Harry C. Bentley (18771967) was the founder and namesake of

Bentley University Bentley University is a private university focused on business, accountancy, and finance and located in Waltham, Massachusetts. Founded in 1917 as a school of accounting and finance in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood, Bentley moved to Waltham ...

. Harry Clark Bentley was born in

Harwinton, Connecticut Harwinton is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 5,484 at the 2020 census. The high school is Lewis S. Mills. History The town incorporated in 1737. The name of the town alludes to Hartford and Windsor, Con ...

on February 28, 1877. He attended Robbins Preparatoy School in Connecticut and

Eastman Business College The Eastman Business College was a business school located in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. It operated from 1859 until it closed in 1931. At the height of its success, the school was one of the largest commercial colleges in the United St ...

in New York. He founded and taught at Winsted Business College from 1898 and 1901. He sold the school and enrolled at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

as part of the initial class at NYU's School of Commerce, Accounts and Finance, but Bentley was not given his degree in 1903 because he did not have a high school diploma. Later in his life, NYU mailed him his diploma. After graduation, Bentley worked as an accountant and partner at several accounting firms and then served as a professor at

Simmons College Institutions of learning called Simmons College or Simmons University include: * Simmons University, a women's liberal arts college in Boston, Massachusetts * Simmons College of Kentucky, a historically black college in Louisville, Kentucky * Ha ...

in Boston. Bentley was the founding dean of the Boston

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams (philanthropist), Georg ...

School of Commerce and Finance which became a department of Northeastern University. He worked there until 1916. Bentley was then was appointed a professor of accounting at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...

's School of Business Administration. He then resigned from this professorship and started Bentley College after many of his BU students wished him to continue to teach them. Bentley served as a professor and the first president of Bentley until 1953. He died on November 5, 1967 in

Kinston, North Carolina Kinston is a city in Lenoir County, North Carolina, United States, with a population of 21,677 as of the 2010 census. It has been the county seat of Lenoir County since its formation in 1791. Kinston is located in the coastal plains region of ...

. Bentley was a supporter of various American artists and was interested in running, baseball, horseback riding, and wrestling. Bentley was a

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

Christian and a supporter of the Republican Party.Edward James Gurry, "Profiles: HARRY CLARK BENTLEY (1877-1967)," ''The Accounting Historians Journal'', Vol. 2, No. 1/4 (Winter - Fall 1975), pp. 58-61

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bentley, Harry Clark 1877 births 1967 deaths People from Harwinton, Connecticut University and college founders Connecticut Republicans Boston University faculty Presidents of Bentley University