page_title: Sphinx Head
section_title: Notable alumni
hierarchical_section_title: Sphinx Head / Notable alumni
caption_attribution_description: Barn Swallow , Hirundo rustica, chromolithograph after painting (watercolor or acrylic)
context_page_description: The Sphinx Head Society is the oldest senior honor society at Cornell University. Sphinx Head recognizes Cornell senior men and women who have demonstrated respectable strength of character on top of a dedication to leadership and service at Cornell University. In 1929 The New York Times held that election into Sphinx Head and similar societies constituted "the highest non-scholastic honor within reach of undergraduates."
context_section_description: 1890–1899
  Louis A. Fuertes (1897): ornithologist; renowned bird artist
  Maxwell M. Upson (1899): namesake of Upson Hall on the Engineering Quad of the Cornell campus; Cornell University Trustee for over 35 years; former President of Raymond International Inc.
  1900–1909
  Neal D. Becker (1905): Chairman of the Cornell University Board of Trustees (1947–1953); member of the Council on Foreign Relations; co-founder of the American Australian Association in 1948
  Romeyn Berry (1904): dubbed Cornell Athletics "The Big Red" while composing the lyrics to "The Big Red Team" (a Cornell song) in 1905; Graduate Manager of Cornell Athletics (1919–1935); wrote Dirt Roads to Stoneposts (1949), Stoneposts in the Sunset (1950), and Behind the Ivy (1950)
  John Carpenter (1907): Olympic athlete in the 400 meter race at the 1908 Olympic Games
  Frederick D. Colson (1900): Deputy Attorney General of New York State (1915–1924)
  Adolph H. J. Coors, Jr. (1907): second President of the Coors Brewing Company
  Charles M. French (1909): Olympic athlete in the 800m race in the 1908 Olympic Games
  David C. Munson (1906): gold medalist in the 4 mile team race track & field event at the 1904 Olympic Games
  John L. Senior (1901): first Graduate Manager of Athletics for Cornell University (1901–1907); organized the first Spring Day, the predecessor to the current Slope Day
  Richmond H. Shreve (1902): architect who led the construction of the Empire State Building with his firm Shreve, Lamb and Harmon
  Willard D. Straight (1901): U.S. diplomat; namesake of Willard Straight Hall, a student union that was constructed in 1925 after his death in 1918; founder of Cornell's annual Dragon Day; Cornell University Trustee; donated money for the construction of Schoellkopf Field
  Ray Van Orman (1908): U.S. Olympic lacrosse coach (1928–1932); inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1992
  William J. Warner (1903): inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1971
  1910–1919
  Tell S. Berna (1912): gold medalist in the 3000m team track & field event at the 1912 Olympic Games
  Edward T. Cook, Jr. (1910): gold medalist in the pole vault track & field event at the 1908 Olympic Games
  Babe Clark (1914): American football player
  Ivan C. Dresser (1919): gold medalist in the 3000 meter track & field event at the 1920 Olympic Games
  John "Jack" E. O'Hearn (1915): inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1972
  Murray N. Shelton (1916): inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1973
  Elbert P. Tuttle (1918): chief judge in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Atlanta, Georgia (overseeing many civil rights cases); recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1981
  1920–1929
  Charles E. Ackerly (1920): gold medalist in the wrestling (132 lb. weight class) at the 1920 Olympic Games
  Victor L. Butterfield (1927): eleventh President of Wesleyan University (1943–1967); Cornell University Trustee
  Walker L. Cisler (1922): nuclear energy advocate; Chairman of Detroit Edison Company (1948–1964); founder of National Academy of Engineering; Chairman of the International Executive Council of the World Energy Conference; President of the Atomic Industrial Forum and the Fund for Peaceful Atomic Development; recipient of the IEEE Edison Medal "for a career of meritorious achievement in electrical science, electrical engineering or the electrical arts"
  Daniel E. Duryea (1928): film and TV actor immortalized on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; actor in four Broadway shows
  Thomas C. Hennings, Jr. (1924): U.S. Congress Representative for Missouri 11th District (1934–1940); Senator of Missouri (1951–1960); vigorous proponent of civil liberties, Director of the Foreign Policy Association and of Big Brothers of America
  Eddie L. Kaw (1923): inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1954
  Edward B. Kirby (1924): bronze medalist in the 3000m team track & field event at the 1924 Olympic Games
  George R. Pfann (1924): Secretary of Staff to General George S. Patton during his campaign in North Africa, Sicily and Germany; Rhodes Scholar; Cornell University Board of Trustees;
caption: Barn Swallow by Louis A. Fuertes (Sphinx Head 1897), from The Second Book of Birds, 1901
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