Alumnus Jack Byrne, Rutgers College 1954, is a star of the insurance business who, among many other successes, engineered the rebirth of GEICO some 30 years ago. He is also a loyal supporter of Rutgers who recently underwrote a program for undergraduates that is helping first-year students gain a real appreciation for what it means to learn at a research university.
Now called the Byrne Family First-Year Seminar Program, these seminars are 1-credit, elective, academic courses designed and taught by distinguished Rutgers faculty members. Class size is limited to 20 students. The seminars introduce first-year students to cutting-edge research conducted at Rutgers in all fields, from molecular biology to classics, from computer science to Asian culture. Derived from hotly debated issues in national and international news as well as from the quieter discoveries of the scholar, the seminars revolve around each professor’s current work and are a gateway to a wider world of ideas for new students.