WILSON (ROLY) NOLEN
Chairman
The New York Botanical Garden

An academic, a businessman, a philanthropist and a horticultural enthusiast, Wilson Nolen has made significant contributions in each of the areas to which he has devoted his attention over the course of a long and distinguished career. Mr. Nolen completed his undergraduate studies at Yale University, where he received a BA in 1948. He went on to pursue MBA and DCS degrees at Harvard University, which he received in 1951 and 1956, respectively. After completing his degrees, Mr. Nolen was a Research Associate from 1952 through 1956 and then went on to become the youngest faculty member of Harvard Business School, where he taught until 1963, specializing in strategic planning.

In his business career, Mr. Nolen was a senior executive at Becton Dickinson & Co., from 1973 to 1989, serving as Corporate Vice President from 1977 to 1989. Prior to 1973, Mr. Nolen held several executive positions at McKesson & Robbins, Inc. Mr. Nolen also served on the Board of several international investment funds managed by Scudder Kemper Investments Inc., including the Scudder New Asia Fund, the Korea Fund, and the Argentina Fund.

Mr. Nolen is an active philanthropist who has been involved with and has made important contributions to several non-profit organizations. He is a Trustee of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture; a Trustee of the New York Council on Economic Education; and a member of the Executive Committee of Yale University’s Class of 1948. Until June 2002, Mr. Nolen was Chairman of the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration Cornerstone Society. He is a former Trustee and Vice Chair of the United Hospital Fund of New York, and a former Trustee of the Cultural Institutions Retirement System. Mr. Nolen is also President of The Great Island Foundation and an Advisor to the Mary P. Oenslager Foundation Fund.

Mr. Nolen is married to Eliot Chace Nolen, a graduate of Smith College. Mrs. Nolen is a Trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where she serves as Chair of the Major Gifts Committee and a member of the Steering Committee of The Fund for the Met, the Museum’s campaign. She is also a member of the Smith College Club of New York City and an Advisor to the Mary P. Oenslager Foundation Fund. Mr. and Mrs. Nolen have three children, Christian, Malcolm, and Eliot, and six grandchildren.

Mr. Nolen has been involved with The New York Botanical Garden since the 1980s, serving as a member of the Garden’s Board of Managers since 1991. He has served as Chairman of the Board since 2000, and Chairman of the Campaign for a New Era 2001-2007, since 2001. A leadership Campaign gift from Mr. and Mrs. Nolen made possible the construction of the Nolen Greenhouses for Living Collections, which opened at the Botanical Garden in May 2005.

In May 2003, the Garden Club of America presented Mr. Nolen with its prestigious Medal of Honor for outstanding service to horticulture. Mr. Nolen also has restored and developed an extensive, early 20th century garden and created a Japanese garden at his weekend house in Great Island, Massachusetts.

7/19/05