Whitman H. Jordan, 1875

Our brothers careers have been productive, constructive, spirited, and prosaic. They displayed impressive skills, talents, and abilities They were, and we continue to be, a beautiful and lively expression of our enduring fraternal beliefs, and that underlying harmony is far-reaching in expectation for all brothers’, undergraduate and graduate. It is the core of what our fraternal founders asserted in 1848 and 1874 and 1899: to live active, commendable, and responsible lives, and to build up community. Clearly and compellingly, they added, and continue to add, positive value at the local, state, national, global, and fraternal level because they engaged life fully and responsibly. In short, they were authoritative pillars throughout life. They were-are exemplary in their citizenship, character, and their sense of dutiful responsibility, and, in many instances, they were leading voices in their career fields. They prove that success of any kind does not occur by luck or accident, and we remember them because they continue to provide that message for our time. Their spirit permeates our brotherhood, and it always will. 

We have long been, from one generation to the next, proud to be Omega Mu Fijis. We continue to cherish our fraternal friendships, our shared memories, and our evolving, forward-focused history at the University of Maine. These things, above and beyond everything else, are the underlying rooted connections that make us proud to be Omega Mu Fijis. Why, after all, should we believe otherwise? We have always exhibited a can-do fraternal spirit since 1874. And, to be sure, all present and future generations of Omega Mu Fijis will continue to do the same, with fraternal enthusiasm and commitment. As a brotherhood, we always see the path behind us and the way forward with equal clarity, and our future remains bright at 79 College Avenue because we fearlessly move forward, always guided by sound fraternal principles, and because of that we are an exceptional brotherhood because we remain committed and hardworking to assure that our Omega Mu brotherhood will continue to be the jewel at the University of Maine. Perge.​

Omega Mu Portrait
Whitman H. Jordan,
1875

Q. T. V. Years

Q. T. V. Brothers In Orono

The Class Of 1875

Louis C. Southard,
Q. T. V. - Omega Mu Brother

"....nearly all acquainted with hard work, economical in their habits and in the main determined to accomplish something worth while on the college course."

"Jordan is the lion"

"Jordan...had the courage to elect agriculture."

"Members of the class took a prominent part in establishing the Q. T. V. Society which was really the first fraternity organized at the college."

University of Maine Athlete

Concert Before Graduation

"Jordan, Prophet"

"At the close of the exercises we smoked the pipe of peace, shook hands, and since that day some members of the class
​have never met."

MA At Cornell University
​1878

Wesleyan University

Whitman H. Jordan was an assistant teacher in chemistry at the Wesleyan University in 1878-1879. In addition, he also worked in the first experimental station in the United States that was in Middletown. He would become a pioneering leader in the
agricultural experiment stations movement throughout the United Sates and around the word.

Wesleyan campus in the late 1870's.

Whitman returned to Maine State College as an instructor in chemistry and agriculture from 1879-1880.

Mount Nittany in the background.

Whitman H. Jordan taught agricultural courses at Penn State from 1880-1885.

"The agricultural faculty carried on the only scientific research worthy of the name, beginning in 1881 when agricultural chemist Whitman H. Jordan joined the staff and initiated his much celebrated series of experiments with fertilizers. Jordan laid out 144 soil plots of one-eighth acre each, carefully recorded what types of crops were sown in which plots, and noted the kinds of fertilizer used. The Jordan fertility plots were the American counterparts of the pots at England's Rothamstead station, where Evan Pugh conducted research."

"Jordan Soil Plots"

"Jordan Soil Plots were a pioneer effort to determine long-term effects of fertilizer on soil and crops...were established in 1882 by Professor Whitman H. Jordan. Some
​remained under study as late as 1959."

Whitman H. Jordan returned to the University of Maine in 1885 to become the director of the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station for the eleven years.

Whitman H. Jordan returns to Maine to become the first director of the director of the Agricultural
​Experiment Station at the University of Maine. 

The recently completed center portion of the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station with the second
Q.T.V. Chapter Hall to the left, 1889-1890. 

Experiment Station, center; Q.T.V. Hall, left, and the green house where experiments were conducted.

The present site of the Hauck Library was a farm field where Whitman H. Jordan conducted experiments, as he had done at Penn State, with different types of crops and fertilizers. Please note the the three individuals in the field. In addition, the second Q.T.V. is the white building on the right with one window on the second floor.

Picture of Whitman H. Jordan and the Experiment Station, now Holmes Hall.

Early 1890's photo of our second
​Q. T. V Chapter Hall and the
​Experiment Station cum Holmes Hall.

University Of Maine Faculty,
1895

Our Q.T.V.-Omega Mu Brothers:
James N. Hart, Lieut. Mark Hersey, Whitman H. Jordan, Walter Flint, Fred Briggs, George H. Hamlin, Horace M. Estabrooke, James M. Bartlett, Freemont L. Russel, Allen E. Rogers.

Whitman H. Jordan became the director of the New York State Experiment Station in 1896, and he staid in this position for twenty-five years. During his tenure, he improved the experiment station in innumerable and measurable ways. First, he established the departments of Chemistry, Horticulture, Vegetable Pathology, Animal Husbandry, and Entomology in the experiment station. Second, he instructed his experimental staff to do original, innovative research in all agricultural areas in order to improve dairy farming, fertilizer usage on plants, plant durability, and water usage to grow crops. And, more importantly, he believed that the agricultural research done in the experiment stations, in each state, should take into account the the important agricultural industries in each state, as well as the soil and climate in each state. He believed that this was fundamentally important for the financial well-being of the famers in each state, as well as the overall well-being of the land, crops, and farm animals. Therefore, the connection between the agricultural experiment stations in each state and the farmers was vital for the health of the land, the various types of cattle, the crop health and crop abundance of particular plants, and, ultimately, the financial well-being of the famers. His long-range resolve was for the good to prevail in all these areas due to the exhaustive research and testing, in the various departments, that he established at the New York State Experiment Station. 

"His life has always been an active one, and he is one of those restless, energetic men whose whole lives are an incessant battle to overcome problems the solutions of which will be of inestimable benefit to the great
cause of humanity."

STUDIES IN PLANT NUTRITION
W. H. JORDAN

DIRECTORS REPORT FOR 1915
W. H. JORDAN

The staff at Geneva in 1921.
Whitman H. Jordan is in the middle of third row.

"Legacy Of Work"

"He has left to the members of this staff a legacy of work well done, a life well spent, and a record of great accomplishments as scientist, administrator, and citizen...Let us record here our enduring regard for him as man and Director, and pass on to those who are to succeed us the heritage of
​his achievements."

"Jordan was, first of all, a man of unflinching integrity - a vigorous, high-minded advocate of truth....Invariably, he stood for righteousness. He was in every respect a good citizen."

Jordan Hall
​At Cornell University

Author

Speech To University Of Maine Students On The
History Of The University

University of Maine Chapel

Since our fraternal history started at the University of Maine in 1874, we have had many brothers have made a positive impact in the world in their various careers. Some, however, have been exemplary in their career achievements. Throughout his wonderful trailblazing career in agricultural experiment stations,  Whitman H. Jordan, with human warmth, clear-sighted vision, and unbound enthusiasm established the enduring, innovative model of what agricultural experiment stations should do, and in doing so he influenced the world with his practical ideas and solutions  for the overall good of land, cattle, crops, and humanity. 

Whitman H. Jordan led a vibrant, unique, and responsible life during his entire career in making lasting contributions to society through his exhaustive work in agriculture and animal husbandry that are fundamental to this day. He did not waver in his mission to do everything with scientific thoroughness and personal integrity at the University of Maine, Wesleyan University, Penn State, and the New York Experimental Station. The rewarding journey of Whitman H. Jordan's entire career, in all these university experiment stations, is a vividly sincere fraternal portrait of a brother who was truly guided persistence and determination, our defining fraternal ethos for the past 150 years. These descriptive words were foundational to who Whitman H. Jordan was as a person, chemist, and leader throughout his dynamic career in experiment stations in Maine, Connecticut, and New York when the revolutionary idea of agricultural experiment stations was a growing movement. Truly, it was a decisive movement in the United States, and Whitman H. Jordan was an acknowledged pioneering leader in the movement for all the positive milestones he helped bring about to make positive difference in the world for humanity, animals, land, and crops. Perge.

“What if the space be long and wide,
That parts us from our brother’s side
A soul-joined chain unites our band,
And memory links us hand in hand.”
(Phi Gamma Delta fraternity song)

Fraternally,
Chip Chapman, ’82
Perge