Henry Madison "Hank" Rowan Jr. (December 4, 1923[1] – December 9, 2015) was an American engineer, businessman, and philanthropist.
He was the founder of Inductotherm Corp. and the first person to give a $100 million donation to school of higher education in the US, which he gave to Glassboro State College of New Jersey, which was renamed Rowan College of New Jersey later Rowan University in his honour.[2][3][4][5]
Early life
editRowan was born in Raphine, Virginia, to Henry Rowan Sr. and Margaret Frances Boyd Rowan on December 4, 1923[2][6](coincidentally the same year that Rowan University was founded).
He grew up in Ridgewood, New Jersey and, after serving as a bomber pilot in World War II with the United States Army Air Forces, attended Williams College and graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology with honors with a degree in electrical engineering.[5][6][7]
Career
editEarly career
editRowan originally worked for Ajax Electrothermic Corporation of Trenton, New Jersey.[2] He suggested improvements to the furnaces made by Ajax (ie shorter power leads and heavier copper bus bar) but the company did not implement his suggestions.
Rowan left Ajax and decided to start his own company, Inductotherm Corp.
Inductotherm Corp
editRowan designed and built his first induction furnace in 1953 in the garage of his home in Ewing Township, New Jersey with the help of his wife.[5][6]
Expanding from this first induction furnace, Rowan created Inductotherm, which has since grown to include more than 40 subsidiaries throughout North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia.
Today, there are more than 27,000 Inductotherm induction melting installations worldwide and they account for more than half of the melting systems in the world today.
Philanthropy
editRowan University
editIn Spring 1992, Rowan and his wife Betty pledged $100 million to Glassboro State College in New Jersey, which was renamed Rowan College of New Jersey in his honor and later Rowan University.[5] At the time, it was the largest gift to a public college in the history of higher education.[4][5] The school also has an engineering building named after him.
Doane Academy
editRowan and his wife were also strong supporters of Doane Academy, a pre-K through secondary school, in Burlington, NJ.[5]
In January 2015, they created the Henry M. and Eleanor E. Rowan Endowment, with a gift of $17 million.
The Rowans, personally and through their family foundation, donated over $30 million to Doane Academy over the years.[5][8]
Later life and death
editRowan competed in the 1992 Olympic Sailing trials in Miami,[5] but failed to qualify. In 1995, he wrote an autobiography titled The Fire Within[5] with John Calhoun Smith.
He lived in Westampton Township, New Jersey for part of his life.[9]
References
edit- ^ Rowan, Henry M. "United States Public Records, 1970-2009". FamilySearch. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
- ^ a b c Kathleen Tinney and Jonathan Lai (11 Dec 2015). "Henry M. Rowan 1923-2015: He Rebuilt a Business, Reshaped a School". The Philadelphia Inquirer. pp. A1, A4–A5. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
- ^ a b Henry M. Rowan (Dec. 4, 1923 - Dec. 9, 2015). Rowan University, December 2015.
- ^ a b Malcolm Gladwell. "My Little Hundred Million". Revisionist History. Pushkin.fm. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Phaedra Trethan (11 Dec 2015). "Rowan benefactor, industrialist Henry Rowan dies at age 92". Asbury Park, NJ. Asbury Park Press. p. 15A. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
- ^ a b c Roberts, Sam. "Henry M. Rowan, Industrialist Who Gave $100 Million Gift to University, Dies at 92", The New York Times, December 13, 2015. Accessed December 23, 2017. "Henry Madison Rowan Jr. was born in Raphine, Va., on Dec. 4, 1923. His father was an obstetrician. His mother, the former Margaret Boyd, was a biological researcher.... He was raised in Ridgewood, N.J., in Bergen County, and attended Williams College in Massachusetts before transferring to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology."
- ^ Kent, Spencer."Henry Rowan, benefactor of Rowan University, dies at 92", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, December 10, 2015. Accessed December 23, 2017. "Originally from Ridgewood, Rowan studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and served in the Army Air Corps during World War II before starting his own business."
- ^ "Doane Academy in Burlington City receives $17M gift from Rowan foundation". 9 January 2015.
- ^ Staff. "Fire strikes Rowan estate mansion in Westampton", Courier-Post, November 10, 2016. Accessed December 23, 2017. "Westampton - A fire was reported at the historic Rowan estate mansion Thursday, according to police reports.... The home, located on county parkland, was formerly owned by the late industrialist and philanthropist Henry Rowan."