The song “Happy Birthday” is known and beloved by untold millions of children worldwide. Now, a charitable foundation established by the family that held the copyright to those iconic lyrics has endowed a graduate fellowship to support Ph.D. students enrolled in the childhood studies program at Rutgers–Camden. The David K. Sengstack Foundation, based in Princeton, donated $750,000 to launch the David K. Sengstack Endowed Graduate Fellowship. The fellowship will seek to attract and support “the best and brightest graduate students” from across the nation to study childhood while pursuing their doctoral degrees at Rutgers–Camden in the nation’s very first Ph.D. program in this burgeoning scholarly discipline.
Supporting Rutgers
There are many ways to support Rutgers, from donations of time and money, to advocacy directed at elected officials, to simply speaking with enthusiasm and authority to colleagues, friends, and family about all that Rutgers has to offer. Learn more about how you can support Rutgers.
Giving to Rutgers: The Rutgers University Foundation
The sole mission of the Rutgers University Foundation is to raise money to support Rutgers and help it attain excellence in education, research, and public service. This is accomplished by building relationships with alumni, parents, friends, corporations, foundations, and other supporters and matching their interests to Rutgers’ priorities, as set forth by university leadership. Make a gift today.
Speaking on Behalf of Rutgers
In formal settings and informal gatherings alike, Rutgers is a topic of interest to many stakeholders and members of the general public. Learn more about university perspectives on current issues and initiatives, and speak with authority on where Rutgers stands.
Alumni Volunteer Opportunities
From mentoring undergraduates to organizing food drives, there are many ways alumni volunteers can use their time and good ideas to support Rutgers and its initiatives. The Rutgers University Alumni Association is the place to start learning about how you can volunteer for Rutgers.
Ensuring a Great Undergraduate Start
Alumnus Jack Bryne, 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.