Rowan Honors College Receives $5M Gift

On Jun 3, 2022

John H. Martinson, a venture capitalist and chairman of Martinson Ventures, based in Newtown, PA, has donated $5 million to Glassboro-based Rowan University’s Honors College.

The gift to the college – which will be renamed the John H. Martinson Honors College – will expand opportunities for Rowan Honors students, according to Honors Dean Lee Talley. Among them: more paid research opportunities, spring break service trips at no cost to students, and funding for study abroad.

“Rowan University’s Honors College is a sparkling gem,” Martinson said. “I’m certainly impressed with its leadership, faculty and students.”

The gift is transformational for Rowan University and Honors students, according to Rowan President Ali A. Houshmand. “Like our benefactor, Henry Rowan, John H. Martinson is not an alumnus. Yet, he has chosen to support our university and to impact the education of some of our most academically gifted students,” he said.

“Martinson is helping to give our Honors students the education and experiences they need to become impactful intellectual leaders, creative thinkers and doers, and public servants. We are grateful for his generous vote of confidence in our university and, most especially, our students,” Houshmand said.

“I’m certainly encouraged by their achievements and potential,” Martinson says of Rowan Honors students. “Honors students obviously are intelligent, accomplished, and motivated to be successful in complex fields and majors. They have broad interests in other academics and disciplines.”

With an enrollment of 555 students, the Honors College is open to academically-motivated students of every major and academic discipline.

Martinson has led 80 companies to phenomenal success in the software industry. He was the founder Edison Partners in 1986, a company that has raised 10 partnerships in the financial technology, healthcare IT and interactive marketing sectors. Martinson is also a veteran of the United States Air Force and Distinguished Flying Cross recipient who flew more than 500 combat missions. Chairman of the Martinson Family Foundation in Newtown, Pa., Martinson has supported Rowan programs focusing on engineering and education since 2006. The Martinson Family Foundation provides grants to educational and charitable programs in the areas of K-12 STEM education at 15 universities.

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