On Tuesday, December 2, 2014, retired faculty of the School and Experiment Station/RCE will gather in the main dining room of the University Inn and Conference Center for one of the favorite traditions of the year: the annual Retired Faculty Luncheon, hosted by Executive Dean Bob Goodman. The festivities start at 11:30 a.m. The event is open to current faculty and staff and alumni. Be sure to be there... and to register before November 25, 2014.

"In the early 1860s Rutgers College was in the doldrums," writes biographer Jean Wilson Sidar. "An ailing and aging president, apathetic alumni, and a lack of support ... made the college an unlikely place for a dynamic change of direction and growth." Due to the Civil War, the entire institution was reduced in size from 164 students in 1861 to 64 in 1864. For George Hammell Cook, perhaps the college's most prominent and industrious faculty member, "the situation was one of great concern," Sidar writes with great understatement.

However, the scene was set for a remarkable reinvigoration of Rutgers, led by Cook and colleague David Murray as they secured for Rutgers the designation as New Jersey's land-grant institution. The story of how this came about and the indefatigable commitment of Cook was the subject of a 150th anniversary celebration at the Executive Dean's Distinguished Lecture a few weeks ago, presented with scores of historic illustrations by Thomas Frusciano, University archivist. The video is available for viewing on the Discovery website. See how Cook "brought new vitality and a new commitment to the college." View the video.

Exactly 50 years after securing New Jersey's land-grant designation, the forerunner to the Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics was founded. One of its first impacts on the agricultural community in New Jersey was to help farmers cope with the newly-instituted federal personal income tax. As Department Chair Paul Gottlieb described it, "Without good records on their costs of production, farmers couldn't calculate their income, and they might wind up paying too much. The first Rutgers economists helped farmers with this new bookkeeping problem."

Alumni, current and former faculty, staff and guests of the department attended a celebration in November, including a panel discussion of "Agricultural and Resource Economics in the 21st Century," followed by a dinner and networking. Read more and visit the photo gallery.

December 2, 2014 - Retired Faculty Luncheon, University Inn and Conference Center
December 3, 2014 - Kids: Cooking, Learning, and Eating, Douglass Student Center
December 23, 2014 - Winter Recess Begins

March  3, 2015 - Save the Date: Big 10 Ag Alumni Reception in Washington, DC
                            (details in the January/February Discovery Newsletter)