Forrest F. Dryden

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Forrest Fairchild Dryden (December 26, 1864 – July 20, 1932) was the second president of Prudential Insurance Company of America, serving from 1912 to 1922. He was born in Bedford, Ohio, the son of John F. Dryden, who founded Prudential and later served as a U.S. senator for New Jersey, and Cynthia Fairchild Dryden. Dryden studied at Newark Academy and Phillips Academy in Andover. He joined Prudential in 1888 and quickly moved up through the company, becoming superintendent of the Elizabeth, New Jersey office in 1889, then secretary in 1890. He held several vice president roles before becoming president after his father’s death in 1912. He led Prudential until 1922, when he resigned due to ill health, reportedly following an examination before the Lockwood Committee.

Dryden also served in the New Jersey National Guard as a lieutenant colonel and was involved with the New Jersey State Rifle Association and the Newark Board of Trade. He was a director of several companies, including the Public Service Corporation of New Jersey, Union National Bank of Newark, South Jersey Gas, Electric and Traction Company, and United States Casualty Company of New York.

In 1890, Dryden married Grace Marion Carleton, and they had three children. He died of heart disease at his home in Bernardsville, New Jersey, on July 20, 1932, at age 67. The Dryden family home, Stronghold, was in Bernardsville on Bernardsville Mountain. It later became Miss Gill’s School and then Gill St. Bernard’s School, and is now owned by fashion designer Marc Ecko.