History
Forman Sinnickson Acton was born in Salem City, and he went on to change the world.
Born on August 10, 1920, he began his education in the Salem City school system before attending private boarding school at Phillips Exeter Academy and college at Princeton University. He graduated with two degrees in engineering toward the end of World War II, during which he served in the Army Corps of Engineers and worked on a team involved in the Manhattan Project.
After his service, he earned his doctorate in mathematics from Carnegie Institute of Technology, helped the Army develop the world’s first anti-aircraft missiles and became a pioneer in the evolving field of computer science.
Acton conducted research and taught at Princeton from 1952 to 1990, during which time he wrote textbooks on mathematics at his cabin on Woodmere Lake in Quinton Township, Salem County. When he turned 80, he joined the Lower Alloways Creek pool to stay in shape, swimming six days a week for 14 years.
He died on February 18, 2014, in Woodstown, New Jersey, but not before he anonymously donated thousands of dollars toward scholarships for Salem City School District students, some of whom were just then graduating from college. Before he passed, he made it clear to friends and confidants that he wanted these students to have access to the incredible educational experiences he enjoyed.
Eight months after his passing, the Forman S. Acton Educational Foundation was officially incorporated to ensure that all of Salem’s youth also have a chance to change the world. Read on below to learn about important others who helped the Foundation grow.
1920
Forman Acton is born at 55 Oak Street in Salem City and grows up at 101 West Broadway. He is family friends with Herb Fithian, who grows up nearby in Bridgeton. The two remain lifelong friends.
1940-1990
Forman becomes a pioneering engineer, computer scientist and professor at Princeton University. He’s also smart with his money, making millions on investments. He retires from teaching in 1990 and lives the rest of his life humbly in Salem.
Summer 2009
Forman is now 88, and he asks Herb to be executor of his will, which means that Herb is legally responsible for sorting out Forman’s finances after he passes away. Forman tells Herb he’d like to donate money to help children from his hometown, but he’s not sure how.
August 2009
Herb suggests that his daughter, Kathryn Fithian Markovchick, help Forman plan how to benefit Salem’s youth. Kathryn has a PhD in education and is president of an education non-profit in Maine at the time, and she suggests immediately funding college scholarships. The two talk and write to each other extensively over the next several years.
May 2010-January 2014
Forman donates anonymously to help Salem students, providing an annual $10,000 scholarship to a select Salem High School graduate.
February 2014
Forman passes away without coming to a final decision on how to help Salem’s youth. His existing will, drafted years prior by his attorney, proposes to put money in a trust, with Herb as sole trustee. Herb and the estate’s attorney find that if they do that nearly half the money would be spent on taxes. Knowing Forman would have wanted more of his money to help children, Herb and Kathryn propose a plan that better reflects Forman’s wishes.
October 2014
A NJ state court agrees Forman’s wishes would be better honored by creating a foundation that could fund programs that benefit Salem’s youth and continue providing scholarships to students. The court also honors Forman’s wish to begin to support students at a very young age. Herb and his attorney select an initial board of trustees.
December 2014
Foundation issues its first scholarships and continues to fund scholarships for students Forman supported when he was alive.
January 2015
The board of trustees reorganizes, bringing on South Jersey natives with expertise in non-profits and education over time.
February 2015
The Foundation awards its first grants, funding programs at Salem City School District, including teacher and administrator training and student trips to the IB Conference in Spain.
Present
With the generosity of Dr. Acton, the Foundation has committed more than $1,500,000 in college scholarships and more than $1 million in grants to benefit Salem’s youth.
To read more about Forman’s life, please visit the links below:
• Wikipedia: Forman S. Acton
• Princeton News: Pioneer in computing dies
• Philadelphia Inquirer: A New Jersey son’s rich legacy of learning
• The Adam blog: A Cool and Righteous Dude
• South Jersey Times: Forman Sinnickson Acton obituary
Others Who Helped The Foundation Grow
Herb Fithian
Herb Fithian was close friends with Forman S. Acton and in many ways is responsible for the very creation of the Forman S. Acton Educational Foundation. In 2009, Forman asked Herb to be the sole trustee of his estate. He told Herb he’d like to have his money support educational opportunities for children who were as bright as he was but didn’t have the same financial backing. At the time, Forman wasn’t sure how to do it. Herb suggested that his daughter, Kathryn Fithian Markovchick, help Forman craft a plan to benefit Salem’s youth.
For four years starting in 2010, Kathryn and Herb convinced Forman to donate anonymously to help Salem students by providing an annual $10,000 scholarship to a select Salem High School graduate. In 2014, when Forman passed away at age 93, he was still working with Kathryn for a final decision on how to help Salem’s youth for the long-term. He acknowledged that Herb and Kathryn would be able to work it out after his passing.
Eventually, Herb and Kathryn decided that a foundation, rather than a trust, would be the best way to ensure Forman’s legacy lived on. In October of 2014, New Jersey courts agreed that Forman’s wishes would be better honored by creating a foundation independent of the Salem School System.
Herb passed away in September 2018 at the age of 94, but Forman Acton’s legacy lives on because of the support, guidance and lasting friendship he had with Herb Fithian.
