News From the Board of Governors: June 2025
Board Elects Amy L. Towers as Chair, James F. Dougherty as Vice Chair
Amy L. Towers has been elected to a second one-year term as chair of the Rutgers University Board of Governors.
The board also elected James F. Dougherty as vice chair at the June 17, 2025, board meeting. The terms begin July 1, 2025.
Towers, appointed by Gov. Phil Murphy to the board in 2020, co-chaired the presidential search committee that culminated in the selection of William F. Tate IV as Rutgers’ 22nd president, who begins his tenure on July 1, 2025.
"I want to thank the members of the Board of Governors for their continued support and trust as we work together to lead Rutgers through these challenging times in higher education. I am honored to continue to serve as chair for a second year, especially knowing the esteemed colleagues I serve with," Towers said. "I firmly believe that Rutgers is on a strong and exciting trajectory for the future, with the impressive faculty, staff and brilliant students creating a successful Rutgers community. I look forward to working with incoming President Tate and his administration to build upon Rutgers' national rankings and reputation as one of the country's preeminent public academic research institutions of higher learning."
Read the full release.
Legacy Professorship Named for Groundbreaking Rutgers Ecologist
The Rutgers University Board of Governors voted to approve a legacy professorship named for School of Environmental and Biological Sciences (SEBS) Distinguished Professor Joanna Burger, who has been a groundbreaking force in the field of behavioral ecology.
From her early post-doctoral work studying brown-hooded gulls in the remote pampas of Argentina to long-term field studies across New Jersey, her career has been defined by fearless exploration, scientific rigor, and a deep commitment to understanding the natural world.
“When I came to Rutgers in the early 1970s, there were few women in the sciences,” Burger said. “But I found a home here—an academic environment where I could teach, publish, and follow the science wherever it led.”
Read the full release.
Faculty Appointments
The Rutgers Board of Governors today approved several faculty appointments, including Wanda J. Blanchett as University Professor; John Keene as Board of Governors Professor of English; Kenneth G. Miller as Board of Governors Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences; Nancy Yunhwa Rao as Board of Governors Professor of Music; Norman Rasmus Swanson as James Cullen Chair in Economics; and Ann A. O’Connell as the Charles A. DeMarzo and Keith N. Lamb Endowed Chair in Educational Equity.
Read the full release.
New Degrees Established
Rutgers University Board of Governors approved two new degree programs, providing students with new opportunities in the fields of education and public health.
The new degrees are:
- Bachelor of arts in elementary and early childhood education at the School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers-Newark; and
- Master of Science in sustainability and health at the School of Public Health at Rutgers Health.
The program at Rutgers-Newark was created to equip future teachers to address the needs of diverse student populations in early childhood and elementary settings.
The master’s degree at the School of Public Health is designed to equip students with the necessary skills to successfully work in the sustainability field and pursue a wide range of careers in the public and private sectors.
On June 3, the Committee on Academic and Student Affairs reviewed both proposals and recommended their approval to the Board of Governors.
