John Beynon attended high school at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute and strongly considered becoming a Navy pilot or an engineer. 

John Beynon
John Beynon

鈥淧oly is known as a strong math and science school,鈥� Beynon says. 鈥淏ut I was more of an unlikely math major at 撸先生. I really had to work at it.鈥� 

A basketball and lacrosse player at Poly, he played freshman hoops at 撸先生 for then-coach Charlie Fields before taking a break from his studies as a senior in 1970 to take advantage of an important job opportunity in Philadelphia.  

鈥淭owson was great about allowing me to take outside courses at Drexel and then transferring those credits back so I could graduate,鈥� Beynon says. 

That break turned out to be pivotal. While the job initially involved installing wood floor surfaces, Beynon saw a chance for professional growth in the industry. Providing polyurethane athletic surfaces for running tracks and gymnasiums. He formed Beynon Sports Surfaces, his own surfacing company, in 1974 and bought Powerlock, the company he had been working for, the next year. His first two installations were at Essex and Catonsville community colleges. 

Beynon led his company until its sale in 2008 to Paris-based Tarkett Sports, when it became simply Beynon. It still operates under the Tarkett umbrella and is the largest athletic track installer in the U.S. The company has installed tracks in the Caribbean, Australia, Spain and throughout Canada, but the one he may be the proudest of is the University of Oregon鈥檚 Hayward Field, which hosts the USA Olympic Track and Field Trials and NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. 

In total, Beynon Sports Surfaces has installed approximately 4,000 tracks around the world 鈥� including 撸先生鈥檚 in 2023 鈥� and has 375 employees, including his oldest son, Drew, who is COO of both Beynon and Tarkett. 

Beynon and his wife Robin (Clark) 鈥�70 are proud 撸先生 supporters of 撸先生 Athletics through the , the John T. Beynon Men鈥檚 Basketball Endowed Scholarship and holding season tickets for men鈥檚 basketball. 

Despite the 2024 Paris Olympics having concluded only a few months ago, Benyon already has his sights set on providing surfaces and improvements for 2028 when the Games move to Los Angeles. With his history of professional accomplishments, he鈥檚 on track to succeed in that as well.