William Raimond Baird
{{Short description|American publisher and editor}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = William Raimond Baird
| image = William Raimond Baird.jpg
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| birth_date = 1848
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| death_date = 1917
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| alma_mater = Stevens Institute of Technology
| notableworks = Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities
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William Raimond Baird (1848–1917) was the namesake of Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities and publisher of its early editions.
Biography
He was born in 1848 and in 1878 he graduated from Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey with a degree in mechanical engineering.{{Cite news |date=March 26, 1917 |title=William Raimond Baird |url=https://www.nyshistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=hn19170326-01.1.2&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN---------- |url-status=live |access-date=June 25, 2025 |work=The Hill News (St. Lawrence University) |pages=2}} He exhaustively researched other organizations seeking a suitable partner to merge with his own 5-chapter regional fraternity Alpha Sigma Chi.[http://www.umainebeta.org/bh_history.php UMaine Beta History] He selected Beta Theta Pi, which absorbed {{lang|grc|ΑΣΧ}} in 1879. As no authoritative resource on the subject existed, Baird published his research for the benefit of the public as American College Fraternities. He continued to refine the work, publishing a total of eight editions under his name as author.
In addition to his membership in Alpha Sigma Chi, which the year after his graduation became the Sigma chapter of Beta Theta Pi, Baird was a member of Phi Delta Phi (international legal honor society) and Tau Beta Pi (engineering honor society).As profiled in [https://www.franbecque.com/my-dear-sisson-wrote-wm-raimond-baird-on-jan-1-1898/ a blog post by Fran Becque on "Fraternity History & More", dated June 17, 2012], accessed 31 Jan 2021.
After graduating from Stevens, Baird attended Columbia University Law School and graduated in 1882. While at Columbia, he founded the Alpha Alpha Chapter of Beta Theta Pi Fraternity. Baird also served as the Editor of the Beta Theta Pi Magazine in the years 1880-1883, 1885, and 1892-1915.{{Cite book |last=Floriani |first=Peter J. |title=The Faithful Home of the Three Stars |publisher=Beta Theta Pi |year=1989 |location=Cincinnati, Ohio |pages=207}} He also wrote several books on the history and members of Beta Theta Pi Fraternity.{{Cite book |title=Son of the Stars: A Manual for New Members of Beta Theta Pi |publisher=Beta Theta Pi |year=2016 |editor-last=Cobb |editor-first=L. Martin |edition=16th |location=Indianapolis, Indiana |pages=347}}
References
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External links
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Category:Stevens Institute of Technology alumni
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