Henry Becton

Henry "Hank" Prentiss Becton (September 15, 1914 – October 25, 2009) was an American business executive and philanthropist. He was the chairman of Becton Dickinson and Company.

The Henry P. Becton School of Nursing & Allied Health at Fairleigh Dickinson University and the Becton Center for Engineering and Applied Science at Yale University were named in his honor.

Early life Becton was born in Rutherford, New Jersey on September 15, 1914.

He attended Rutherford High School before switching to the Taft School in Connecticut. He then attended Yale University, graduating in 1937. While at Yale, he was a member St. Anthony Hall, the Aurelian Society, and Tau Beta Phi. He belonged to the Yale Glee Club and toured Europe with the group. He wrote the lyrics for Yale's new football anthem in 1936.

Career In 1937, Becton started working for Becton, Dickinson and Company, the international medical instruments company that his father co-founded in 1897. His first job was as a traveling salesman in the midwest. He was the chairman of the board of director's executive committee from 1961 to February 1987. He chaired the chambers' committee on aviation.

Honors The Henry P. Becton School of Nursing & Allied Health at Fairleigh Dickinson University was named in his honor.

Personal life Becton married Jean Sprague Coggan on June 16, 1942. He was promoted to technical sergeant and chief of the combat intelligiance section at the 8th Air Force Fighter Wing Headquarters in England.

He served as a borough councilman for Rutherford, New Jersey, and was president of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. He was a founding commissioner of the New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority and a founder of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. He also chaired the Standing Committee for Clinical Thermometers at the U.S. Bureau of Standards.

He served as the vice chair and a trustee of Fairleigh Dickinson University from 1948 to 1994. He donated land for a new school when the East Rutherford, New Jersey high school burned down; the new building was named the Henry P. Becton Regional High School in his honor. He was a founding director of the Community Chest in Bergen County (now United Way). He also was the major donor to the construction of the Becton Center for Engineering and Applied Science at Yale University the building's design incorporates symbolism from his fraternity, St. Anthony Hall.

On October 25, 2009, Becton died from congestive heart failure in Blue Hill, Maine at the age of 95.