Neal Dow Becker was a manufacturer, attorney, and Consul General to Bulgaria

Bulgaria

Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

.

Becker was born in Cherry Creek, New York. Becker graduated from Cornell University

Cornell University

Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...

 in 1905. While at Cornell, he was a member of the Glee Club

Cornell University Glee Club

The Cornell University Glee Club is the oldest student organization at Cornell University, having been organized shortly after the first students arrived on campus in 1868. The CUGC is a sixty-member chorus for male voices, with repertoire including classical, folk, 20th century music, and...

 and the Debate Team. He was also elected into the Sphinx Head Society at Cornell.

Becker then practiced law in New York City.

Becker served as a Trustee of Cornell University and was chairman of the Board from 1947-1953. He was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations

Council on Foreign Relations

The Council on Foreign Relations is an American nonprofit nonpartisan membership organization, publisher, and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs...

, and he was a co-founder of the American Australian Association in 1948.