L-R: Francine Conway, Chancellor, Rutgers-New Brunswick; Amy Mandelbaum, Senior Program Administrator, NJAES; Peggy Brennan-Tonetta, Senior Director and Director Resource and Economic Development, NJAES; and Jacqueline McGlynn, Director of Administration, Office of the Chancellor.
On November 10, representatives from Rutgers-New Brunswick were on hand at the Association of Public Land-Grant Universities (APLU) meeting in Orlando, FL, to receive the association’s award designating Rutgers-New Brunswick an Innovation and Economic Prosperity University in recognition of its substantial and sustained commitment to economic engagement in the region.
L-R: Wendie Cohick, Dean of Research and Graduate Education at SEBS and Director of Research, NJAES; Denise Hein, Vice Provost for Research, Rutgers-New Brunswick; AJ Both, Professor and Extension Specialist at SEBS; and Peggy Brennan-Tonetta, Senior Director and Director Resource and Economic Development, NJAES.
The prestigious APLU designation, awarded to only about 80 higher education institutions in the U.S., highlights Rutgers role as an economic catalyst through transformative innovations in academic initiatives, pioneering research and impactful community outreach programs, including business incubators that have launched thousands of startups as well as technologies addressing agricultural challenges.
Megan Francis, Director of Global Engagement at SEBS, gave a presentation on International Study opportunities available to students at the school.
Valid for five years with renewal eligibility, the designation allows Rutgers–New Brunswick to apply for additional Innovation and Economic Prosperity University awards. These awards specifically commend exceptional economic engagement initiatives, potentially securing additional resources for advancing the university’s economic development endeavors.
Megan Francis, Director of Global Engagement at the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences (SEBS), gave a presentation on how globalization increases student success across the country.
AJ Both, Professor and Extension Specialist in the Department of Environmental Sciences, and colleagues on the North Central Extension and Research Activity (NCERA-101) Committee on Controlled Environment Technology and Use received the National Excellence in Multistate Research Award at the meeting. Both and Administrative Advisor Ramesh Kanwar, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering at Iowa State University, received the award on behalf of the committee from George Smith, Ag Innovations Chair and Senior Associate Dean of Research at Michigan State University, and Dr. Manjit Misra, Director USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
