Forrest Behm

Bio

When Forrest E. Behm, Jr. was only five years old, his chances of playing football were slim. He was badly burned in a brush fire, and doctors wanted to amputate a leg. His father, Forrest E. Behm, Sr., refused to allow this. For a year, the young Behm could not walk, but his parents persevered and gave him daily massage, and Forrest regained the use of all his muscles. By 1940, he was a tackle on the Nebraska Rose Bowl team and named first-team All America. At 6-4 and 225-pounds he was the biggest man on the team. He was more than a football player. He was class president, ROTC Cadet Colonel, honor student, member of the college choir and a recipient of a Harvard Fellowship for graduate study. He served in the Army Signal corps and rose to the rank of major. In 1946, he joined Corning International Corporation, rising through the ranks as foreman, sales manager, plant manager and president. Behm received the 1967 Native Nebraska Centennial Award and in 1986, an honorary degree, doctor of laws, from the University of Nebraska. He became a management consultant to six companies and two non-profit organizations.

Career Highlights

• 1940 All-Conference
• 1940 First Team All-America