Rowan University's largest benefactor lived a life to which today's students can aspire.
One cannot underestimate the influence on South Jersey of Henry M. Rowan, the benefactor of the university that has borne his name since his precedent-setting $100 million gift to the school in 1992.
The noted industrialist died Wednesday at age 92. His gift, when it was made, stood as the largest single donation to a public college or university in the United States. It took countless dedicated administrators, faculty members and outstanding students to transform what had been Glassboro State College into the educational powerhouse that Rowan University has become 23 years later, but Mr. Rowan's largesse and vision were the catalyst for the large footprint that the school now occupies.
"Catalyst" perhaps describes Mr. Rowan in both scientific and charitable terms. It was at the metal processing innovation firm that he and his first wife, Betty, founded, made their millions. Inductotherm Corp. is still based nearby in Rancocas, Burlington County, reinforcing the Rowans' strong local ties with the university.
It might be surprising to learn that Mr. Rowan, though a New Jersey native, was a graduate not of Glassboro State, but of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The couple's initial gift, therefore, was aspirational as well as generous: The Rowans wanted to bring to South Jersey something that did not exist there at the time, a prestigious school of engineering. MIT still outranks Rowan, but its engineering school, which enrolled its first class in 1996, has come a long way, fast.
When the trustees announced plans in 1992 to change the college's name to Rowan College, it sparked a controversy that lasted for months. The opposition was particularly virulent among thousands of graduates whose degrees read "Glassboro State College." The argument has become a distant memory. Few today would deny that the imprint that the Rowan gift placed on what was best known as a "teacher's college" -- even after its course offerings had greatly expanded -- justifies the "Rowan" name. For the 20th anniversary of the gift, a bronze statue of Mr. Rowan was installed on campus.
The Glassboro campus gained university status in 1997, and since that time, its growth has been explosive. Although Henry Rowan did not weigh in extensively on another controversy -- an ill-fated 2012 plan to have Rowan University absorb Rutgers University's Camden campus -- the alternate result surely must have pleased the benefactor. The State of New Jersey designated Rowan as a research university, and it now boasts two medical schools, one in Stratford and one in Camden in association with Cooper Hospital, granting both D.O. and M.D. degrees.
The Rowan family has continued to give to the university through a foundation, including a new $15 million contribution to the engineering school in 2014. The Rowans also donated to other numerous charities, and Mr. Rowan was the recipient of many awards in the engineering field.
Students attending the Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering on the Glassboro campus have no better role model than their school's namesake. His life is also a guide for to anyone who values innovation and education, and who knows that southern New Jersey can compete on those attributes with any other region.
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