Dr. J. D. Hammond, 21, was born and raised on a farm a few miles from the small northwest Missouri town of Maitland, where he graduated High School in 1951. He enrolled in NWMSC in the fall of 1951, graduating spring 1955, earning an A.B. degree with a major in Business.
Frater Hammond achieved many distinctions that defined his career, including being the first Prytanis (1954-1955) of Delta Nu Chapter. He has been immersed in leadership and education ever since, first teaching at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Finance, followed by five years with the Ohio State University’s Department of Economics. From there, he accepted a role with Penn State University’s College of Business, where he would stay for the next 34 years.
At Penn State, ‘JD’ advanced to hold the William Elliott Endowed Chair of Insurance, retiring in 1999 as Dean of what had since become the Smeal College of Business. Additionally, he was also President of several Professional Associations, was Chair of several Key Committees at Penn State, served on private sector boards and was a member of the Northwest Foundation Board for six years.
Frater Hammond recalled that after his NWMSC graduation, his brother took him to St. Joseph where with one suitcase and a trunk, he boarded a train to Philadelphia. After a night in a hotel, and with a little guidance from the offices of the S.S. Huebner foundation at Wharton, he found a single room near campus. After finishing his work at Penn, he headed toward Ohio State where instruction was in both Insurance and Economics. It was at Ohio State where he met and married his wife Marian in 1960, a native of Mansfield, Ohio. Their daughter Nancy lives in Winona, Minnesota and son Michael in Boston.
During Frater Hammond’s undergraduate years in Maryville, Dwight Eisenhower was President and popular music was transitioning from the Big Band era to Rock and Roll. Frater Tex Beneke with The Glenn Miller Orchestra (he played for a dance at Northwest), Buddy Morrow leading the Tommy Dorsey band, and post-war Big Bands of Ralph Flanagan and Ray Anthony were popular. Rock and Roll was hitting it with Bill Haley and the Comets. Popular vocal groups were The Four Lads, Four Freshman, and the Crew Cuts. Andy Griffith had surfaced with his “What it was, was football” description of attending his first football game. Crew cuts were the norm for the young men on campus.
Frater Reid Anderson, President of the TKE Colony during 1953-1954, was described as ‘inspirational’ by Frater Hammond. He went to describe Reid as “a cheerleader – a ‘big guy’ physically, and in his presence on campus.” Frater Hammond had remained unaffiliated with any campus organization for two years, until one of the students invited him to attend a campus Greek function featuring remarks by the then National President of TKE, an attorney from a prominent Kansas City law firm. Hammond recalls that it convinced him to join Delta Nu as a colony. Dr. John Taylor, professor of Social Science, was the Delta Nu faculty advisor at the time.
Influential professors at Northwest were led by Dr. Sterling Surrey in Business, Dr. John Harr in History and Social Science, and Ms. Elaine Mauzey, professor of French. Hammond noted that he thought it was neat that some country kid could learn to speak French – well at least speak some French!
Frater Hammond recalls dozens of other students from his time at Northwest and often wonders how they are, and what they are doing. It was a pleasure for this Teke to meet ‘JD’ via phone and to interview him. He is a gracious, soft spoken, and engaging Teke – a gentleman at all times.