What Happened to Professor Dalton on General Hospital?
When a new person shows up in Port Charles, viewers are naturally going to be curious about them, especially when they’re extra mysterious like Professor Dalton on General Hospital. The character made his debut in the April 15, 2025, episode, and is played by Daniel Goddard, who some soap fans might recognize from his 2007-19 run as Cane Ashby on CBS’s Young and Restless. But who is Professor Dalton, really? Here’s everything we know about the guy so far!
International Man Of Mystery
Professor Henry Dalton first appeared when he entered the Surf Lodge while Emma Scorpio-Drake and Josslyn Jacks were discussing the environmental physics class he was teaching at Port Charles University. Josslyn declared Emma was his star pupil, and Dalton agreed. Josslyn, who squeezed her way into his class as her assignment for the WSB, tried to introduce herself, and Dalton warned that she had a lot of work ahead of her if she wanted to catch up to the other students. The professor informed Emma that he would be hiring an undergraduate research assistant for the summer and urged her to apply for the position. Of course, given that the job is a crucial part of Josslyn’s WSB mission, Ms. Jacks was just as determined to get it for herself.
While at the hospital getting her ankle checked out, Josslyn spotted Dalton getting off the elevator with a metal briefcase. She quietly followed him through the corridors to see him use a keycard to enter a secure lab for authorized personnel only, information she quickly passed on to her WSB superiors.
While enjoying a night out at The Savoy, Dalton was intrigued when Anna Devane ordered a continental sour, and he smoothly bought the drink for her. He introduced himself as Hank and explained that he’s a college professor who recently transferred to PCU from the Bay Area in California, as the school had made him a generous offer for his research in environmental physics. When he asked what she did for a living, Anna brushed off his question. Dalton suggested that Anna might show him around his new city and tried to get her number, but Anna politely declined and excused herself.
After Anna vacated her spot at the bar, Josslyn quickly took her place and asked Dalton if there was anything she could do to get the research assistant position. He gently reminded her that other students have been working hard all semester, so her chances weren’t great.
Anna was immediately suspicious of Hank — er, Professor Dalton — when she noted that Emma had transferred to PCU at the same time as he had, and Emma later confirmed to Josslyn that she had followed the guy to the East Coast on purpose. Emma explained that Dalton was suspected of performing illegal animal testing, and she and the other members of the animal rights group she was part of were expelled for trying to expose his crimes. Emma believes that he’s doing the same thing in Port Charles and needs to land the assistant job to prove it. Josslyn relayed this intel to Jack Brennan at the WSB, and he revealed that Dalton is working on a new technology, so it’s crucial that she become his assistant so they can keep an eye on him and his project. He also stressed how critical it was to keep Anna away from it all.
Josslyn ended up nabbing the research assistant gig, but Dalton was clearly still interested in Emma, going by the looks he gave the young woman while she lounged around the pool in her bikini. By July, it became clear that Dalton was working in some capacity with Jenz Sidwell, as Josslyn and her WSB partner, Vaughn, tracked their courier. And by October, Sidwell seemed to be rather displeased with the lack of progress that Dalton was making on their mysterious project.
Dalton was irritated when Sidwell brought Britt Westbourne in on the secret project, especially when he revealed that the professor wouldn’t be working with her, but for her. He attempted to persuade Britt that they should steal the valuable research and pocket the money for themselves instead of letting Sidwell and the higher-ups get it all, but she wasn’t interested. Finding Rocco Falconeri in his lab on campus, Dalton publicly dragged the teen to the place where the mayoral debate was being held to demand his arrest, and right in front of his grandmother, Laura Collins. Rocco would have gotten off with community service, but Dalton met with assistant DA Justine Turner, who later revealed that he’d provided evidence that Rocco had trashed his lab and destroyed valuable and potentially dangerous research. Then, Dalton confronted Laura at a polling site, goading her into an angry confrontation and threatening him in front of a group of voters.
While getting drunk at the Brown Dog, Dalton was approached by Josslyn, and she managed to get him to spill about how he does his animal testing in a second, off-campus lab. When he tried to invite her to check it out, Emma and Gio interrupted to blast him for his lies, and he threatened to have Emma arrested as well. Then Vaughn appeared to flash his WSB badge and take Dalton out of the bar. The professor later arrived at Wyndemere to alert Sidwell to the fact that the WSB was on to him and ask him to get the agent to back off. But Britt railed that Dalton was destroying all their hard work with his sloppiness and should be cut loose, so Sidwell did exactly that by shooting him!
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