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245 Years Old, and Sharp as a Tack

Kirkpatrick Chapel charter window

Rutgers History

Rutgers is the only university in the nation that is a colonial college, a land-grant institution, and a leading public research university. It is the nation’s eighth oldest institution of higher learning—one of only nine colonial colleges established before the American Revolution—and has a centuries-old tradition of rising to the challenges of each new generation.

 
Who Was Rutgers’ First Nobel Prize Winner

Selman A. Waksman

Rutgers’ first alumnus to win the Nobel Prize, Professor Selman A. Waksman, Rutgers College 1915, and his graduate students Albert Schatz and Elizabeth Bugie are credited with the discovery at Rutgers of streptomycin, the antibiotic that virtually ended the scourge of tuberculosis in the 20th century. Once known as consumption, the disease became widely feared during the 19th century, when it was responsible for almost a quarter of all deaths in North America. For his groundbreaking work in microbiology, Waksman was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine in 1952. Waksman founded the Waksman Institute of Microbiology at Rutgers, which continues to pioneer innovations in the field.

Rutgers Timeline

The “Rutgers through the Years” timeline is a chronology of significant events at Rutgers, from the 1700s to the present. Learn more.

Our Study in Scarlet

Our Study in Scarlet

Scarlet is the official color of Rutgers University. In 1869, the Daily Targum, the student newspaper, first proposed that warm, exciting hue represent the school.

At the time, the use of school colors was little known in the U.S., making Rutgers a pioneer in establishing a college color, according to William H.S. Demarest, class of 1883 and Rutgers’ president (1906–1924).

Orange, a color associated with Holland, had been an early choice, but orange ribbon proved hard to come by. So “scarlet was then proposed, chiefly no doubt because it is a striking color and because a good scarlet ribbon could be had.”

Chartered in 1766 as all-male Queen’s College in New Brunswick, New Jersey, the school was renamed Rutgers College in 1825 in honor of trustee and Revolutionary War veteran Colonel Henry Rutgers.

In the mid-19th century, Congress established the nation’s land-grant colleges in response to the Industrial Revolution. In 1864, Rutgers prevailed over Princeton to become New Jersey’s land-grant institution, tasked with offering educational access to a wider range of students who would be the new workforce for America’s expanding businesses, factories, and farms.

The Modern University

Access for women arrived in 1918, when the New Jersey College for Women (now Douglass Residential College) was founded. In 1945 and 1956, state legislative acts designated Rutgers as The State University of New Jersey, a public institution. The University of Newark (now Rutgers–Newark) joined Rutgers in 1946, followed by the College of South Jersey (now Rutgers–Camden) in 1950, which gave Rutgers a statewide presence.

In 1989, Rutgers was invited to join the Association of American Universities, making Rutgers one of the top 61 research universities in North America. Today, with more than 58,000 students, Rutgers is one of the largest and most diverse public research universities in the nation.

A Legacy of Innovation

Rutgers has a long history of innovation, knowledge, and leadership in New Jersey and beyond. Enjoy this nationally aired television spot that highlights some key moments from our past.

Explore Rutgers History

These resources will introduce you to many of Rutgers’ storied people, places, events, and traditions. We’ve been around for more than 240 years, so get busy. There is a lot of history to cover.

Academic with a Rich Past

Discover how some of Rutgers’ outstanding schools, academic departments, and research centers got their start.