Ben D’Armiento ’48
Supports NJIT Scholarships and Athletics

Ben D’Armiento ’48 (right) accepts his Cornerstone Society membership certificate from NJIT President Joel S. Bloom.

Ben D’Armiento, 91, loves engineering and loves the sport of fencing, and he is giving back to New Jersey Institute of Technology with two gifts through his will because the school—and one professor in particular—helped him with both.

Ben ’48 worked as a chemical engineer for one company for 50 years, and he credits his success to the education he received at NJIT’s Newark College of Engineering—and to the job recommendation he received from science professor Fred Bauder. And Dr. Bauder, the Highlanders basketball coach for 30 years, also helped Ben form NCE’s fencing team (which still exists).

With the help of Dr. Bauder, Ben joined Interchemical and over the next half-century (and several ownership changes) rose to be head of project engineering for all of North America. Ben’s loyalty to NJIT has lasted even longer—he has donated to the annual fund every year since 1950. He served on the Alumni Association of NJIT Board of Directors for two years and is still on the advancement committee and also arranges events for the Central Jersey Alumni Group, a position he has held for 17 years. Last year he added two gifts—one for the scholarship fund and the other for the athletic fund—when revising his will after the death of his beloved wife, Ann, to whom he was married for almost 50 years.

“I came through school with flying colors, and it helped me as an engineer,” Ben says. “That’s why I am giving back.”

His belief in philanthropy goes back to growing up in a low-income family as the oldest of three sons. “During school I worked at the Newark Public Library for 45 cents an hour,” Ben recalls. “I gave it to my mother, thinking she was using it to buy food for the family. When I graduated in 1948, she handed me a check for $2,376!”

He has been giving back to NJIT ever since.