Rutgers University has come a long way since it was granted a royal charter in 1766. As it migrated from a parsonage in Somerville, to the New Brunswick-sited Sign of the Red Lion tavern, to stately Old Queens, and expanded northward along College Avenue, it would both compete and collaborate with the city that surrounded it for room to grow.
Rutgers, Then and Now tells this story, proceeding through ten sequential development phases of College Avenue and Piscataway campus expansions—each with its own buildings and physical layouts—that took place over the course of 250 years. It delivers stunning photographic and historic documentation of the growth of the university, showing “what it was and appeared originally” versus “what it is and looks like today.” Among other in-depth analyses, the book compares the diminutive geographic scale of today’s historical College Avenue Campus—once the entirety of Rutgers—to the much larger-sized (in acreage) Busch Campus. Replete with more than 500 images, the book also considers the Rutgers campuses that might have been, examining plans that were changed or abandoned. Shedding light on the sacrifices and gifts that transformed a small college into a vital hub for research and beloved home for students, it explores how Rutgers grew to become a world-class university.
JAMES W. HUGHES is both a university professor and a distinguished professor of urban planning and policy development at Rutgers, where he served as dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy from 1995 to 2017. He has authored or coauthored over thirty-five books, including America’s Demographic Tapestry and Population Trends in New Jersey (both from the Rutgers University Press) and The Atlantic City Gamble.
DAVID LISTOKIN is a distinguished professor at Rutgers Bloustein School and is associate director of Bloustein's Center for Urban Policy Research. A leading authority on public finance, historic preservation, and urban redevelopment, he has authored or coauthored twenty-five books, including New Brunswick, New Jersey: The Decline and Revitalization of Urban America (Rutgers University Press) and Mortgage Lending and Race.
RICHARD L. EDWARDS is both a university professor and distinguished professor who served as chancellor of Rutgers–New Brunswick from 2012 to 2017. He previously served as executive vice president for academic affairs and dean of the School of Social Work. He was editor in chief of the nineteenth edition of the Encyclopedia of Social Work. Included among his other publications are Building a Strong Foundation—Fundraising for Nonprofits and Leading and Managing Nonprofit Organizations.
JONATHAN SCOTT HOLLOWAY is the twenty-first president of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. He is the author of
The Cause of Freedom: A Concise History of African Americans.
REV. MICAH L. McCREARY is the president of the New Brunswick Theological Seminary and RCA General Synod Professor. He is the author of
Trauma and Race: A Pathway to Well-Being.
