Rider mourns the passing of Henry L. Hillman

Henry Lea Hillman, a generous friend of Westminster Choir College and Rider University, passed away on April 14 at UPMC Shadyside Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pa. He was 98. Hillman was the husband of the late Westminster Choir College alumna Elsie Hilliard Hillman ’48. Over the years, he contributed significant financial resources that have enabled talented students to receive a Westminster education and go on to serve the world through music. The most recent was a $1 million gift in Elsie’s memory to establish an endowment to support the Westminster Choir’s touring activities. His legacy will endure through the lives of Westminster and Rider students. “Henry was a legend of a man,” said Rider University President Gregory Dell’Omo. “His generosity and leadership have left a lasting legacy at Westminster Choir College. My wife, Polly, and I, along with the entire Westminster and Rider community, offer our sincere condolences to the Hillman family for their loss. Henry and Elsie will always be remembered as true and loyal friends to all of us." 
 The Hillman Performance Hall, a 3,000-square-foot performance and rehearsal hall inside the new Marion Buckelew Cullen Center on the Westminster campus, was named in recognition of the Henry L. Hillman Foundation, which provided a $3 million grant to support the project. Other projects that Henry and Elsie Hillman supported at Westminster included the Elsie Hilliard Hillman Chair for Artistic Direction, endowed scholarships and technology on campus.
 
 The son of Pittsburgh industrialist John Hartwell Hillman, Jr. and Juliet Cummins Lea Hillman, Henry Hillman attended Shady Side Academy and graduated from The Taft School and Princeton University. Following his service in World War II as a U.S. Navy aviator, he returned to Pittsburgh, newly married to his beloved Elsie. Over the course of next 30 years, he transformed the family business from its roots in coke and chemical production and related industries into a diversified investment company. His venture capital investments in the 1970s and 1980s in companies such as Genentech, Hybritech and Tandem Computer made him a pioneer in private equity that fueled the growth of Silicon Valley. He served as a director of many companies in Pittsburgh and across the country including General Electric, Cummins Engine, Merck, PNC Financial Services and Texas Gas Transmission. Henry Hillman is survived by four children — Lea Simonds, Audrey Fisher, Henry Hillman Jr. and Bill Hillman — nine grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.