Henry Rowan: The real value of a man

By Michele Dailey ‘94

Five years ago this July, Henry and Betty Rowan stunned the nation when they pledged $100 million to Glassboro State College, at the time the largest gift to a public college in history. Here is a look at the man who has transformed the future of Rowan College.

enry Rowan was born to be an entrepreneur. At the age of nine, he started his first business— raising chickens and selling eggs with his mother as his only customer. Not wanting to spoil her son, she wouldn’t pay more than the top wholesale price for the eggs, so young Rowan’s first business was in trouble. Retail chicken feed costs and wholesale prices don’t spell survival, let alone profit. He needed to buy the feed in bulk, so for his 10th birthday, instead of asking for a bicy- cle or a train set, he asked for a 100-pound bag of feed. “I worked awfully hard at my egg business. It was just something inside me,” Rowan said. “I’ve en- joyed driving myself in everything I’ve ever done.” The founder, president and CEO of Inducto- therm Industries Inc. and the college’s major benefactor, Rowan was the third of four children born to Dr. Henry M. Rowan Sr. and Margaret Frances Boyd Rowan in Henry and Betty Rowan, left, made 1923. In 1929, two Burlington County their home. events dramatically Above, Rowan indulges his passion craig Terry craig altered Rowan’s life: the for competition by racing sailboats. family fortune was lost in the stock market crash, and his par- and moved to Massachu- ents divorced. He would not see his father again until he was setts. Rowan returned to an adult. MIT to complete his un- Rowan’s mother took on the dual role of mother and father, dergraduate degree with Rowan recalled in his 1995 autobiography The Fire Within. honors in electrical engi- Learning from her family history, his mother “preached a neering, while supporting doctrine of thrift and self-reliance which I readily absorbed,” his wife and two young chil- Rowan wrote. A Wellesley College graduate, Mrs. Rowan dren, Jimmy and Virginia. continued her education, earning a master’s degree in botany Rowan’s life of meeting and zoology to better support the family. challenges head-on kicked She was her son’s first lender, customer and perhaps his best into high gear. He took teacher. Mrs. Rowan ensured that her children—two daugh- many risks—financial and ters and two sons—read the classics, attended concerts and emotional—to start up In- visited museums. She ductotherm with his part- also wanted them to see ner Paul Foley. In 1954, the world. On one occa- he sold the family home, Rowan and sion, she took Rowan and moved to a rented house his younger brother Bill and used the equity as his out of school for a month- starting capital. Rowan and his wife long trip to Peru. Instead his wife built their first fur- of a luxury liner, they trav- nace in their cellar, heating built their eled on a banana boat, the copper over a bonfire learning how the engines in their backyard. Even worked and how the sea- with the business grow- first furnace men lived. In Peru, they ing, Foley, an entrepreneur explored ruins, scaled the in his own right with an- in their Andes and became other business of his own, immersed in another cul- couldn’t stand the pace or ture. the pressure Rowan set, cellar, “How could we ever and asked to be bought out. have experienced so Rowan was left to fly solo. melting much in a classroom?” Today, Inductotherm Rowan wrote. Industries Inc. has grown With his mother’s to include 80 subsidiaries copper with influence, he believes he throughout North America, is blessed (or cursed) with , , a bonfire. an inner drive that has no India, and . off switch, ultimately lead- The company has achieved ing him to form Inducto- tremendous success due to therm Industries Inc. of Rowan’s persistence, per- Rancocas, Burlington County. He has driven his company to fectionism and commit- world leadership in the manufacture of induction melting fur- ment to customer service. naces and now runs companies that make other related and His success in the busi- unrelated products that bring in annual sales of $670 million. ness world has not shielded Rowan thrives on challenge. In 1941, he enrolled in a dual him from personal trag- degree program to earn a bachelor of arts from Williams edies, and one that he ad- College in Massachusetts and a master of science from the mits he still cannot deal Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). However, the with is the death of his two program was interrupted by World War II. He enlisted in sons from a rare, debilitat- the Army Air Corps as an aviation cadet and trained to be a ing muscle disease. bomber pilot. Shortly after qualifying to fly the B-17 bomber, Soon after learning the news came that the war was over. While grateful to see the devastating news about war end, Rowan wrote that he “felt cheated out of what I saw Jimmy, Betty found out as the ultimate challenge—combat flying.” she was pregnant with their While in flight school, Rowan married Betty Long, his third child, David. Jimmy childhood sweetheart from Ridgewood, N.J. When the couple died in 1968, when he was returned home after the war, they immediately packed up 21 years old. Ten years later,

12 Rowan Magazine • SPRING 1997 Inductotherm, Rowan’s flagship business based in Rancocas, is the world leader in the manufacture of induction melting furnaces. Rowan is committed to customer service, often piloting the twin prop, below left, that ferries his companies’ clients to and from the plants. craig Terry craig they lost David at the age of 28. “In a way,” Rowan’s feelings about wealth and waste have a lot to do Rowan wrote, “it was remarkable that Betty had with his upbringing during the Great Depression. He con- kept both Jimmy and David alive so long in the siders waste to be almost sinful. He enjoys finding good buys face of a disease that permitted few victims to when shopping for food or clothing, and buys his suits off the survive long into their teens.” rack. “It takes so long to be measured and have a suit made. Rowan said that his work served as a diver- Why would I want to waste time doing that?” he asked. sion for him, helping him to put his grief out of Rowan has never been interested in hobnobbing with soci- his mind. So he zealously dove into it, investing ety’s elite. “I spend time with people because I like them,” most of the profits back into the business instead he said. “Being wealthier than the next guy may be impor- of living the extravagant lifestyle many would tant to some, but it means little to me. I enjoy doing what I expect of a wealthy family. He and his wife Betty want to do.” live in a charming colonial farmhouse built in Rowan’s thriftiness extends to transportation, though it 1786 a few miles from the Rancocas plant. His appears to be totally inconsistent—he drives a 1990 Buick daughter, Virginia “Ginny” Smith, lives in nearby and flies a Lear jet. But the jet is not an extravagance. “The Moorestown with her husband and two young Lear is a business tool, a real profit earner,” he said. “Almost children. weekly, we bring customers into the plant or take them to see

SPRING 1997 • Rowan Magazine 13 a furnace installation in a distant city. It increases our ability to reach our customers, service our customers and sell fur- naces.” The challenge of competition is what has held Rowan’s interest in sailboat racing, a passion he continues to pursue at the age of 73. Racing the Star Boat, which is a one-design sail- I dreaded the thought ing class, is a hobby he enjoys tremendously. Rowan even com- peted in the 1992 Olympic trials in Miami. of retiring, no work “I didn’t go into it thinking I would win. I did it for the great competition,” he said. “Sailboat racing provides a test of your ability to instantaneously react to the thousands of subtle to be done, nothing to changes in the wind. You strive for perfection but never reach it. inspire me... “Business is like that,” Rowan said. “Changes in markets, in pricing, technology and competition require immediate reac- tions if the business is to flourish.” Rowan has operated his business and lived his life with that

14 Rowan Magazine • SPRING 1997 same intensity and drive to be the best. And while he is proud of the gift he made to Endowing the Future the college, he said the dona- any people outside higher education thought tion is dwarfed by the contri- the $100 million gift from the Rowans was like bution his business has made M winning the lottery and the College would to the communities in which never have to worry about money again. But nothing could the companies operate. be further from the truth. “We’ve been averaging $200 With a yearly operating budget of nearly $60 million, million a year in sales in New even the Rowans' gift would not go very far. Besides, the Jersey. Over the years, we’ve donation was given in the form of an endowment, which probably paid out $3 billion means the principal, or the amount donated, cannot be in salaries and expenditures spent. It must be invested to produce income. locally. That’s worth far more The Rowan gift was actually a pledge, promised to be to South Jersey than $100 paid over an 11-year period. The Rowans made an initial million to the college,” he payment in 1992 of $26 million toward their $100 million said. pledge. They have committed to give at least $4 million a Growing the economy is year through the year 2002. In 2003, the final year, they part of Rowan’s business phi- will make a balloon payment for the remainder, which will losophy. “The responsibility be about $34 million. of anyone running a success- The Rowan College Foundation is managed by a volun- ful business is to generate jobs teer Board of Directors comprised of area business leaders and wealth in the community appointed by the College Board of Trustees. The so there are opportunities for Foundation Board is a separate entity from the College people to work and perform,” and has its own policies governing investment of the Rowan said. “You’re creating endowment and how it is spent. wealth on which the commu- One of the Foundation’s investment policies requires nity exists. We have 5,000 em- that money be added to the endowment each year to equal ployees worldwide and I’m the amount of inflation. This protects the purchasing Rowan exercises proud of that. Five thousand power of the endowment forever so it has a current-day wisdom and prac- families are working and con- dollar value. For the month ended Dec. 31, 1996, the ticality born in tributing to their economies endowment’s market value was an estimated $54 million. the Great Depres- because of the business we The Foundation decides each year how much it will sion. He tends generate,” he added. allocate to the College. Based on the practice at colleges meticulously to As the years have passed, and universities nationally, one of the policies stipulates his rural home many great people have that the Foundation may allocate up to 5 percent of the and grounds year- joined the Inductotherm market value of the endowment to the College annually. round. group, running the individual For 1996, the Foundation gave $3.2 million to the Col- companies and, as Rowan put lege: $1.5 million was used for general operating expenses; it, “making the fun decisions $660,000 was used for 47 full, four-year tuition scholar- and meeting new challenges.” ships for the first class of engineering students and a spe- Much to his frustration, he now participates less and less in cial one-time allocation of $1,050,000 was made because the company’s day-to-day operations. Gradually, his role has of good investment returns. Since receiving the gift, the become more of a consulting one with the CEOs of his other Foundation has allocated $5.2 million to the College. companies, discussing new technologies, efficiency in manu- The Rowan endowment last year earned 20.7 percent, facturing and expansion opportunities. surpassing the national average of 17.2 percent for college Friends have asked Rowan if he thought of retiring so he endowments over the same period. The endowment’s asset could dedicate his full energies to his passions, like sailing and allocation and a banner year for the stock and bond mar- flying. “I dreaded the thought of retiring,” Rowan says in his kets contributed to the strong returns. book. “I couldn’t bear the thought of getting up in the morn- The Rowans asked the College to set up a scholarship ing with no new objectives to reach, no work to be done, noth- fund for children of Inductotherm employees. The $3 mil- ing to inspire me for the rest of the day.” lion for that program was taken out of the $100 million In the spring of 1992, Rowan found what he desperately pledge, so the total Rowan donation to the endowment will needed, a new challenge big enough to create a new crisis: be $97 million when it is received entirely. Nearly $600,000 the donation, with his wife, of $100 million to the college, has been used to pay for tuition, fees, books and supplies which was then the largest gift to a public college in the history for 60 Inductotherm scholars since 1992. of higher education.

SPRING 1997 • Rowan Magazine 15 Nearly five years after making the the School of Business Administration. lege set aside some of the money to begin pledge, Rowan still sees it as a major chal- But the industrialist resisted. “Those pro- a scholarship program for the children lenge. There is $55.9 million left to be jects didn’t turn me on,” Rowan said. of Inductotherm employees. “Through paid on the $100 million pledge, which is Tumminia listened then to Rowan, their years of hard work, our employees expected to be completed by the year who talked about America competing in made the gift possible,” he said. “I 2002. “Coming up with that kind of the business world, about the importance wanted them to derive some benefit from money and making that big of a commit- of teaching students how to make things our association with the college.” ment is still scary,” Rowan said. “But we and how to become more efficient man- So far, 60 Inductotherm scholars have will complete it on schedule.” ufacturers. “I asked him what the col- enrolled at the college, meeting all regu- Why did he donate such an enormous lege could do with $100 million,” Rowan lar college admission requirements. amount to a college with which he had no said. “We went on from there.” Rowan recalled that around the same connection? Rowan said that is the ques- President Herman James, other col- time he pledged the money to the col- tion he is asked most often. “I was lege administrators, and student and lege, he was asked to contribute to MIT, intrigued with a small college in South alumni leadership agreed that changing his alma mater, which he considers to Jersey that had limited stature in educa- the name of the college was a fitting way be the finest engineering school in the tional hierarchy because I knew it [the to honor Betty and Henry Rowan. The world. “My little old $100 million would gift] could make a difference,” he said. proposal was approved by the Board of have helped them along, but would not The gift to Glassboro State came about Trustees and Glassboro State became have made one little bit of difference in under circumstances created a bit by de- Rowan College in September, 1992. their educational standards,” he said. sign and a bit by serendipity. Dr. Philip Rowan had only two requests when “To give away the results of your life’s A. Tumminia, vice president for institu- he made the gift. One was that the col- work and make no difference would be tional advancement and executive direc- lege establish an engineering school. “I almost criminal. What a pleasure it is to tor of the Rowan College Foundation, like the idea of turning out engineers see others benefit from our success.” called on Rowan for a $1,500 cor-porate down here in South Jersey,” Rowan said. sponsorship donation. The two hit it “It will help with the technical progress of Michele Dailey is assistant director of off, and Tumminia started talking with our area, and it brings a lot of satisfac- College Relations at Rowan. She lives in Rowan about a larger donation, first, tion to me personally.” Gloucester Twp. with her husband Jeff to endow the college library, then later, to His second request was that the col- Baccare and daughter Grace.

Special offer to alumni and friends of Rowan College: Get your autographed copy of Henry Rowan’s autobiography The Fire Within “Understand Rowan’s personal and business philosophies and his unending search for innovative solutions to difficult problems.”

Pick up your copy at the Bookstore: Monday-Thursday 9-7 Friday 9-5, Saturday 11-3 To order, call Barbara Convery at (609) 256-4673 or FAX: (609) 256-4917 The story of Inductotherm Industries, Inc. and the man who built it. Available for $24.95 exclusively at Rowan College Bookstore By Henry M. Rowan with John Calhoun Smith

16 Rowan Magazine • SPRING 1997