Use the links on the left to access news about faculty, students,
centers, recent press releases and reports issued by the school
and its related research centers. Please feel free to contact those
individuals listed within each document for additional information
on a particular issue. For information on a topic not listed here
or for general inquiries, please contact Rick Remington, at remingr@rci.rutgers.edu or (732) 932-6812 x552
October 2009
Heldrich Center/ Georgetown Study Finds U.S. Producing Steady Supply of Scientists, Engineers
Contrary to longstanding fears among educators and employers, American students have demonstrated strong interest over the past three decades in science and math, with many choosing careers in science and engineering, according to a new study released by Dr. Hal Salzman, senior faculty fellow at the Heldrich Center, and Dr. B. Lindsay Lowell of Georgetown University. Entitled "Steady as She Goes? Three Generations of Students through the Science and Engineering Pipeline," the study was funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. To learn more, visit the Heldrich Center website | Business Week article
October 2009
Bloustein School, SEBS Launch Sustainable Raritan River Initiative
The Bloustein School and the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences (SEBS) announced the creation of the Sustainable Raritan River Initiative, an effort to restore and protect the Raritan River through a public/private stewardship. To learn more, click here
October 2009
National Science Foundation Awards $3.2 Million Clean Energy Grant to Rutgers, Bloustein School
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a five-year grant to a Rutgers team, including the Bloustein School, to research renewable and sustainable fuels, and conduct educational exchange programs between the U.S. and South Africa, Brazil and China. Valued at up to $3.2 million, the grant will support doctoral students, including those who study policy, planning and economic issues, related to clean energy.
The grants are funded under the NSF’s five-year Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) program, which supports scientists and engineers who pursue doctorates in fields that cross academic disciplines and have broad societal impact. IGERT programs also support training for underrepresented minorities in order to enhance diversity in the science and engineering workforce.
The Bloustein team is led by one of the co-principal investigators, Frank Felder, who is the director of the Center for Energy, Economic & Environmental Policy, and also includes Professor Robert Noland, director of the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center. The Bloustein School will be responsible for policy and logistics, one of four areas of focus in the multi-disciplinary program. Approximately 20 PhD students, starting in their second year of study, will be supported by IGERT fellowships as they progress through the program. Each student’s PhD committee will also include cross-disciplinary faculty representation. .
October 2009
First Members Inducted into New Health Education Honor Society
The Bloustein School and Rutgers Health Services inducted the first 22 members into Epsilon Beta, the Rutgers chapter of the Eta Sigma Gamma national honor society for public health education. Epsilon Beta was created in May, making Rutgers one of 80 universities with chapters of Eta Sigma Gamma, an honor society that provides opportunities for school health education majors and graduate students to network, present papers and celebrate accomplishments. The Bloustein School’s undergraduate program and the Department of Health Services have worked together to prepare Rutgers students for a national examination to become Certified Health Education Specialists.
July 2009
Andrews Testifies Before Senate Committee on Climate Change
Professor Clinton Andrews was one of five invited witnesses who testified before the U.S. Senate Housing, Transportation and Community Development Committee on the impact of transit in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. To learn more and view his testimony, click here
April 2009
Undergraduate Public Health Program Awarded Chapter in National Honor Society
The Bloustein School's undergraduate public health policy program, in conjunction with Rutgers Health Services (Health Outreach, Promotion & Education), has been granted a chapter of Eta Sigma Gamma, the National Health Education Honor Society. Created in 1967, Eta Sigma Gamma has chapters at 80 universities, providing opportunities for school health education majors and graduate students to network, present papers and celebrate accomplishments. To learn more about Eta Sigma Gamma, visit:
Bloustein School PhD Program Captures 4th Consecutive 'Best in Nation' ACSP Award
The Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP) has awarded Ralph Buehler, who received his PhD from the Bloustein School in May, the 2008 Barclay Gibbs Jones Award for Best Dissertation in Planning. The ACSP annual award, which honors superior scholarship in a doctoral dissertation, has now been presented for the fourth consecutive year to a student from the Bloustein School’s doctoral program. Click here for the release.
June 2008
Bloustein School Jumps to #4 in New Ranking of Nation's Best Graduate Schools in Urban Planning
In an independent survey of planning professors and practitioners, current students and recent graduates, the Bloustein School placed Rutgers among the nation’s elite universities for planning and public policy. The survey was undertaken by Planetizen, a Los Angeles-based planning and development network. In Planetizen's first survey, conducted in 2006, the Bloustein School was rated 8th nationally. Click here for the release.
May 2008
Jerome Rose Teaching and Excellence in Service Awards Presented for Outstanding Achievements
The Bloustein School has presented 2008 awards for outstanding achievement to members of its faculty and staff. The 2008 Jerome Rose Teaching Excellence awards received 11 nominations and were presented to Assistant Professor Kathe Newman (Faculty), PhD Candidate Alan Cander (Teaching Assistant), and Peter Tabbot (Part-time Lecturer.) Newman was honored for teaching all of her students, whether first year undergraduates or PhD students, "with equal enthusiasm and inspiration." Cander was honored for taking on difficult assignments, such as teaching Professor Rose's Survey of Planning Law Principles, a particularly challenging course given the lack of legal background of most planning students. Tabott, a public health service officer, has taught at the Bloustein School for six years, receiving "stellar course evaluations" from his students.
Peter Tabbot, Jerome Rose, Kathe Newman, and Alan Cander
During a meeting of the Bloustein School Congress, Excellence in Service awards for the school staff were presented to:
Linda Guardabascio, Director of Business Services (Management and Supervisory)
Vice President Philip Furmanski, Arlene Pashman, Rich Bochkay, Nicole DelBuono, Tamara Swedberg, Linda Guardabascio, and Dean James W. Hughes
April 2008 Senior Fellow Martin Robins and Graduate Students Win Awards
The New Jersey Planning Officials presented 2008 Achievement in Planning
Awards Martin E. Robins, senior fellow with the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center, and the students in a graduate planning studio who helped Lindenwold create a borough vision plan. Robins was honored for his 35-year career in transportation planning and policy, including his service at the Bloustein School which began in 1998 when he founded the Voorhees Transportation Planning Institute. Robins has managed several of New Jersey's largest transit initiatives, directing projects to construct new trans-Hudson passenger rail tunnels and the Hudson Bergen Light Rail Line.
The Graduate Planning Studio created strategies and recommendations for Lindenwold to redevelop around its PATCO station area and its Gibbsboro Road apartment corridor. The planning focused on neighborhood revitalization, increasing connectivity, creating a borough gateway and building a community center. The participating students were: Amit Arora, Matthew Ellis, Afton Enger, Chris Kesici, Andrew Koziol, Charu Kukreja, Edward Leimbach, Liu Liu, Nancy Mahadeo, Rebecca Marshall, Kate Meade, Carrie McCarthy, Carrine Piccolo, Amy Sampson, Megan Saunders, Lianna Schafer, Heidi Schallberg, Katie Thielman and Ning Wang.
February 2008
Robert Curvin Joins EJB as Distinguished Senior Policy Fellow
A world-renowned expert on urban politics, economic development and social policy, Dr. Robert Curvin joined the Bloustein School in February as a Distinguished Senior Policy Fellow. He will present major lectures and take part in regularly scheduled graduate and undergraduate courses and seminars, sharing his vast experience and knowledge on public policy issues and concerns, especially in urban issues, issues of quality and equity, and philanthropy.
His first public lectures were part of a series of events this year at the Bloustein School reflecting back upon the 1967 Newark Disturbances and the resulting Governor’s Select Commission on Civil Disorders, better known as the Lilley Commission. As a Newark community activist at the time, Dr. Curvin worked to restore calm and became a forceful witness for the city's minority population before the Lilley Commission. He was a key organizer in fashioning the coalition that successfully campaigned for the election of Kenneth Gibson, the first African American mayor of Newark. He went on to join the Editorial Board of The New York Times.
Dr. Curvin graduated from Rutgers and received his MSW from the University's Graduate School of Social Work. He received his Ph.D. in politics from Princeton University. Dr. Curvin was most recently president of the Greentree Foundation; director of the Ford Foundation's Urban Poverty Program; dean of the Graduate School of Management and Urban Professions, at the New School for Social Research; associate professor of political science at Brooklyn College; community development specialist at Rutgers University; director of the Rutgers Community Action Training Program; director of the Harlem Leadership Training Institute; and a caseworker and supervisor for the Essex County Welfare Board.
In addition, he currently serves as board chair of the Fund for the City of New York, and is a member of the board of the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute. He has previously served on the boards of Channel 13, Princeton University, the RAND Corporation, the NJ Performing Arts Center, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, and Broad National Bank. Prior to attending college, he served as an officer in the 101st Airborne Artillery. He is married to Patricia Hall Curvin, a retired high school English teacher. They have two children and two grandchildren.
February 2008
Meck Takes Part in Princeton Symposium Marking Mt. Laurel Decision
Faculty Fellow Stuart Meck took part in a symposium at Princeton University marking the 25th anniversary of the New Jersey Supreme Court's Mt. Laurel ruling regarding municipal obligations to provide affordable housing. In addition, the Journal of Planning History published a paper Meck co-authored with Auburn University Assistant Professor Rebecca Retzlaff regarding a landmark New York state court decision that helped launch smart growth policy.
January 2008
Brownfields Center Welcomes Dr. Judy Shaw
Dr. Judy Shaw has joined the National Center for Brownfield and Neighborhood Redevelopment lead its program to develop sustainable neighborhood revitalization and encourage the innovative reuse of brownfields. Dr. Shaw worked previously with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Community Affairs, and is a certified member of the American Institute of Certified Planners and a licensed Professional Planner in New Jersey.
December 2007
Cliff Zukin Cliff Zukin Named Director of Public Policy
Professor Cliff Zukin in January became Director of the Public Policy Program. Dr. Zukin recently joined the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development and assisted NBC with exit poll analysis during the Super Tuesday presidential nominating primaries. He is the immediate past President of the American Association for Public Opinion Research.
November 2007
Chronicle of Higher Education Ranks Bloustein Faculty 7th in Nation
In its 2007 index of 375 universities, the Chronicle of Higher Education ranks the Urban and Regional Planning faculty at Rutgers 7th nationally for scholarly productivity. The ranking accounts for book and journal publications, citations, and grant awards. To learn more, click here
A world-renowned expert on urban politics, economic development and social policy, Dr. Robert Curvin joined the Bloustein School in February as a Distinguished Senior Policy Fellow. He will present major lectures and take part in regularly scheduled graduate and undergraduate courses and seminars, sharing his vast experience and knowledge on public policy issues and concerns, especially in urban issues, issues of quality and equity, and philanthropy.
