Robert (Bob) Mott
Dayton, OH
Personal
ROBERT MOTT
2757 Symphony Way, Dayton, OH 45449; Email: rlmott@ameritech.net
Married to Marge – 54 happy years
Three children; four grandchildren
Professional
1958-62 – GMI – Frigidaire Division of GM, Dayton, Ohio
1963-65 – Purdue University – MS in Mechanical Engineering
1965-66 – Returned to Frigidaire
1966-2001 – University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio;
Faculty member – Mechanical Engineering Technology
Department Chair, Associate Dean, Professor Emeritus
1969-Present – Author of three college textbooks:
Applied Fluid Mechanics, 7th edition, Pearson
Applied Strength of Materials, 6th edition, CRC Press
(Both now co-authored with Joseph A. Untener)
Machine Elements in Mechanical Design, 5th edition, Pearson
GMI, Delta Chi Rho, and Sigma Nu Memories
After graduation from Urbana High School in 1958, and with the strong
encouragement from my father and my high school physics teacher, I decided
to apply to GMI to study mechanical engineering. Like many of my classmates
and fraternity brothers, a major factor in choosing GMI was the co-op program
that provided strong practical work experience coincident with the BS degree
program, while also providing financial support. This combination proved to be
quite valuable over the years.
I was recruited by the many Delta Chi Rho members who lived and worked in
Dayton, attending picnics and other gatherings. I was recruited by other
fraternities, but the men of Delta Chi Rho presented the most attractive story of
life in Flushing, Michigan, just down the road from the college in Flint. That
appealed to me greatly. DCR brothers even drove me to the house for fall
classes, the first time I was in the cities of Flint and Flushing. House-guesting
was a godsend for me because I was just 17 years old and knew nothing about
finding my own living quarters. The brothers also helped me to get oriented at
GMI and to get a good start on my college education.
I accepted a pledge bid at the first opportunity and enjoyed learning about the
founding of Delta Chi Rho just four years before I began living in the house. It
was incredible that a bunch of ‘college kids’ like me could start a fraternity
based on high ideals because no other fraternity existed at GMI that professed
or practiced anything close. I enjoyed the camaraderie, study sessions, joint
meals, wonderful food prepared by Mrs. Woodbeck, pledge tasks, community
service projects, parties, and so much more about Delta Chi Rho.
One of the most poignant experiences I had as a pledge was early one morning
when I was the only person awake, the phone rang. I answered it and Mrs.
Woodbeck said to me, simply, “Monty is gone.” I never met Monty, but I knew
that he was Mrs. Woodbeck’s husband and that he was the main cook for the
fraternity for a long time until his health turned bad. I assured her that we
would take care of everything at the house during her time of sadness. She did,
indeed, return, much to the joy of all of us for many years to come. The current
dining room at the house is named ‘Woodbeck Hall’ in their honor.
Becoming a member of Delta Chi Rho was a highlight of my days at GMI. I held
several positions over the four years of living in the house.
Another highlight of those years was that I met Marge Blasy at a dance
organized by the Hurley Hospital School of Nursing. We dated while I was at
GMI, and had a long-distance relationship during work sections back in
Dayton. On April 15, 1961, Marge and I were married in her home town of
Midland, MI. Brother Mike Brogan was my best man, Phil Blue and Ken Etter
were groomsmen, and several other brothers attended the wedding. When I was
elected president for the 1961-62 academic year, Marge achieved the
distinction of becoming the first first-lady of Delta Chi Rho.
During my first three years at DCR, the house was full in both sections, to
capacity and then some as some members lived at other places, including ‘The
Annex’ just a short way down Flushing Road from the house. I recall
membership numbers approaching 60 or more with most of us sleeping in the
upper dorm and up to four per study room. Then, as my senior year
approached, things changed. GM radically downsized employment and this
included cutting GMI co-op positions. For example, the year before I started
with Frigidaire, they enrolled over 100 GMI co-op students. In my year there
were only 13! So as some of the larger classes graduated and the number of
pledges dropped, we had a total of about 25 members in C-Section in the house
for my senior year. Redoubled recruitment efforts brought the numbers back
up significantly by the next year but recruiting remained difficult.
The Decision to ‘Go National’
One of my activities on campus during my senior year was the Interfraternity
Council (IFC), and I served as president. GMI had just recently achieved
regional accreditation and the administration was strongly encouraging local
fraternities to ‘go national’. I had many private meetings with the IFC advisor,
Bob Stanley, and he recommended that we research several national
fraternities, but one that he particularly pushed for  was Sigma Nu. He
confided in me that he was a member of  himself and that he felt there was a
very good ‘fit’ of the Principles of Delta Chi Rho with the Creed of Sigma Nu.
Our members did not rush into the idea of going national. Rather, there was
much long debate among ourselves about the pros and cons of remaining a
local fraternity or going national, along with intensive research about the
nature of several national fraternities. Having just experienced the dramatic
drop in membership, we had concerns about future years in terms of having
the resources to maintain the house and grounds and to continue to pay back
the bonds that the founding members had so diligently sold to enable the
purchase of the fabulous Murray J. Dailey estate.
We approached the end of the 1961-62 year with the general consensus that
we should pursue joining a national fraternity and that it should be Sigma Nu.
There was too little time to complete the process, so the baton was passed to
the members who would remain for 1962-63 under the leadership of President
John Kossel. As John reported so eloquently to those gathered at the house on
September 12, 2015, for the 60th anniversary of the founding of Delta Chi Rho,
they were meticulous in looking at all aspects of Sigma Nu’s operations,
policies, and the opportunities presented by affiliation with a strong, wellmanaged national fraternity. With continuing encouragement and assistance
from Bob Stanley, visits were made to other Sigma Nu chapters who welcomed
them warmly. The result was an affirmation that there is, indeed, strong
parallelism between the Principles of Delta Chi Rho and the Creed of Sigma Nu
and that there were major advantages to becoming a Sigma Nu chapter.
Thus, in January, 1963, a handsome petition was presented to Sigma Nu with
the result that Delta Chi Rho became the Eta Mu Chapter of Sigma Nu later
that spring. The petition included elaborate descriptions of GMI and of the
fraternity and how it lived up to its principles of Fellowship, Character
Development, School Support, and Community Support. Seven strong letters of
support were included from three influential leaders of Sigma Nu,  advisor
Norman Hoffman, GMI’s Director of Student Relations Robert Yoke, Bob
Stanley, and GMI’s President Harold P. Rodes, himself a member of Sigma Nu
at Dartmouth College.
In the spring of 1963, the chartering ceremony for Eta Mu Chapter of Sigma Nu
was held with all of the active members of Delta Chi Rho gaining - badge
numbers. Badge HM1 was awarded to President John Kossel. Several 
alums were also named members of Sigma Nu that day and I am pleased to be
the holder of  badge number 70.