2000
The Rutgers University Television Network (RU-TV)
begins operation.
Rutgers becomes one of the first research institutions to connect to Internet2,
the next generation of the Internet.
The Rutgers Women's
Basketball Team makes the 2000 NCAA Final Four.
2001
Historian David Levering Lewis wins his second
Pulitzer Prize.
The Rutgers–Camden Community Park and
Campbell's Field baseball stadium open on the Camden waterfront.
2002
Ceremonies mark the anniversary of the September
11 terrorist attacks.
Leadership transition and presidential
search conclude.
Pharmacy school
is renamed in honor of Ernest Mario.
2003
Richard L. McCormick is inaugurated as the 19th president of Rutgers University.
Coproduced by Rutgers, the IMAX film Volcanoes of the Deep Sea airs around the world.
Evelyn M. Witkin, Barbara McClintock professor emerita, is named by President George W. Bush as a recipient of the National Medal of Science in biological sciences, the nation’s highest science and engineering honor.
The Thomas A. Edison Papers project marks the halfway point in publishing the inventor’s papers.
With scores of nascent businesses benefiting from Rutgers services and support, the Rutgers–Camden Business Incubator helps to reinvent the city of Camden as a fertile ground for business growth.
2004
University commencement returns to historic Voorhees Mall.
Math professor Stephen Greenfield is named the 2004 New Jersey Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. It is one of the nation's most prestigious awards for undergraduate teaching. Over the years, Professor Greenfield has tailored inspiring math courses for students in the liberal arts, business, and life sciences, as well as regularly incorporating recent mathematical discoveries into his undergraduate course offerings.
The Rutgers Campaign raises $615 million, surpassing a $500 million goal.
With Rutgers–Newark now known for its diversity, the university commemorates the 35th anniversary of the takeover of Conklin Hall by the Black Organization of Students.
2005
The Dalai Lama charms and inspires an audience of 36,000 at Rutgers Stadium.
Rutgers–Camden’s LEAP Academy marks a milestone by moving into the LEAP University High School, Camden’s first new school construction in 30 years.
Rhodes Scholar and entrepreneur Randal Pinkett wins on NBC’s The Apprentice.
World-renowned spinal cord injury researcher Wise Young is named one of Esquire magazine’s “Best and Brightest of 2005.”
The Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-CAM), an independent nonprofit based in Cambodia, makes its U.S. home at Rutgers–Newark, bringing invaluable material from the Khmer Rouge era to the campus.
2006
Professor of English Barry V. Qualls is named New Jersey Professor of the Year.
The university approves President Richard L. McCormick’s plan to reinvigorate undergraduate education at the New Brunswick Campus—a far-reaching initiative covering virtually every aspect of undergraduate learning and life. A single School of Arts and Sciences is established for all liberal arts undergraduates, while Cook College is renamed the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences.
The Rutgers–Camden women’s softball team wins the NCAA Division III National Championship.
The School of Public Affairs and Administration, the first new school to be established at Rutgers–Newark in over 20 years, welcomes its first students.
The Scarlet Knights ignite football fever at Rutgers—and beyond—with a historic season.
In December, the university launches the new Rutgers Visual Identity System as part of a multiyear effort to clarify and promote a strong, positive image for the university.
2007
The Scarlet Knights women's basketball team wows the nation, capturing the Big East Tournament title and achieving the team's first-ever trip to the NCAA championship game. Later the women are lauded for their grace and dignity as they face the national spotlight following racist comments by radio host Don Imus.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awards the 2007 Crafoord Prize in biosciences to Robert Trivers, professor of anthropology and biological sciences. The Crafoord Prize is widely regarded as biology's equivalent of the Nobel Prize.
The first entering class of the new School of Arts and Sciences in New Brunswick arrives in the fall.
The Rutgers University Cell and DNA Repository—the world's leading repository of samples supporting genetics research on the causes of complex diseases—receives a $7.8 million grant from the Simons Foundation to study genetic mutations and autism.
2008
The inaugural class of Rutgers Future Scholars—200 eighth graders from Newark, Camden, New Brunswick, and Piscataway—comes to campus for enrichment activities. Those who complete the five-year precollege program and apply successfully to Rutgers can look forward to a tuition-free Rutgers education.
Four outstanding Rutgers undergraduate students are named Gates Scholars.
Rutgers–Newark marks its centennial with a year of festivities, capped by a gala celebration.
Rutgers alumnus Junot Díaz wins the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.
Rutgers' Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation leads a $25.5 million federal project to monitor bridge and elevated roadway performance, and to guide state and federal agencies in optimizing the use of funds for upgrades and repairs.
2009
The first-ever Rutgers Day brings 50,000 visitors to the New Brunswick Campus.
Rutgers Business School–Newark and New Brunswick welcomes students and faculty to its new state-of-the-art headquarters at One Washington Park in Newark. Standout features include a Times Square-like news ticker scrolling across the outside, a real-time trading room, and a rooftop sustainable garden.
The Scarlet Knight makes history as the first underwater robot glider to cross the Atlantic. Its journey from New Jersey to Spain—culminating years of work by a Rutgers-led team—is followed closely by marine scientists and enthusiasts worldwide. The glider's sensors collect critical information about undersea conditions.
Rutgers opens a seven-acre solar energy farm, one of the largest renewable energy systems on a single campus in the country. The 1.4 megawatt facility generates 11 percent of the electrical demand of the Livingston Campus.
Legendary Scarlet Knights head women's basketball coach C. Vivian Stringer is enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
