Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey | |
 | |
Former names | Queen's College (1766–1825) Rutgers College (1825–1924) Rutgers University (1924–1945) |
|---|---|
| Motto | Sol iustitiae et occidentem illustra (Latin) |
Motto in English | "Sun of righteousness, shine also upon the West."[1] |
| Type | Private college (1766–1945) Publicland-grantresearch university |
| Established | November 10, 1766; 258 years ago (1766-11-10) |
| Accreditation | MSCHE |
Religious affiliation | Nonsectarian - historicallyDutch Reformed |
Academic affiliation | |
| Endowment | $2.06 billion (2024) (system-wide)[2] |
| Budget | $5.6 billion (2024–25)[3] |
| President | William F. Tate IV |
Academic staff | 4,314[4] |
Administrative staff | 6,757[4] |
| Students | 68,942[5] |
| Undergraduates | 49,359[5] |
| Postgraduates | 19,583[5] |
| Location | , New Jersey ,United States |
| Campus | Small city[6], 6,088 acres (2,464 ha) |
| Other campuses | |
| Newspaper |
|
| Colors | Scarlet[7] |
| Nickname | |
Sporting affiliations | |
| Mascot | Sir Henry, the Scarlet Knight[9] |
| Website | rutgers.edu |
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Rutgers University (/ˈrʌtɡərz/RUT-gərz), officiallyRutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is apublicland-grantresearch university consisting of three campuses inNew Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally calledQueen's College[10] and was affiliated with theDutch Reformed Church. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States, the second-oldest in New Jersey (afterPrinceton University), and one of ninecolonial colleges that were chartered before theAmerican Revolution.[11][12]
In 1825, Queen's College was renamedRutgers College[13] in honor of ColonelHenry Rutgers, whose substantial gift to the school had stabilized its finances during a period of uncertainty.[14] For most of its existence, Rutgers was aprivateliberal arts college. It has evolved into acoeducational public research university since being designated the State University of New Jersey by thestate's legislature in 1945 and 1956.[15]
Rutgers has several distinct campuses. Since colonial times, Rutgers flagship campus and historic core has been located along College Avenue at theCollege Avenue Campus inNew Brunswick, New Jersey as part ofRutgers University–New Brunswick.Rutgers University–New Brunswick consists of the landscaped campus ofDouglass College, a women's college that was traditionally paired with Rutgers, the campus ofRutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, which includes the College Farm and Rutgers Gardens, as well as both theBusch andLivingston campuses inPiscataway. Apart from the main campus at New Brunswick, additional satellite campuses atRutgers University–Newark,Rutgers University–Camden, andRutgers Health complete the university's main footprint. The university has additional facilities throughout the state, including oceanographic research facilities at theJersey Shore.[16]
Rutgers is aland-grant,sea-grant, andspace-grant university, as well as the largestuniversity in the state.[17] Instruction is offered by 9,000faculty members in 175 academic departments to over 45,000 undergraduate students and more than 20,000 graduate and professional students.[5] As of Fall 2023, Rutgers University enrolls over 69,000 students across its three campuses, making it one of the largest universities in the United States.[18] The university is accredited by theMiddle States Commission on Higher Education[19] and is a member of theAssociation of American Universities[20] and theUniversities Research Association.[21]
Two decades after the College of New Jersey, which is nowPrinceton University, was established in 1746 by the New Light Presbyterians,ministers of theDutch Reformed Church, seeking autonomy in ecclesiastical affairs in theThirteen Colonies, sought to establish a college to train those who wanted to becomeministers within theDutch Reformed Church in the colony, which developed into theReformed Church in America.[22][23]
Through several years of effort byTheodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen (1691–1747) andJacob Rutsen Hardenbergh (1736–1790), later the college's first president, Queen's College received its charter on November 10, 1766, from New Jersey's last royal governor,William Franklin (1730–1813), the son ofBenjamin Franklin.[22] The original charter established the college under the corporate namethe trustees of Queen's College, in New-Jersey, named in honor ofQueen Charlotte (1744–1818), and created both the college and the Queen's College Grammar School, intended to be apreparatory school affiliated and governed by the college.[23] The Grammar School, today the privateRutgers Preparatory School, was a part of the college community until 1959.[23][25] New Brunswick was chosen as the location overHackensack because the New Brunswick Dutch had the support of theAnglican population, making the royal charter easier to obtain.[26]
The original purpose of Queen's College was to "educate the youth in language,liberal, the divinity, and useful arts and sciences" and for the training of future ministers for the Dutch Reformed Church.[23][25][27]
In 1771, the college admitted its first students, which included a single sophomore and a handful of first-year students taught by a lone instructor, and granted its first degree in 1774, toMatthew Leydt.[23][25] Despite the religious nature of the early college, the first classes were held at atavern called the Sign of the Red Lion.[28] When the Revolutionary War broke out and taverns were suspected by the British as being hotbeds of rebel activity, the college abandoned the tavern and held classes in private homes.[23][25]
Like many colleges founded in the U.S. during this time, Rutgers benefited from slave labor and funds derived from purchasing and selling slaves. Research undertaken at the university in the 2010s began to uncover and document these connections, including the university's foundation on land taken from the indigenousLenape people.[29]
In its early years, due to a lack of funds, Queen's College was closed for two extended periods. Early trustees considered merging the college with the College of New Jersey, inPrinceton, but the measure failed by one vote. They later considered relocating it toNew York City.[23][25] In 1808, after raising $12,000, the college temporarily reopened and broke ground on a building of its own, called "Old Queens", designed by architectJohn McComb Jr.[30] The college's third president,Ira Condict, laid the cornerstone on April 27, 1809. Shortly after, theNew Brunswick Theological Seminary, founded in 1784, relocated fromBrooklyn, to New Brunswick, and shared facilities with Queen's College and theQueen's College Grammar School, and all three institutions were then overseen by theReformed Church in America.[23][25] During those formative years, all three institutions fit into Old Queens. In 1830, Queen's College Grammar School moved across the street, and in 1856, the seminary relocated to a seven-acre (28,000 m2) tract less than one-half mile (800 m) away.[23][25]
After several years of closure resulting from an economic depression after theWar of 1812, Queen's College reopened in 1825 and was renamed "Rutgers College" in honor ofAmerican Revolutionary War heroHenry Rutgers (1745–1830). According to the board of trustees, Colonel Rutgers was honored because he epitomizedChristian ethics. A year after the school was renamed, it received two donations from its namesake: a $200 bell still hanging from the cupola of Old Queen's and a $5,000 bond (equivalent to $139,000 in 2024) which placed the college on sound financial footing.[31]
Rutgers College became theland-grant college of New Jersey in 1864 under theMorrill Act of 1862, resulting in the establishment of the Rutgers Scientific School, featuring departments ofagriculture,engineering, andchemistry.[23][25] The Rutgers Scientific School would expand over the years to grow into the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station (1880) and divide into theCollege of Engineering (1914) and theCollege of Agriculture (1921).[23][25] Rutgers created theNew Jersey College for Women in 1918, and the School of Education in 1924.[23][25]
With the development of graduate education, and the continued expansion of the institution, the collection of schools became Rutgers University in 1924.[25] Rutgers College continued as a liberal arts college within the university. Later,University College (1945) was founded to serve part-time, commuting students andLivingston College (1969) was created by the Rutgers Trustees, ensuring that the interests of ethnically diverse New Jersey students were met.[23][25]
Rutgers was designated the state university of New Jersey by acts of theNew Jersey Legislature in 1945 and 1956.[32] Although Rutgers thus became a public university, it still retains—as the successor to the private college founded and chartered in 1766—some private rights and protections regarding its fundamental character and mission.[33]
The newly-designated state university absorbed the University of Newark in 1946 and then the College of South Jersey and South Jersey Law School in 1950. These two institutions becameRutgers University–Newark andRutgers University–Camden, respectively. On September 10, 1970, the board of governors voted to admit women into Rutgers College.[23][25]
There were setbacks in the growth of the university. In 1967, the Rutgers Physics Department had a Centers of Excellence Grant from the NSF which allowed the physics department to hire several faculty each year. These faculty were to be paid by the grant for three years, but after that time any faculty hired with the associate or full professor designation would become tenured. The governor and the chancellor forced Rutgers to lose this grant by rejecting the condition that tenure be granted.[35]
In 1970, the newly formed Rutgers Medical School hired major faculty members from other institutions. In 1971, the governor's office separated Rutgers Medical School from Rutgers University and made it part ofNew Jersey College of Medicine and Dentistry, and many faculty left the medical school, including the dean of the medical school, Dewitt Stetten, who later became the director of the National Institutes of Health. As a result of the separation of the medical school from Rutgers University, Ph.D. programs that had been started in the medical center were lost, and students had to seek other institutions to finish their degrees. After the dissolution of the University of Medicine and Dentistry in 2013, the medical schoolagain became part of the university.[36]
Before 1982, separate liberal arts faculties existed in the several separate "residential colleges" (Rutgers, Douglass, Livingston, University, and Cook colleges) at Rutgers–New Brunswick.[37]
In 1982, under presidentEdward J. Bloustein, the liberal arts faculties of these five institutions were centralized into one college, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, which itself had no students. The separate residential colleges persisted for students, and while instructors for classes were now drawn from the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, separate standards for admission, good standing, and graduation continued for students, depending on which residential college they were enrolled in.[38] In January 1987, around 2,800 non-teaching employees went on strike for increased salaries, which ended after nine days after an agreement with the administration was made.[39][40]
In 2007, Rutgers New Brunswick, Douglass, Livingston, and University Colleges, along with the Faculty of Arts and Sciences were merged into the new "School of Arts and Sciences" with one set of admissions criteria, curriculum, and graduation requirements. At this time, the liberal arts components of Cook College were absorbed into the School of Arts and Sciences as well, while the other aspects of that college remained, but as the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences. These changes in 2007 ended the 241-year history of Rutgers College as a distinct institution.[41]
Students at the2011 Rutgers tuition protests fought against rising education costs and diminished state subsidies. Campus groups (including the Rutgers Student Union, the Rutgers One Coalition, and the Rutgers University Student Assembly (RUSA), supported by New Jersey United Students (NJUS), mobilized to keep the increase in annual student financial obligation to a minimum through marches, sit-ins, letters to administration officials and forums.[42][43]
In 2011, there was an attempt by then New Jersey governorChris Christie and members of the legislature to merge Rutgers–Camden intoRowan University, it ultimately was rejected in part due to several on-campus protests and pushback from Camden faculty, students, and alumni.[44]
On June 20, 2012, the outgoing president of Rutgers University,Richard L. McCormick, announced that Rutgers will "integrate five acres along George Street between Seminary Place and Bishop Place into the College Avenue Campus."[45] Most of the block had been occupied by theNew Brunswick Theological Seminary. Rutgers agreed to rebuild the seminary in exchange for the land.[46]
In 2013, most of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey was integrated with Rutgers University and, along with several existing Rutgers units, was reformed asRutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences.[47][48] This merger attached theNew Jersey Medical School andRobert Wood Johnson Medical School to Rutgers University.[36]
In 2013, Rutgers changed part of its alma mater, "On the Banks of the Old Raritan." Where the lyrics had stated, "My father sent me to old Rutgers, and resolved that I should be a man," now they state, "From far and near we came to Rutgers, and resolved to learn all that we can."[49] The song for the Camden campus "On the Banks of the Old Delaware" are lyrically similar aside from the river name.[50]
In 2016, Rutgers celebrated its 250th anniversary. On May 15, PresidentBarack Obama became the first sitting president to speak at the university's commencement.[51][52] The university held a variety of celebrations, academic programs, and commemorative events which culminated on the 250th anniversary date, November 10, 2016.[53]
In November 2016, Rutgers released research findings that revealed: "an untold history of some of the institution's founders asslave owners and the displacement of theNative Americans who once occupied land that was later transferred to the college."[54][55][56]
In January 2020,Jonathan Holloway made history as the first African American and person of color to be named president of Rutgers.[57] On April 9, 2023, three unions voted to go on thefirst strike by academics in the university's 257-year history. Classes and research were suspended for a week.[58][59] Five months later, in September, the university's faculty senate voted "no confidence" in Holloway; in addition to issues related to the strikes, the motion also cited Halloway's decision to dismiss the chancellor of the university's Newark campus and his proposal to merge the university's two medical schools.[60]
Since 1785, twenty-two men have served as the institution's president, beginning withJacob Rutsen Hardenbergh, a Dutch Reformed minister who was responsible for establishing the college.[61][62] Before 1930, most of the university's presidents were clergy affiliated with Christian denominations in theReformed tradition.[62][63] Two presidents were alumni of Rutgers College—William H. S. Demarest (Class of 1883) andPhilip Milledoler Brett (Class of 1892).[64][65]
The president serves in anex officio capacity as a presiding officer within the university's 59-member board of trustees and its eleven-member board of governors,[66] and is appointed by these boards to oversee the day-to-day operations of the university across its campuses. He is charged with implementing "board policies with the help and advice of senior administrators and other members of the university community."[67] The president is responsible only to those two governing boards—there is no oversight by state officials.[68]
The current president isWilliam F. Tate IV, who assumed the role on July 1, 2025. He succeeded the 21st presidentJonathan Holloway who assumed office on July 1, 2020.[69]
Governance at Rutgers University rests with a board of trustees consisting of 41 members, and a board of governors consisting of 15 voting members: eight are appointed by theGovernor of New Jersey and seven chosen by and from among the board of trustees.[70][71][72] The trustees constitute chiefly an advisory body to the board of governors and are the fiduciary overseers of the property and assets of the university that existed before the institution became the State University of New Jersey in 1945. The initial reluctance of the trustees (still acting as a private corporate body) to cede control of certain business affairs to the state government for direction and oversight caused the state to establish the Board of governors in 1956.[73] Today, the board of governors maintains much of the corporate control of the university.[74]
The members of the board of trustees are voted upon by different constituencies or appointed. "Two faculty and two students are elected by the University Senate as nonvoting representatives. The 59 voting members are chosen in the following way as mandated by state law: 20 charter members (of whom at least three shall be women), 16 alumni members nominated by the nominating committee of the board of trustees, and five public members appointed by the governor of the state with confirmation by theNew Jersey Senate.[75]
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Rutgers University has three campuses in New Jersey. The New Brunswick Campus, located inNew Brunswick and adjacentPiscataway, is the largest campus of the university. The Newark Campus inNewark and the Camden Campus inCamden are located in the northern and southern parts of the state, respectively.[76] Combined, these campuses comprise 33 degree-granting schools and colleges, offering undergraduate, graduate, and professional levels of study.[76] The university is centrally administered from New Brunswick, although chancellors at theNewark andCamden campuses hold significant autonomy for some academic issues.[77]
The New Brunswick Campus (or Rutgers–New Brunswick) is the largest campus and the site of the original Rutgers College. Spread across six municipalities inMiddlesex County, New Jersey, it lies chiefly in the City of New Brunswick and adjacent Piscataway and is composed of five smaller campuses and a few buildings in downtown New Brunswick. The historic College Avenue Campus is close to downtown New Brunswick and includes the seat of the university,Old Queens and other nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century buildings that constitute theQueens Campus andVoorhees Mall. Its proximity to New Brunswick's train station and numerous food vendors located downtown, in addition to a large amount of off-campus housing and fraternity and sorority houses, make this a popular weekend destination.
Across the city, Douglass Campus and Cook Campus are intertwined and often referred to as the Cook/Douglass Campus. Cook Campus has extensive farms and woods that reach North Brunswick and East Brunswick. Separated by the Raritan River isBusch Campus, in Piscataway, and Livingston Campus, also mainly in Piscataway but including remote sections of land extending into Edison and Highland Park. The Busch Campus is noted as the home of Rutgers' highly ranked Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, as well as the golf course and football stadium. The Livingston campus is home toJersey Mike's Arena (formerly the Rutgers Athletic Center [RAC]), a trapezoidal building that is home to many sports teams, notably the men's basketball team. Additionally, this campus has undergone many renovations and is regarded as the most "modern" campus. The campus entrance is delineated by the all-glassRutgers Business School building known as "100 Rock" (because of the building's Piscataway address, 100 Rockafeller Road).Rutgers Campus Buses transport students between the various campuses.[78]
As of 2010, the New Brunswick-Piscataway campuses include 19 undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools, including theSchool of Arts and Sciences, theSchool of Communication and Information, theEdward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, theSchool of Engineering, theSchool of Environmental and Biological Sciences, theErnest Mario School of Pharmacy, the Graduate School, the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, the Graduate School of Education, theSchool of Management and Labor Relations,Mason Gross School of the Arts, the College of Nursing, theRutgers Business School and the School of Social Work. As of 2012[update], 40,434 students (31,593 undergraduates and 8,841 graduate students) were enrolled at the New Brunswick-Piscataway campus.[4] The New Brunswick-Piscataway campus includes a Business School building on the Livingston Campus.[79]
The Newark Campus (or Rutgers–Newark) consists of eight undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools, including Newark College of Arts and Sciences, University College, School of Criminal Justice, Graduate School, School of Nursing,School of Public Affairs and Administration,Rutgers Business School and theNewark location of theRutgers Law School. As of 2012[update], 7,666 undergraduates and 4,345 graduate students (total 12,011) are enrolled at the Newark campus.[4] Originally the University of Newark, the campus was renamed and rebranded as Rutgers–Newark in 1945.
The Camden Campus (or Rutgers–Camden) consists of six undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools, including Camden College of Arts and Sciences, University College, Graduate School, Rutgers School of Business–Camden, Rutgers School of Nursing–Camden,[80] and the Camden location of theRutgers Law School. The schools are located in the Cooper's Grant and Central Waterfront neighborhoods of Camden. As of 2012[update], 4,708 undergraduates and 1,635 graduate students (total 6,343) are enrolled at the Camden campus.[4]
The campus was founded as the College of South Jersey and South Jersey Law School in the 1920s, and became part of Rutgers in 1950.[81]
Rutgers Health (formerly Rutgers Biomedcial and Health Sciences) is a division of the university that serves as an umbrella organization for schools, centers, and institutes from Rutgers University and the oldUniversity of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. The organization was incorporated into the university following the 2013 merger of Rutgers and UMDNJ.[82] While its various facilities are spread across several locations statewide, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences is considered a "campus" for certain organizational purposes, such as the appointment of a separate chancellor.[83][84][85][86] In July 2023, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences renamed to Rutgers Health.[87]
Rutgers Health comprises nine schools and other research centers and institutes including; Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, New Jersey Medical School, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School,School of Nursing, School of Dental Medicine, School of Health Related Professions, the School of Public Health, Cancer Institute of New Jersey, Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine, Environmental and the Occupational Health Sciences Institute, Brain Health Institute, and the Institute for Health, Health Care Policy, and Aging Research. The programs are offered at different location sites across New Jersey in New Brunswick, Newark,Blackwood,Stratford andScotch Plains, New Jersey.[88]
As of 2015, Rutgers offered a total of 11 fully online degree programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels.[89] Online degree programs at Rutgers must meet the same academic expectations, in terms of both teaching and learning outcomes, as traditional on-campus programs. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a majority of courses were conducted through remote instruction.[90]
Rutgers offers classes at several off-campus sites in affiliation with community colleges and other state colleges throughout New Jersey.[91] These partnerships are designed to enable students to achieve a seamless transfer to Rutgers and to take all of their Rutgers classes in a select number of the most popular majors at the community college campus. The collaborative effort provides access to Rutgers faculty teaching Rutgers courses, at a convenient location, but it is also one of the few programs that cater exclusively to the non-traditional student population. Rutgers' current partners includeAtlantic Cape,Brookdale,Mercer,Morris,Camden, andRaritan Valley community colleges.[92][93]
The university offers more than 100 distinct bachelor, 100 masters, and 80 doctoral and professional degree programs across 175 academic departments, 29 degree-granting schools, and colleges, 16 of which offer graduate programs of study.[94]
It is accredited by theCommission on Higher Education of theMiddle States Association of Colleges and Schools (1921), and in 1989, became a member of theAssociation of American Universities, an organization of the 62 leading research universities in North America.[95]Rutgers–New Brunswick isclassified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity".[96]Rutgers–Newark andRutgers–Camden are classified by the same organization as "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity".[97]
| Undergraduate admissions statistics | |
|---|---|
| Admit rate | 68.2 (  +11.3) |
| Yield rate | 24.2 (  −6.8) |
| Test scoresmiddle 50%[i] | |
| SAT Total | 1240–1470 (among 45% ofFTFs) |
| ACT Composite | 27–33 (among 7% ofFTFs) |
| |
U.S. News & World Report considers the New Brunswick campus of Rutgers University to be a "more selective" school in terms of the rigor of its admissions processes.[99] For the Class of 2025 (enrolling fall 2021), the New Brunswick campus received 43,161 applications and accepted 29,419 (68.2%).[98] The number enrolling was 7,105; the yield rate (the percentage of accepted students who enroll) was 24.2%.[98] The freshmanretention rate is 94%, with 83.8% going on to graduate within six years.[98] Rutgers is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity," reflecting its extensive research output and doctoral programs.[100]
Of the 45% of the incoming freshman class who submittedSAT scores; the middle 50 percent Composite scores were 1240-1470.[98] Of the 7% of enrolled freshmen in 2021 who submittedACT scores; the middle 50 percent Composite score was between 27 and 33.[98]
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey is a college-sponsor of the National Merit Scholarship Program and sponsored 21 Merit Scholarship awards in 2020. In the 2020–2021 academic year, 29 freshman students wereNational Merit Scholars.[101]
| 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Applicants | 43,161 | 41,263 | 41,286 | 41,348 | 38,384 | 36,677 |
| Admits | 29,419 | 27,618 | 25,277 | 24,854 | 22,186 | 20,884 |
| Admit rate | 68.2 | 66.9 | 61.2 | 60.1 | 57.8 | 56.9 |
| Enrolled | 7,105 | 6,551 | 7,315 | 7,036 | 6,268 | 6,466 |
| Yield rate | 24.2 | 23.7 | 28.9 | 28.3 | 28.3 | 31.0 |
| ACT composite* (out of 36) | 27-33 (7%†) | 25-32 (18%†) | 25-32 (18%†) | 25-31 (25%†) | — | — |
| SAT composite* (out of 1600) | 1240-1470 (45%†) | 1180-1410 (90%†) | 1210-1430 (90%†) | 1190-1410 (87%†) | 1190-1400 (81%†) | — |
| * middle 50% range † percentage of first-time freshmen who chose to submit | ||||||
As a state university, Rutgers charges two separate rates for tuition and fees depending on an enrolled student's residency. TheOffice of Institutional Research and Academic Planning estimates that costs in-state students of attending Rutgers would amount to $25,566 for an undergraduate living on-campus and $30,069 for a graduate student. For an out-of-state student, the costs rise to $38,228 and $39,069 respectively.[4] As of the 2024–2025 academic school year, the estimated cost of tuition for in-state students is $14,222, $33,734 for out-of-state students, and $15,332 for Room and Board.[107]
In the 2010–2011 academic year, undergraduate students at Rutgers, through a combination of federal (53.5%), state (23.6%), university (18.1%), and private (4.8%) scholarships, loans, and grants, received $492,260,845 offinancial aid. 81.4% of all undergraduates, or 34,473 students, received some form of financial aid. During the same period, graduate students, through a combination of federal (61.9%), state (1.8%), university (34.5%), and private (1.9%) scholarships, loans, and grants received $182,384,256 of financial aid. 81.5% of all graduate students, or 11,852 students received some form of financial aid.[4]
Alongside Pell and TAG grant which are well-known federal and state aids, Rutgers provides EOF grant, merit based scholarships such as SAS Excellence Award, Scarlet Guarantee, and many other forms of aid. Rutgers is an active participant of the EOF program giving financially or academically disadvantaged students resources to success. Furthermore, the Scarlet Guarantee covers any tuition cost for students whose aid might not if the student's household income is below a certain amount. Apart from need based aid, Rutgers University have a list of Scholarships which first-time or continuing students can apply to based upon GPA and/or extra-curriculum involvement. The University also offers multiple opportunities for students to earn while in college through Federal Work Study, on-campus employment, and internships.[108]
In 2007, the university's Office for Enrollment Management launched the Rutgers Future Scholars Program as an initiative to help 7th graders from low-income families achieve academic success and be the first in their families to go to college. The program targets students from the school systems of Rutgers's hometowns, New Brunswick/Piscataway, Newark, and Camden. Once admitted, the students receive mentoring and college prep courses each summer leading up to the year of their college applications. If admitted to the university, they are given a full tuition scholarship for four years of undergraduate study. The program has been very successful and currently admits as many as 200 new 7th graders each year with most of the original 200 now attending the university as undergraduates.[109]
Rutgers University have a variety of resources to help students succeed academically. Rutgers offers academic counselling to help students plan a study schedule, plan a schedule for the semester, decide their major, and complete their major requirements in time. The Learning Centers at Rutgers provide Peer Tutoring and Study Groups where students can work with or receive help from others who are taking or have taken the same courses. Certain courses provide extra tutoring like the Computer Science program offer tutoring from RUCATS(Rutgers Computing Academic Tutoring for Students). Students can use resources such as the Penji app to find available academic support. Rutgers offers these academic support resources motioned above for free to its students.[110][111]
| Academic rankings | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Forbes[112] | 49 |
| U.S. News & World Report[113] | 40 |
| Washington Monthly[114] | 62 |
| WSJ/College Pulse[115] | 136 |
| Global | |
| ARWU[116] | 101–150 |
| QS[117] | 328 |
| THE[118] | 201–250 |
| U.S. News & World Report[119] | 143 |
In the 2025U.S. News & World Report rankings of universities in the United States, the New Brunswick campus of Rutgers is tied for 41st among national universities overall and ranked tied for 15th among public universities.[120]U.S. News & World Report ranked the Camden campus 127th among national universities, and 18th in top performers for social mobility.[121] The same ranking placed Rutgers-New Brunswick in the top 25 among all U.S. universities for the following graduate school programs:Library Science (7th),English (15th),Fine Arts (23rd),History (21st) with the subspecialties ofWomen's History andAfrican-American History both ranked 1st,Social Work (17th), andMathematics (22nd).[122]
U.S. News ranked Rutgers-Camden 58th for graduate nursing programs, and 83rd among graduate public policy programs, and 49th for top public universities. Rutgers University-New Brunswick has consistently ranked 2nd forPhilosophy according theQS World University Rankings[123][124] and thePhilosophy Gourmet Report.[125] QS ranks Rutgers 42nd nationally.[126]
The Center for World University Rankings (CWUR) ranks Rutgers-New Brunswick 29th nationally and 50th globally as of 2020–2021.[127]QS Top Universities ranked Rutgers-New Brunswick 264 in the world in 2022.[128]
U.S. News & World Report ranking placed Rutgers-New Brunswick 130th in Best Global Universities, 15th in public universities in the US (2025), 47th in Agricultural Sciences, 45th in Arts and Humanities (tie), 61st in Mathematics, 66th in Cell Biology, 63rd in Economics and Business, 99th in Computer Science, 37th in Pharmacology and Toxicology, and 23rd in Food Science and Technology.[129] The RBS Master of Quantitative Finance (M.Q.F.) program, and the Master of Mathematical Finance (M.S.M.F) program in the department of mathematics, are ranked 7th in the United States.[130]
Under the New Jersey Medical and Health Sciences Education Restructuring Act of 2012, theUniversity of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey was dissolved. Most of its schools, includingRobert Wood Johnson Medical School,New Jersey Medical School, andNew Jersey Dental School, were merged into the new Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences, formed in 2013.[131]
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The Rutgers University Libraries (RUL) system consists of twenty-six libraries, centers and reading rooms located on the university's four campuses. Housing a collection that includes 4,383,848 volumes (print and electronic), 4,605,896 microforms, and an array of electronic indexes and abstracts, full-text electronic journals, and research guides, Rutgers University Libraries ranks among the nation's top research libraries.[132] TheAmerican Library Association ranks the Rutgers University Library system as the 44th-largest library in the United States in terms of volumes held.[133]
TheArchibald S. Alexander Library inNew Brunswick, known to many students as "Club Alex", is the oldest and the largest library of the university, and houses an extensivehumanities andsocial science collection.[132][134] It also supports the work of faculty and staff at four professional schools: the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, the Graduate School of Education, the Graduate School of Social Work, and the School of Communication and Information. Alexander Library is also aFederal Depository Library, maintaining a large collection of government documents, which contains United States, New Jersey, foreign, and international government publications.[134] The Paul Robeson Library inCamden, serves Rutgers affiliates as well as the Camden campuses ofRowan University andCamden County College with a broad collection of volumes, and also houses an archive including the papers of poetNick Virgilio.
The Dana Library is the main research library for the Newark campus and is also home to theInstitute of Jazz Studies, one of the world's largest collections of jazz archives and research. TheLibrary of Science and Medicine (LSM) on the Busch Campus inPiscataway houses the university's collection inbehavioral,biological,earth, andpharmaceutical sciences andengineering. LSM also serves as a designated depository library for government publications regarding science, and owns a U.S. patent collection and patent search facility.[135] It was officially established as the Library of Science and Medicine in July 1964 although the beginning of the development of a library for science started in 1962. The current character of LSM is a university science library also serving a medical school.[136]
On the New Brunswick-Piscataway campus, in addition to Alexander Library, many individual disciplines have their libraries, including art history, Chemistry, mathematics, music and physics.Special Collections and University Archives houses the Sinclair New Jersey Collection, manuscript collection, and rare book collection, as well as the university archives. Although located in the Alexander Library building,special collections and University Archives comprises a distinct unit unto itself. Also located within the Alexander Library is theEast Asian Library which holds a sizable collection of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean monographs and periodicals. There are nine major libraries at the Rutgers- New Brunswick location which are the Alexander Library, Art Library, Carr Library, Chang Library, Douglass Library, Library of Science and Medicine, Math and Physics Library, School of Management and Labor Relations Library, and Special Collections & University Archives Library.[137] Both the Newark and Camden campuses have law libraries.[138][139]
Rutgers oversees several museums and collections that are open to the public.
Rutgers' facilities across the four campuses include a golf course,botanical gardens, working agricultural, horse, dairy, andsustainable farms, a creamery, anecological preserve with multiple use trails, television and radio studios, theaters, museums, athletic facilities, helipads and amakerspace.[146][147][148] TheNew Jersey Museum of Agriculture, established in 1984 in a 30,000-square-foot (2,800 m2) facility inNorth Brunswick, closed in 2011.[149]
Rutgers is home to the Rutgers University Center forCognitive Science, also known as RUCCS. This research center hosts researchers inpsychology,linguistics,computer science,philosophy,electrical engineering, andanthropology.[150]
It was at Rutgers thatSelman Waksman discovered severalantibiotics, includingactinomycin,clavacin,streptothricin, grisein,neomycin,fradicin,candicidin, candidin, and others. Waksman, along with graduate studentAlbert Schatz, discoveredstreptomycin—a versatile antibiotic that was to be the first applied to curetuberculosis. For this discovery, Waksman received theNobel Prize for Medicine in 1952.[151]
Rutgers developed water-soluble sustained release polymers,tetraploids,robotic hands,artificial bovine insemination, and the ceramic tiles for theheat shield on theSpace Shuttle. In health-related field, Rutgers has the Environmental & Occupational Health Science Institute (EOHSI).[152]
Rutgers is also home to the RCSBProtein Data bank,[153] 'an information portal to Biological Macromolecular Structures' cohosted with theSan Diego Supercomputer Center. This database is the authoritative research tool for bioinformaticists using protein primary, secondary and tertiary structures worldwide.'[154]
Rutgers is home to the Rutgers Cooperative Research & Extension office, which is run by the Agricultural and Experiment Station with the support of the local government. The institution provides research & education to the local farming and agro-industrial community in 19 of the 21 counties of the state and educational outreach programs offered through theNew Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station Office of Continuing Professional Education.[155]
Rutgers University Cell and DNA Repository (RUCDR) is the largest university-based repository in the world and has received awards worth more than $57.8 million from theNational Institutes of Health (NIH). One will fund genetic studies of mental disorders and the other will support investigations into the causes of digestive, liver, and kidney diseases, and diabetes.[156]
The student body at Rutgers University is highly diverse, with students representing over 100 countries and numerous cultural backgrounds.[157]
| Race and ethnicity | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 31% | ||
| Asian | 26% | ||
| Hispanic | 18% | ||
| Black | 10% | ||
| International student | 9% | ||
| Two or more races | 3% | ||
| Other | 3% | ||
| Economic diversity[159] | |||
| Low-income[a] | 28% | ||
| Affluent[b] | 72% | ||
Rutgers University offers a variety of housing options. On theNew Brunswick-Piscataway campus, students are given the option of on-campus housing in both traditionaldorms or apartments. Freshman students, however, are allowed only a dorm, while upperclassmen have a wider array of on-campus housing choices, like apartments, but must apply for on-campus housing through the Rutgers online lottery process. Most students seeking on-campus housing will be accommodated with a space and sophomores are guaranteed housing.[160] Many Rutgers students opt to rent apartments or houses off-campus within the city of New Brunswick.[161] Similar setups are to be found in Rutgers–Newark and Rutgers–Camden.
Rutgers University's three campuses are inNewark,Camden, andNew Brunswick.
In 2008,U.S. News & World Report rankedRutgers University–Newark the most diverse university campus in the United States.[162] Because the area of Rutgers' New Brunswick-Piscataway campus—which is composed of several constituent colleges and professional schools—is sprawled across six municipalities, the individual campuses are connected by an inter-campus bus system. TheRutgers bus system is the second-largest bus service in New Jersey, transporting six million passengers on an annual basis.[163]
Services provided by the university includeRutgers Police, Emergency Medical Services, an emergency management office,bus and shuttle service, inter- and intra-campus mail, and occupational and environmental health and safety.[164][165][166]
Rutgers University has a student government that controls funding to student groups. The student government is made up of campus councils and professional school councils. Those councils then send representatives to the student assembly as well as the university senate. An example of these campus councils is the University College Council, which represents adult, part-time, and military veteran students.[167]
Rutgers hosts over 700student organizations; among the first student groups was the firstcollege newspaper in theUnited States.The Political Intelligencer and New Jersey Adviser began publication at Queen's College in 1783, and ceased operation in 1785.[25] Continuing this tradition is the university's current college newspaper,The Daily Targum, established in 1869, which is the second-oldest college newspaper published in the United States, afterThe Dartmouth (1843). Both poetJoyce Kilmer and economistMilton Friedman served as editors. Also included areThe Medium, a weekly satirical newspaper billed as Rutgers Entertainment Weekly,Rutgers Centurion, a conservative newspaper, theRutgers University Glee Club, a malechoral singing group established in 1872 (among the oldest in the country). Rutgers a cappella groups have routinely placed well in theInternational Championship of Collegiate A Cappella, including in 2010 when The OrphanSporks placed second in the semifinals.[168] Governed by the Rutgers University Student Assembly and funded by student fees, students can organize groups for practically any political ideology or issue, ethnic or religious affiliation, academic subject, activity or hobby.[169]
Rutgers University is home to chapters ofmany Greek organizations, and a significant percentage of the undergraduate student body is active in Greek life. Severalfraternities and sororities maintain houses for their chapters in the area of Union Street (known familiarly as "Frat Row") inNew Brunswick, within blocks of Rutgers' College Avenue Campus. Chapters ofZeta Psi andDelta Phi were organized at Rutgers as early as 1845. The Alpha Rho chapter ofChi Psi fraternity, founded at Rutgers College in 1879, was the first fraternity at Rutgers to own a fraternity house, purchased in 1887 and still in use by the fraternity today. There are over fifty fraternities and sororities on the New Brunswick-Piscataway campus, ranging from traditional to historicallyAfrican-American,Hispanic,Multicultural, andAsian interest organizations.[170] The New Brunswick campus of Rutgers University has a chapter of the only active co-ed pre-medical fraternity,Phi Delta Epsilon, as of 2008[update].[171] Most Greek organizations are governed by theOffice of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs, but twelve organizations maintain chapters in New Brunswick without sanction by the university's administration.[172]
It is Rutgers's tradition for students to participate in one of the largest student-run philanthropic events in New Jersey, the Embrace Kids Foundation for children with cancer and blood disorders. The annual Dance Marathon involves hundreds of dancers and volunteers. In 2015, the marathon collected $692,046.[173][174]
Rutgers has five vocal ensembles: Voorhees Choir (the New Brunswick campus's women's ensemble), Kirkpatrick Choir (the university's most selective coed ensemble),Glee Club (New Brunswick's most esteemed tenor-bass ensemble),[175] University Choir (a larger mixed choir in New Brunswick), and the Rutgers Concert Choir (Camden's vocal ensemble of faculty and students).[176][177]
TheGrease Trucks are a group of truck-based food vendors located at various locations on the New Brunswick campus. They serve traditional grill fare and Middle-Eastern specialties. Three Rutgers Grease Trucks remain on the College Avenue Campus, while the remaining two were moved to the Cook/Douglass Campus.[178]
TheDance Marathon is a student-run fundraisers. Hundreds of dancers pledge to raise funds and remain standing for 32 hours. Rutgers has held this tradition since 1999 and to date has raised more than $1.3 million for the Embrace Kids Foundation and for other charities. In the two decades starting in 1998, the event had raised $5.8 million for the Embrace Kids Foundation.[179]
Rutgers Day is an annual festival established in 1906.[180]
Rutgers University's mottoSol iustitiae et occidentem illustra is a modification ofUtrecht University's mottoSol iustitiae illustra nos gleaned from a literal Latin Bible translation ofMalachi 4:2 and highlights the historic connection of these two universities.[181]
Rutgers University's only school color isscarlet. Students had sought to makeorange the school color, citing Rutgers'Dutch heritage and about thePrince of Orange. The Rutgers student publicationTargum (which would become theDaily Targum) proposed that scarlet be adopted in May 1869, claiming that it was a striking color and because the scarlet ribbon was easily obtained. During thefirst intercollegiate football game withPrinceton on November 6, 1869, the players from Rutgers wore scarlet-coloredturbans andhandkerchiefs to distinguish them as a team from the Princeton players.[182][183] The board of trustees officially made scarlet theschool color in 1900.[183]
In its early days, Rutgers athletes were known informally as "The Scarlet" after the school color, or as "Queensmen" after the institution's first name, Queen's College.[183] In 1925, themascot was changed to Chanticleer, a fighting rooster from themedievalfableReynard the Fox (Le Roman de Renart) which was used byGeoffrey Chaucer in theCanterbury Tales.[183] At the time, the student humor magazine at Rutgers was calledChanticleer, and one of its early arts editors,Ozzie Nelson (later ofThe Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet fame) was quarterback of the Rutgers team from 1924 to 1926.[184] The Chanticleer mascot was unveiled at a football game againstLafayette College, in which Lafayette was also introducing a new mascot, aleopard.[184] However, the choice of Chanticleer as a mascot was often the subject of ridicule because of its association with "beingchicken."[185] In 1955, the mascot was changed to the Scarlet Knight after a campus-wide election, beating out other contenders such as "Queensmen," the "Scarlet," the "Red Lions," the "Redmen" and the "Flying Dutchmen."[183][186] Earlier proposed nicknames included "Pioneers" and "Cannoneers." WhenHarvey Harman, then coach of the football team was asked why he supported changing the Rutgers mascot, he was quoted as saying, "Awnish You can call it the Chanticleer, you can call it afighting cock, you can call it any damn thing you want, but everybody knows it's a chicken."[187] Harman later is said to have bought the first "Scarlet Knight" mascot costume for the 1955 season, which was to be his final season as football coach at Rutgers.[188] Today, the Scarlet Knight costumed mascot appearing at Rutgers football and basketball games and other campus events is called "Sir Henry".[9]
In later years the Camden and Newark campuses adopted their mascots, the Scarlet Raptor (Camden) and the Scarlet Raider (Newark).[189]
TheRutgers–Camden athletic teams are called theScarlet Raptors. TheRutgers–Newark athletic teams are called theScarlet Raiders. TheScarlet Raiders and the Scarlet Raptors both compete withinNCAA Division III.[190]
Rutgers was among the first American institutions to engage in intercollegiate athletics, and participated in a small circle of schools that includedYale University,Columbia University, and long-time rival,Princeton University (then called the College of New Jersey). The four schools met at the Fifth Avenue Hotel inManhattan on October 19, 1873, to establish a set of rules governing their intercollegiate competition, and particularly to codify the new game offootball. Although invited,Harvard chose not to attend.[191] In the early years of intercollegiate athletics, the schools that participated in these athletic events were located solely in the American Northeast and by the turn of the 20th century, colleges and universities across the United States began to participate.[192]
Rutgers University is referred to as "the birthplace ofcollege football" as the firstintercollegiate football game was held on College Field between Rutgers and Princeton on November 6, 1869, inNew Brunswick, New Jersey, on a plot of ground behind where the present-dayCollege Avenue Gymnasium now stands. Rutgers won the game, with a score of 6 runs to Princeton's 4.[25][183][193] A Rutgers-Princeton rivalry still exists today. According toParke H. Davis, the 1869 Rutgers football team shared the national title with Princeton.[194] (This game is believed to have been closer to soccer than to modern American football.)[195]
In 1864, rowing became the first organized sport at Rutgers. Six-mile races were held on the Raritan River among six-oared boats. In 1870, Rutgers held its first intercollegiate competition, against the Lawrence Scientific School of Harvard, the then top-ranked amateur crew of the time. Women's crew was added to the program in 1974. Financial support of the men's crew program was discontinued by the university in 2006, though the crew continues to compete (funded entirely by alumni and private support) at a high level in theEastern Association of Rowing Colleges conference.[196]
The first intercollegiate athletic event at Rutgers was a baseball game on May 2, 1866, against Princeton in which they suffered a 40–2 loss.[197]
Beginning in 1866, Rutgers was unaffiliated with any formal athletic conference and thus classified as "independent" for eighty years. From 1946 to 1951, the university was a member of the Middle Three Conference, and from 1958 to 1961, was a member of theMiddle Atlantic Conference.[198] In 1978, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights became a member of theAtlantic 10 conference. In 1991, it joined theBig East Conference for football. All sports programs at Rutgers New Brunswick subsequently became affiliated with the Big East in 1995.[199]
The first intercollegiate competition inUltimate Frisbee was held between students from Rutgers andPrinceton on November 6, 1972, to mark the one hundred third anniversary of the first intercollegiate football game. Rutgers won 29–27.[200] The Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's Basketball Team was among the "Final Four" and ended the 1976 season ranked fourth in the United States, after an 86–70 loss against theUniversity of Michigan in the semifinals, and a 106–92 loss againstUCLA in the consolation round of the1976 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament.[201]
The Rutgers Scarlet Knights are members of theBig Ten Conference, a collegiate athletic conference consisting of 14 colleges and universities from theMidwestern and East Coast regions of the United States. The Big Ten Conference is a member of theBowl Championship Series. Rutgers currently fields 27 intercollegiate sports programs and is aDivision I school as sanctioned by theNational Collegiate Athletic Association. Rutgers fields thirty teams in NCAA Division I sanctioned sports, includingfootball,baseball,basketball,crew,cross country,fencing,field hockey,golf,gymnastics,lacrosse,soccer,softball,tennis,track and field,swimming anddiving,wrestling, andvolleyball.[202]
The Scarlet Knights have won five Big East Conference tournament titles: men'ssoccer (1997), men'strack & field (2005),baseball (2000, 2007), andwomen's basketball (2007). Several other teams have won regular season titles but failed to win the conference's championship tournament.[203]
Although the Rutgers Scarlet Knights' football team had losing seasons in 2016 and 2015 (won-lost records of 2–10 and 4–8, respectively)[204] it achieved success previously, being invited to theInsight Bowl on December 27, 2005, in which they lost 45 to 40 againstArizona State University.[205] This was Rutgers' first bowl appearance since the December 16, 1978, loss against Arizona State, 34–18, at theGarden State Bowl. The 2006 football season also saw Rutgers being ranked within the Top 25 teams in major college football polls. After the November 9, 2006, victory over the 3rd ranked, undefeatedLouisville Cardinals, Rutgers jumped up to seventh in theAP Poll, eighth in theUSA Today/Coaches poll, seventh in theHarris Interactive Poll, and sixth in theBowl Championship Series rankings. These were Rutgers' highest rankings in the football polls since they were ranked fifteenth in 1961. Rutgers ended the season 11–2 after winning the inauguralTexas Bowl on December 28, 2006, defeating theWildcats ofKansas State University by a score of 37–10 and finishing the season ranked twelfth[206] in the final AP poll of sportswriters, the team's highest season-ending ranking.[207]
Under Head CoachC. Vivian Stringer, the women's basketball program is among the elite programs in the country as they remain consistently ranked in the Top 25, consistently making the NCAA Women's Championship Tournament, and sometimes winning the Big East regular season championship. In 2006–2007, the Scarlet Knights won their first-ever Big East Conference Tournament Championship. The program has been highly competitive since its inception, winning the 1982 AIAW National Championship, reaching the 2000 Final Four, and reaching the Final Four and national championship game in 2007.[208]
The Scarlet Knights maintain athletic rivalries with other collegiate institutions. The university has historic rivalries withPrinceton University,Columbia University (formerlyKing's College),Lafayette College,Lehigh University, andNew York University originating from the early days of college football. While they maintain this rivalry in other sports, neither of them has met in football since 1980. Rutgers has a basketball rivalry withSeton Hall University.[209]Penn State and theUniversity of Maryland are the two schools with which Rutgers was developing rivalries within the Big Ten.[210]
In the fall of 2007, six Rutgers New Brunswick/Piscataway NCAA Division I sports were discontinued by the university, including men's swimming and diving, men's heavyweight and lightweight crew, men's tennis, and men's and women's fencing. Some continued as club teams, while some were disbanded completely. The university claims this change was due to budget cuts, while others claim it was a politically motivated move designed to protest state funding changes.[211]
In November 2012, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, along with Louisville, Connecticut, and Cincinnati left the Big East to form theAmerican Athletic Conference. Syracuse and Pittsburgh have decided to enter the Atlantic Coast Conference, while West Virginia entered the Big 12 Conference, taking effect as of the 2012–2013 season. Rutgers decided to leave American for theBig Ten Conference, effective July 1, 2014. Rutgers surpassedPenn State as the Big Ten's easternmost school.[212]
On March 23, 2019,Nick Suriano andAnthony Ashnault won national titles for Rutgers Wrestling and provided Rutgers with their first 2 NCAA wrestling championships.[213]
In 2021, the Rutgers men's basketball team was selected to participate in the NCAA tournament. This marked the program's first appearance in the tournament since 1991 and ending a 30-year-long streak that made the school the longest to have been excluded among major collegiate basketball programs.[214]
In 2022, Rutgers men's lacrosse team was selected to participate in theNCAA Division I tournament. They defeatedHarvard and theUniversity of Pennsylvania to reach their first-ever Final Four. Their season ended with a 17–10 loss toCornell.[215] In 2025, the women's rowing eight won theIsland Challenge Cup at theHenley Royal Regatta.[216]
At Queen's College's first commencement in 1774, one graduate,Matthew Leydt, received his baccalaureate degree in a brief ceremony.[217]: p.66
Rutgers alumni have been influential in many fields. Singer, athlete, attorney, andCivil Rights Movement activistPaul Robeson graduated in 1919 and is the namesake of the Paul Robeson Cultural Center on the Busch Campus, the Paul Robeson Library on the Camden Campus, and the Campus Center on the Newark Campus.[218] Among the first students enrolled at Rutgers (when it wasQueen's College),Simeon De Witt (A.B. 1776) became the Surveyor-General for the Continental Army (1776–1783) during theAmerican Revolution[217]: p.67 and classmateJames Schureman (A.B. 1775), served in theContinental Congress and as a United States senator.[217]: p.66 Two alumni have been awarded Nobel prizes —Milton Friedman (A.B. 1932) in economics, andSelman A. Waksman (B.Sc. 1915, M.Sc.1916) in Medicine.[217]: p.300, 422 PoetRobert Pinsky (B.A. 1962) was appointed the nation'spoet laureate[219] and novelistJunot Díaz (B.A. 1992) awarded thePulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2008.[220]
Seven alumni have served asNew Jersey governor;[c] two aspresident of Rutgers;[d]Garret A. Hobart (A.B. 1863) asVice President of the United States;[217]: p.137 Louis Freeh (B.A. 1971, J.D. 1974) as director of theFBI;[221]Frederick T. Frelinghuysen (A.B. 1836) served a U.S. Senator and asU.S. Secretary of State.[217]: p.88 [222] AlumnusJoseph P. Bradley (A.B. 1836) served for two decades as an associate justice of theSupreme Court of the United States[217]: p.87 and cast the tie-breaking vote on the bipartisan commission that decided the contestedAmerican presidential election in 1876. DiplomatMaria Fernanda Espinosa served asPresident of the United Nations General Assembly.[223] SenatorsElizabeth Warren (JD 1976) andBob Menendez (JD 1979) both attendedRutgers Law School.[224] Some alumni becameactivists such asJack Babuscio (MHist.).[225]
In business, alumni include:Bernard Marcus (B.S. 1951), founder of hardware retail companyHome Depot;Bill Rasmussen (MBA 1960), founder ofESPN;Rana Kapoor (founder ofYes Bank);Dev Ittycheria (B.S 1990) CEO ofMongoDB Inc.;Greg Brown, CEO ofMotorola Solutions; andDuncan MacMillan (B.S. 1966), co-founder of financial data and media companyBloomberg L.P. In science and technology, alumni include:Peter C. Schultz (B.S. 1967), co-inventor offiber optics; molecular geneticistAngela Christiano (Ph.D. 1991); geneticistStanley N. Cohen (B.Sc. 1956) who pioneered in the field ofgene splicing; physicianHoward Krein; andLouis Gluck (B.S. 1948) the "father ofneonatology".[226]
Alumni prominent in entertainment include actorJames Gandolfini (B.A. 1983) (The Sopranos); chefMario Batali (B.A. 1982);David Stern (B.A. 1963), former commissioner of theNational Basketball Association;Henry Selick, film director (Disney'sThe Nightmare Before Christmas); actorMichael Sorvino;Holly Black; actorSebastian Stan (Captain America: The Winter Soldier); cartoon characterMr Magoo; actressJessica Darrow (Encanto); voice actorJohn DiMaggio (Futurama,Adventure Time); guitaristFrank Iero (My Chemical Romance), actorRoy Scheider (Jaws); and actressCalista Flockhart (Ally McBeal).
Ruth Bader Ginsburg served as a professor atRutgers Law School for 9 years from 1963-1972 and later went on to serve as an associateJustice of the Supreme Court of the United States. During his 20-year tenure at Rutgers,David Levering Lewis, a former history professor, was twice awarded thePulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography (1994 and 2001) for both volumes of hisbiography ofW. E. B. Du Bois (1868–1963) and was also the winner of theBancroft Prize and theFrancis Parkman Prize. PoetGregory Pardlo won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, he is both an alumnus and faculty member at the Camden campus.Michael R. Douglas, a prominentstring theorist and the director of the New High Energy Theory Center and winner of theSackler Prize in theoretical physics in 2000.Family Research Council director Jennifer Bauwens taught in theRutgers School of Social Work.Avery Brooks, a Rutgers graduate, taught atMason Gross School of the Arts. Former professorRuth Chang is an expert in decision-making and a fellow at Oxford. Literature scholarAnkhi Mukherjee now atUniversity of Oxford won theRose Mary Crawshay prize. Former English professor at Rutgers-NewarkJayne Anne Phillips won thePulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2024.Jerry Fodor,Zenon Pylyshyn,Stephen Stich andFrances Egan were awarded theJean Nicod Prize inphilosophy andcognitive science.Endre Szemerédi was awarded theAbel Prize in 2012.[227]Mario Szegedy was awarded theGödel Prize twice, in 2001 and 2005.[228]
Many other members of the faculty have received the highest awards in their fields, including Guggenheim and MacArthur "Genius Award" fellowships, Pulitzer Prize winners, National Medal of Science and National Medal of Technology recipients, a National Endowment for the Arts "Jazz Master," amongst others.[5] As of 2013[update], 37 science, engineering, and medical faculty are members of the four "National Academies"—the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine, and the National Research Council.[5][229]
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