William Henry Shideler

...was born near Middletown, Ohio on July 14, 1886 and was the youngest of the four Phi Kappa Tau Founders. Like the others, Shideler was a member of the North Dorm Senate and a member of the Campus Literary Society. He was the author of the Non-Fraternity Association constitution and was the guiding light in directing the preliminaries that had gone into the foundation of the Non-Fraternity Association.

In 1910, he received his PhD degree in Geology from Cornell and returned to Miami where he served as a member of the faculty until his retirement in 1957.

Founder Shideler held every Phi Kappa Tau national office during his long career of exemplary service to the Fraternity. He was National President from 1913-1914, Historian from 1917-1922, a member of the National Council from 1920 to 1923 and National Comptroller from 1929 until his death on December 18, 1958. He was also the Fraternity's acting National Secretary during World War II.

Shideler was known as "Doc" even as an undergraduate and was always interested in Miami sports. He first served as a member of the Miami varsity track team and then, following graduation, as a member of the Miami Athletic Board of Control. He was chairman of the Mid-American Conference and represented Miami at NCAA meetings. Shideler's two sons, William Watson & James Henry, are both members of the Fraternity. The naming, in 1967, of the Miami University's new earth science building as Shideler Hall is perpetuating Founder Shideler's memory as a great Miami teacher and scholar.