Jordan Wheat Lambert (1851 - 1889)

Jordan Wheat Lambert

While a student at Randolph-Macon College, Jordan Wheat Lambert showed his flair for chemistry and business that would lead to his later success in inventing Listerine and founding the pharmaceutical company that bears his name.

Lambert first invented the product as a safe disinfectant for surgical procedures, and named it “Listerine” after the English physician Sir Joseph Lister who performed the first antiseptic surgery.

As the president of the Franklin Literary Society, J. W. Lambert was a leader during the period when R-MC students were raising funds for Washington Franklin Hall – the first new building on the Ashland campus.

Randolph-Macon’s historic campus is named for him as is the Kappa Alpha House, of which he was a member.