The Rutgers University Alumni Federation (RUAF) (predecessor to the current Rutgers University Alumni Association, or RUAA) and Rutgers’ Alumni Relations Department have honored the Livingston Alumni Association with these awards:
The Rutgers University Alumni Association’s Meritorious Service Award (also known as the Scarlet Oak Award) recognizes an alumnus/a who has exceeded expectations in his or her role as a volunteer and who has served as a model for all volunteers in the Rutgers community. This award was previously given by the Rutgers University Alumni Federation.
The following Livingston College alumni have been recognized with the Meritorious Service Award:
| 1986 Awardee Amos Danube, LC’72, GSNB’75 (died in 2001) |
1990 Awardee Christopher Berzinski, LC’80, GSNB’82 |
2002 Awardee Jeffrey M. Isaacs, LC’84 |
2007 Awardee Michael T. Beachem, LC’73, GSED ’78, ’84 |
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| 2007 Awardee Jason Goldstein, LC’02, RBS’05 |
2011 Awardee Saskia Agustin, LC’04, SPAA’10 |
2011 Awardee Marty Siederer, LC’77 |
2013 Awardee Katty Rivera, LC’04, GSE’09 |
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In 1987, the Rutgers Hall of Distinguished Alumni (HDA) was created to recognize alumni who, through their remarkable achievements in professional and civic life, have brought honor to themselves and the university. The Rutgers University Alumni Association (RUAA) honors their achievements at the annual Rutgers Hall of Distinguished Alumni Awards. Browse through the complete online directory of past honorees.
Pictured at right, at the Rutgers University HDA dinner, May 1, 2004: Livingston Alumni Association President Yash V. Dalal (LC’92), inductee Edward M. Jordan, Rutgers University President Richard L. McCormick, Livingston College Dean Arnold G. Hyndman and inductee Clifton R. Lacy.
The following Livingston College alumni have been named to the Rutgers Hall of Distinguished Alumni:
| 1993 Inductee AVERY F. BROOKS (LC’73, MGSA’76) |
2004 Inductee EDWARD M. JORDAN (SMLR’15) |
2004 Inductee CLIFTON R. LACY (LC’75, RWJMS’79) |
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| Actor; Director; Singer; Professor, Mason Gross School of the Arts |
Rutgers Men’s Basketball Head Coach (2013-2016) and Player (1973-1977) (Originally scheduled to graduate from LC in 1977) |
Medical Leader; New Jersey State Health Commissioner |
| 2010 Inductee GREGORY Q. BROWN (LC’82) |
2014 Inductee HARVEY M. SCHWARTZ (LC’87) |
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| Rutgers Board of Governors Chair; Business Leader (Hosted the 2013 HDA celebration) |
Rutgers Board of Governors Member; Business Leader |
The Loyal Sons and Loyal Daughters of Rutgers, honored by the Rutgers Alumni Association (RAA), are individuals who have made a meaningful and long-standing commitment to the betterment of Rutgers University by exemplifying extraordinary alumni service or by making a significant impact on University life and culture.
Nominations are made by existing Loyal Sons and Daughters, and the finalists are named by a special selection committee. Founded in 1831, the RAA is the nation’s fourth-oldest alumni association, serving 200,000 alumni at Rutgers’ New Brunswick/Piscataway campus.
The following Livingston College alumni have been named as Loyal Sons and Loyal Daughters:
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Photo: Livingston College alumni celebrate the induction of Michael T. Beachem (rear center) as a Rutgers Loyal Son on April 13, 2013. Front (l-r): Michele Ostrowski, Rosemary Agrista, Iris Martinez-Campbell and Langston Campbell, Jr. Rear (l-r): Marty Siederer, Eric Schwarz, Michael Beachem and Jason Goldstein.
Livingston and Rutgers faculty, staff, alumni and friends paid tribute to Edward G. Ortiz, one of the pioneering professors in the beginnings and development of Livingston College, at a memorial program on December 2, 2010, at the Brower Commons, College Avenue Campus, in New Brunswick. (View photos from the memorial.)
In May 2009 the Livingston Alumni Association (LAA) honored Professor Ortiz with the Livingston Legacy Award in recognition of the key role he played in the establishment and growth of Livingston College and its mission, and contributions to the overall Rutgers and global communities.
The LAA named Ortiz as an Honorary Alumnus in April 1994.
The memorial program was sponsored by Friends of Ed Ortiz, The Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, The Rutgers Center for Latino Arts and Culture, The Rutgers Vice President’s Office for Academic and Public Partnerships, and the Livingston Alumni Association. Ortiz died on March 13, 2010.
Melanie Davila was selected as the recipient of the 2013 Riki Jacobs Livingston Pride Award, given by the Livingston Alumni Association (LAA) of Rutgers University. [Read her winning essay.]
Davila, of Hackettstown, N.J., graduated from Rutgers University’s School of Arts and Sciences in May 2013 with a degree in genetics, with minors in public health and nutrition.
In June 2013 Davila headed to rural Xerem, Brazil, as a volunteer with the organization Casa do Caminho for six months. This organization supports an orphanage, community center, organic farm and language school. Before leaving for Brazil, Davila said her main duties would be orphanage-related and involve providing close supervision for children ages 4 to 12, planning activities that foster personal growth for the children, offering educational support/tutoring, and providing English lessons. She also planned to tend the organic farm a few times a week.
Some highlights of Davila’s college career included:
Marty Siederer, LAA past president, recognized Melanie as the Pride Award winner Tuesday, May 7, 2013, at the ROSCARs student life awards. Davila also was recognized at the LAA’s annual meeting on Saturday, May 18, 2013.
“Livingston College was an innovator in a number of areas, such as developing student leadership and social action programs, and for being the birthplace of a number of Rutgers SAS major fields of student such as computer sciences, women’s studies and philosophy,” Siederer told the audience in presenting the award to Davila.
“One of the most innovative graduates from Livingston was Riki Jacobs, who was a guiding light in the fight against HIV/AIDS in New Jersey for more than 25 years. She was an articulate and compassionate voice who was highly respected for her efforts to ensure health care access for those living with, infected with, and affected by HIV. Under Riki’s direction, the Hyacinth AIDS Foundation in New Brunswick became the only organization in New Jersey with a public policy and community organizing staff dedicated to protecting the rights and benefits of people living with HIV/AIDS in New Jersey. In earlier jobs, she advocated for laws impacting victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.”
Bottom photo: Melanie Davila (Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences, 2013), third left, is congratulated as the winner of the 2013 Riki Jacobs Livingston Pride Award, by LAA past president Marty Siederer, left, and 2013 president Jason Goldstein, second left, and her family, at the Livingston Student Center, Saturday, May 18, 2013.
Matthew P. Cortland, a 2011 graduate of Rutgers’ School of Arts and Sciences-New Brunswick, earned a coveted George J. Mitchell Scholarship to do a year of graduate study in Ireland or Northern Ireland. In 2014 he studied mobile, tablet, and dynamic web application design at the Dublin Institute of Technology in Ireland’s capital city. He was also Rutgers’ first Luce Scholar, studying in Taiwan from 2011 to 2013.
Cortland, a native of Marlton, New Jersey, was the 2011 recipient of the Riki Jacobs Livingston Pride Award given by the Livingston Alumni Association (LAA) of Rutgers University. The LAA presented the Pride Award to Cortland on May 14, 2011, as part of the Distinguished Alumni and Livingston Legacy Awards ceremony.
Read more about Cortland from Rutgers Today.
Photo of Matthew Cortland courtesy of Henry Luce Foundation.
Amy Tran, SAS ’12, was the recipient of the 2012 Riki Jacobs Livingston Pride award, given by the Livingston Alumni Association of Rutgers University. At Rutgers, Amy majored in cell biology and neurology, and was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society. At the time of the award, Amy was active in the Rutgers Vietnamese Student Association and Operation Smile, and she mentored tenth-graders at Piscataway High School.
Marty Siederer, LAA past president, recognized Amy as the Pride Award winner May 1, 2012, at the ROSCARs student award ceremony. (See photo.)
The LAA also recognized Amy at its annual meeting on Saturday, May 12, 2012.
In 2012 students clamored to live in the then-new apartment buildings on the Livingston campus. The surrounding Livingston Plaza includes a movie theater, retail space and fitness centers.
Continue reading Livingston Campus Apartments Set New Housing Standards at Rutgers
The Plaza — a retail center that includes a movie theater, nail salon and a host of restaurants on Livingston campus — opened in January 2013.