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Knight Commanders
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**Term of Service:** 1957-1961
# William McLeod Frampton
24th Knight Commander
**Beta Gamma, Beta Pi**–College of Charleston, Presbyterian College, 1929
Former Knight Commander William McLeod Frampton was a champion of interfraternal cooperation and the first recipient of the Accolade for Interfraternity Service. He was born in Charleston , South Carolina , on March 10, 1908. He was a model initiate of Beta Gamma Chapter in 1929 and became an active member of Beta Pi. In 1942 he was named Smith Province Commander and served until the province was divided and he became commander of the South Carolina Province. In 1953 he was elected to the Executive Council, where he served until he was chosen as Knight Commander in 1957. He served in that position through 1961. During those turbulent years of social unrest and economic restraints, Frampton’s steady hand helped keep the Order on course. Upon retirement as Knight Commander he was selected as the Order’s first and only National Chaplain. With his melodious voice and rich vocabulary, Frampton is a popular speaker at many Kappa Alpha gatherings and conventions, which he loyally attended until his death on July 18, 2003.
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**Term of Service:** 1955-1957
# James Loughlin Duncan
23rd Knight Commander
**Kappa, Epsilon, Alpha Alpha**–Mercer University, Emory University, University of the South, 1931
Duncan was born in Greensboro, North Carolina , in September 11, 1913. Initiated by Kappa in 1931, he transferred to Epsilon that year and then to Alpha Alpha in 1937. Duncan was chosen as Hardeman Province Commander in 1942, when John Candler was called into the service, and then was reelected in 1945. Duncan served in that capacity until his election to the Executive Council in 1947 and selection as Knight Commander in 1955. He presently serves as a trustee of the Kappa Alpha Order Educational Foundation. A visionary and an advocate of progressive fiscal management within KA, he established active chapter dues and the voluntary alumni dues programs. The Centennial Campaign was launched during his administration. Ordained a deacon in 1938 by the Rt. Reverend Henry J. Mikell, he was ordained a priest the following year and was named the first bishop of the Diocese of Southeast Florida of the Episcopal Church in 1970. He died on July 20, 2000.
**Term of Service:** 1951-1955
# Howard Palmer Locke
22nd Knight Commander
**Alpha Nu**–The George Washington University, 1918
Howard P. Locke is considered by many to be the founder of modern Kappa Alpha, and he was credited with bringing Kappa Alpha into the fraternity mainstream after the end of World War II. He was born in Charleston , South Carolina , in 1899 and initiated by Alpha Nu Chapter on November 2, 1918. His sixty-four years of dedication to the Order included filling nearly every elected and appointed post. He served as Wood Province Commander from 1937 to 1946 and as a member of the National Reactivation Committee after World War II. In 1946 he was elected as a councilor and as president of the Fraternity Housing Corporation. He placed great emphasis on the establishment of the FHC and the Kappa Alpha Scholarship Fund, which is designed, and the development of the Regional Advisor System and the National Officers’ Training School (which is now known as the National Leadership Institute). He also participated in revision of the Kappa Alpha Laws from the 1940s into the 1970s. A member of the National Interfraternity Conference Executive Committee from 1954 to 1960, Locke produced NIC’s first booklet on the federal taxes affecting college fraternities. As Knight Commander he established two chapters. He was a prominent member of the legal profession, serving as executive attorney of the Tax Division of the Department of Justice and clerk of the U.S. Tax Court as well as an assistant to the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the special assistant to the attorney general of the United States . Locke died on April 30, 1982, in his native city.
**Term of Service:** 1946-1951
# William Elliott Dunwody IV
21st Knight Commander
**Kappa, Alpha Sigma**–Mercer College, Georgia Tech, 1909
William Elliot Dunwody was born in Macon, Georgia, in 1893, he was initiated by Kappa Chapter in 1909 and transferred to Alpha Sigma one year later. After serving as secretary of the Hardeman Province in 1920, he became Province Commander two years later and held that position until 1935. He served on the original Executive Council, which was established in 1936, and was named Senior Councilor in 1940. He became Knight Commander in 1946, following World War II and the resignation of John R. Berryman. He established nine chapters during the expansion following the war. His post-World War II terms brought many innovations to Kappa Alpha, including the establishment of the National Officers’ Training School, Fraternity Housing Corporation, and Kappa Alpha Scholarship Fund. Professionally, he was an architect. A civic leader of Macon, Georgia , throughout his career, he was a president of the Central Georgia Council of the Boy Scouts of America and a regent of the Georgia university system. He died on January 26, 1986.
**Term of Service:** 1940-1946
# John R. Berryman
20th Knight Commander
**Alpha Pi**–Stanford University, 1889
John R. Berryman, Jr. was born in  1889 in Madison, Wisconsin, and was initiated by Alpha Pi Chapter on April 29, 1889. He most appropriately was elected as Knight Commander at the 1939 Pasadena Convention, the first Kappa Alpha Convention ever held in California. In 1917 he became president of the Los Angeles Alumni Chapter, a position he still held when elected to the Order’s highest post. He was Neal Province Commander from 1928 to 1934 and Grand Historian from 1934 to 1935. The following year, he was elected Senior Councilor, a post he held for four years before becoming Knight Commander and serving throughout World War II. Berryman also served as vice president of the 1929 Convention in Louisville, Kentucky, and the 1931 Convention in New Orleans. He died September 18, 1964.
**Term of Service:** 1934-1940
# Emmett Lee Irwin
19th Knight Commander
**Alpha Gamma**–Louisiana State University, 1909
Emmett Lee Irwin was born in Clinton, Louisiana, in 1893, he was initiated by Alpha Gamma Chapter on September 19, 1909. He transferred his membership to Psi and was active in that chapter when he attended medical school at Tulane University. Acknowledged for attending every convention except when he was overseas in the service, Irwin was elected White Province Commander in 1919, an honor he first learned about when reading a *Kappa Alpha Journal* while in France. He assisted both Psi and Alpha Gamma chapters in obtaining chapter homes. As Knight Commander from 1934 to 1940, he chartered two new chapters and established the Order’s first administrative office above his medical suite in New Orleans . Irwin led the 1930’s reorganization of the Order’s government and was one of the charter trustees of the Kappa Alpha Scholarship Fund. He was reelected trustee and vice president repeatedly until his untimely death in 1965 resulting from injuries sustained in an automobile accident.
**Term of Service:** 1926-1934
# Henry Judah Mikell
18th Knight Commander
**Alpha Alpha**–University of the South, 1891
An influential role model for many KAs, Mikell was born in Sumter, South Carolina, in 1873 and was initiated by Alpha Alpha Chapter at the University of the South in 1891. In addition to organizing Beta Gamma Chapter in 1904, as Knight Commander he chartered seven chapters and probably presided at the initiation of more members than any other alumnus of that day. A prime mover of Order development, Mikell launched the effort that finally resulted in the 1936 revision of the *Kappa Alpha Laws* and adoption of the new government by appointing the necessary committees and consultants. Mikell was the president of both the Atlanta Alumni Chapter and the Convention in 1925. A prominent member of the Episcopal Church, he was consecrated Bishop of the Diocese of Atlanta in 1917 and served as the chancellor of the University of the South. He died on February 20, 1942.
**Term of Service:** 1916-1926
# Henry Clay Chiles
17th Knight Commander
**Alpha Delta**–William Jewell College, 1903
Henry Clay Chiles was born in Lexington, Missouri, in 1886. He was initiated at Alpha Delta on September 26, 1903, he was the first Hamer Province Commander from 1912 to 1915.  In Kappa Alpha’s fiftieth year, he was elected as Chief Alumnus in February and then Knight Commander that December, a post he held for the next decade.  During his term, he chartered five new chapters and recharted five others.  He compiled war records for the 1922 catalogue, authored the endowment fund and the alumni association laws, and was a member of the Electoral Commission from 1930 to 1936.  As president of the Missouri State K. A. Association in 1905, he helped found Beta Theta and Beta Iota chapters and served as Number I of Alpha Delta in 1906.  Chiles also had been a loyal member of the Boston Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha during his attendance at Harvard Law School.  He returned to Lexington to practice law and served as legal counsel in the Nuremburg Trials after World War II. Chiles also served as Grand Master of Masons in Missouri. Chiles died in 1966.
**Term of Service:** 1912-1915
# Samford Christian Fullilove
16th Knight Commander
**Alpha Iota, Psi, Alpha Nu**–Centenary College, Tulane University, George Washington University, 1892
Born in Preston, Louisiana, in 1877, Fullilove was initiated at Alpha Iota Chapter in 1892 and later transferred to Psi and Alpha Nu.  Twice elected an associate editor of the *Kappa Alpha Journal*, he was for many years president and mainstay of the Shreveport, Louisiana, alumni chapter.  In addition to one chapter, the Order’s present province system was established during his term.  Fullilove was a member of the Electoral Commission from 1920-1922 and chairman of the commission from 1922 to 1924.  A successful lawyer and judge, he died on August 16, 1933
**Term of Service:** 1901-1912, 1915-1916
# Edward Chambers Smith
15th Knight Commander
**Sigma**–Davidson College, 1880
Known as Ed Chambers Smith, the fifteenth Knight Commander was born in 1857 in Murfreesboro, North Carolina.  He was initiated by Sigma Chapter in 1880 and transferred to Upsilon two years later.  First elected as Knight Commander in 1901, he presided over one of Kappa Alpha’s most robust and prolific periods, during which he chartered thirteen chapters.  He was reelected at five consecutive conventions-the longest period served by any one man-and then refused to stand for election in 1911.  In 1915 he returned to the post, fulfilling S.C. Fullilove’s unexpired term.  He served as Grand Historian from 1883 to 1885 and as Electoral Commission member from 1912 to 1922 and again from 1924 to 1934. Smith was chairman of the latter body in 1912-1916 and 1920-1922 and won the Essay Medal in 1881.  A lawyer and judge, he was active in Democratic politics and helped precipitate construction of the Raleigh’s fire-alarm system.  Smith died on April 4, 1940 and is buried in Raleigh, N.C.
**Term of Service:** 1897-1898
# William Sprigg Hamilton
14th Knight Commander
**Alpha, Lambda**–Washington & Lee University, University of Virginia, 1886
“The Grand Old Man of KA” was born in 1867 in Savannah, Georgia.  He was initiated on September 25, 1886, by Alpha and then transferred to Lambda in 1888.  He was associate editor of the Journal from 1889 to 1891, edited five annual catalogues, served on the Electoral  Commission from 1920 to 1934 when it was abolished, and finally was selected to fill S.Z. Ammen’s post as Knight Commander on November 1, 1897, when the Practical Founder became too ill to continue.  He helped revise the 1892 and 1924 editions of the ritual and was elected to the Council of Honor in 1893, the same year he served as the Convention’s presiding officer.  He also is credited with designing the general officers’ and chapter officers’ jewels.  Hamilton helped organized Alpha Zeta, Beta Beta, and Beta Upsilon and founded Alpha Rho and Beta Chi, earning him the accolade “The Father of West Virginia Kappa Alpha.”  He served as president of the Wheeling, West Virginia, Alumni Chapter and was presented with the James Ward Wood Province’s first Provincial Cross upon institution of its Court of Honor.  Hamiliton won the Essay Medal at the 1889 Convention, and his poems “Knights of Old K A” and “Our Hearts Are Light” were set to music and are included among the Order’s official songs.  Perhaps his greatest written legacy, however was his painstaking work as the Order’s official archivist.  He left a law practice to become a dental surgeon and founded the Psi Omega Dental Fraternity.  Hamilton died on February 19, 1954, and was buried next to the grave of S.Z. Ammen,  in Lexington, Virginia.