Bert J. Bradner

Bert J. Bradner, Xi, 1898, Phi Alpha 1931-1933

Bert J. Bradner, Xi, 1898, was a successful attorney in Los Angeles who worked in banking in Northern Michigan before entering the University of Michigan. He graduated from the University of Michigan Law School in 1899 and was admitted to the bar that year. After graduation, he moved to Chicago where he worked for Swift & Company as an export credit manager.

Bradner moved to Los Angeles in 1905 and practiced law with Simon, Bradner & Ross.
He was counsel to a number of important oil and gas companies and was active in the
Union League Club, the University of Michigan Alumni Association of Los Angeles and
Republican politics in California.

Within Zeta Psi, Brother Brader was Vice President for the Pacific Coast and with John
T. Cooper, Mu, led the Zeta Psi Alumni Association of Southern California’s petition for
the chartering of the Sigma Zeta chapter at the University of California Los Angeles
(UCLA) in 1924. Before being elected Phi Alpha, Brother Bradner served as Sigma
Alpha in 1925 and Sigma Phi Alpha in 1928. He assumed the responsibilities of Phi
Alpha at the beginning of the Great Depression and marshalled the Fraternity through
some very difficult times. The depression prevented Brother Bradner from visiting
chapters as Phi Alpha and in 1932, a new Rush Manual was prepared but could not be
published because of cost. In 1933, the fraternity convention saw an early attempt to
receive direction input from undergraduates. The Undergraduate Conference proposed
three recommendations: (1) that a carefully prepared letter be sent to the families of
new affiliates outlining the fraternity’s history, aims and obligations; (2) that scholarship
be emphasized at all the chapters; and (3) that a CPA review each chapter’s books at
least twice a year to keep them on a sound financial foundation. (Zeta Psi Fraternity of
North America, Double-Diamond Jubilee, 1997)

Brother Bradner was born on February 9, 1874 and died on September 7, 1950 at age
76.