Honored Members of the Leroy Record Heritage Society

Remembering those whose bequests are making a difference

J. Daniel Bode
For Grants-in-Aid of Research
Long-time member J. Daniel Bode (1923-2006) was invited to join Sigma Xi in 1949, by the University of Pittsburgh Chapter. Supporting the young researcher was a passion for Bode. As well as providing a substantial endowment for the Society’s Grants-in-Aid of Research in chemistry, he also provided an endowment for graduate students at the University of Pittsburgh.

Mildred E. Hamilton
For General Unrestricted Support
Long-time Sigma Xi member Mildred E. Hamilton (1915-1998) of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, was a respected educator who taught psychology at Queens College, City University of New York. During her life, she expressed her passion for research and education through generous support of a number of universities, research institutes and non-profit organizations. Sigma Xi was among the beneficiaries under the terms of her will. As she did with other organizations, Hamilton opted to provide general unrestricted support for the programs and operations of the Society through a bequest.

William W. Rigrod
For Grants-in-Aid of Research
An electrical engineer, William W. Rigrod (1913-1998) of Santa Fe, New Mexico, had a long, productive career as a member of the technical staff at AT&T Bell Laboratories and, later, as a consultant for Los Alamos. His primary research interest included microwave electronics, lasers and physical optics. The Polytechnic University Chapter elected him to Sigma Xi in 1950 while he was a doctoral student there. His generous bequest to Sigma Xi established the William W. Rigrod Fund for general support of the Grants-in-Aid of Research program. Grant proposals in engineering research receive first preference, in recognition of his distinguished career.

Edward F. Obert
For Ethics in Research
A generous bequest from the estate of long-time Sigma Xi member Edward F. Obert (1910-1993) funded the publication of The Responsible Researcher: Paths and Pitfalls, a companion booklet to Sigma Xi's popular ethical guidebook Honor in Science. Inducted in 1945 by the Northwestern University Chapter, Obert was chairman of the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 1963 to 1967, but was probably best known by his students and colleagues as a teacher of high standards and steadfast principles. Students and faculty members often sought his guidance. Obert was also an accomplished scholar who wrote four acclaimed textbooks, Concepts of Thermodynamics, Elements of Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer, Thermodynamics and Internal Combustion Engines.

Professor Obert believed that virtue is the only good and that its essence lies in self-control, independence and conformity to a high standard of morality. He wanted his colleagues and friends to remember him through this quote from Socrates: 'When my sons grow up, I would ask you, my friends, to punish them if they care about anything more than virtue.'

-Memorial Resolution of the Faculty
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Roland Queneau
For Education and the Public Understanding of Science
Inducted in 1923 by the Minnesota Chapter, Roland Queneau (1902-1997) made gifts to the Society over the course of five decades. He established a trust that directed a substantial portion of his estate to Sigma Xi in support of its programs in education and the public understanding of science as well as Grants-in-Aid of Research.

For more information about the Leroy Record Heritage Society or about making a planned gift to Sigma Xi, please contact development@sigmaxi.org.

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EIN: 06-0655494