. Gaudin, Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, is the Alpha Chapter's Faculty Sponsor.

Send E-mail to Dr. Gaudin

Last updated 14 February 2007.