Meet Chancellor Conway

I was a first-generation student. My very first teacher, when I was a little girl in Guyana, didn’t have room for me. There were literally not enough seats in the open-air classroom in front of her house. So my grandmother built me a seat—a little bench that I carried each day on the dirt road to school. For me, that bench became a symbol of determination, access, and the transformative power of education. I went on to earn degrees at Cornell, Columbia, and Adelphi, to become a practicing child psychologist, a professor and dean, and now the chancellor of one of America’s top research universities.

Our role as higher ed administrators is to build more benches—to make a world-class education accessible and affordable to all students who qualify. We are in the business of unlocking human potential, producing knowledge that elevates society, and creating partnerships that strengthen the communities we serve.

We define our institutional success by the success of our students. Our graduation rate exceeds the national average by 20 percentage points, and 84% of our 2024 graduates reported positive career outcomes within six months—with a median salary of $70,000.

What’s even more meaningful is that our first-generation students and Pell grant recipients achieve these outcomes on par with their peers. We’re not just the #15 top public university in the nation; we also rank #36 nationwide for social mobility. That’s not by accident. It’s the result of a deliberate focus on providing students with strong support systems—proactive academic advising, targeted financial aid, health and wellness resources, and more—that help them stay on track for on-time graduation with minimal debt. Student success means helping students find their purpose and graduate prepared to thrive in a rapidly changing world.

When students engage in hands-on learning—research in our state-of-the-art labs, internships in industries they find interesting, civic engagement, and global exploration—they activate skills that don’t always get a full workout in the classroom. Rutgers–New Brunswick offers a wide spectrum of experiential learning opportunities. But now, inspired by our Discovery Advantage reimagining of the student experience, we are creating more of these high-impact opportunities and making them more accessible by removing financial and logistical barriers that may prevent students from making the most of them. Because these experiences don’t just prepare students for meaningful careers. They help them discover who they want to be in the world.

I pointed out in a recent op-ed that universities excel at training students to solve complex problems—but we must also teach them to listen deeply, hold space for disagreement, and practice curiosity. In fact, academic achievement relies on emotional and psychological well-being. That’s why we launched ScarletWell, a public health and prevention-focused approach that includes mental health support, wellness education, and community engagement. We are funding grassroots wellness projects, training staff to become peer supporters, and creating an interdisciplinary minor in holistic wellness.

We are also partnering with the State of New Jersey, and a $1.87 million grant from the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education, to expand on our already extensive mental health services. Our new Basic Needs Center ensures that students in need can find food, housing, and other emergency resources under one roof. These real-world strategies empower students to focus on their academic journeys and achieve their highest goals.

Rutgers–New Brunswick is New Jersey’s anchor institution and economic catalyst. We are “Here for Good,” and we take that civic responsibility seriously. Our New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station is embedded in every county. Our innovation centers support entrepreneurship in food systems, clean energy, aquaculture, and more. In 2023 our New Jersey Small Business Development Centers facilitated more than $1.95 billion in sales revenues, assisted 6,499 established businesses, helped 361 clients launch new businesses, and supported the creation or retention of more than 8,000 jobs. We are an APLU-recognized Innovation and Economic Prosperity University—one of about 80 institutions nationwide with this designation that recognizes how we combine research, economic development, and public service to strengthen the state.

We are meeting a growing need with innovative, community-driven solutions. Our Brandt Behavioral Health Treatment Center and Retreat is New Jersey’s only facility of its kind that is backed by an academic health leader. It integrates our research expertise with community service to provide outpatient treatment for adolescents and young adults—while also training the next generation of behavioral health professionals. And through our ScarletWell initiative, we’ve convened more than 125 community and school organizations for an annual wellness summit, offering grant funding to seed new behavioral health programs statewide. Partnerships like these make high-quality care more available while a pipeline of well-trained professionals to serve future generations.

Rutgers–New Brunswick bears the proud distinction of being a Research 1 institution that advances knowledge and drives real-world impact. Our incredible faculty have built a worldwide reputation for leading the way in climate science, clean energy, data science, and health innovation. The Rutgers Climate and Energy Institute, the RAD Collaboratory for AI and data science, and the Offshore Wind Energy Collaborative are just a few signature initiatives addressing urgent global issues. Our faculty have developed nearly 900 active technologies. From sustainable materials to CO2 conversion to deepfake detection, our research is transforming industries and preparing students to lead the next wave of innovation.

Our priorities are grounded in the four pillars of the Rutgers–New Brunswick Academic Master Plan: scholarly leadership, innovative research, student success, and community engagement. In a time of public reflection about the value of higher education, we are demonstrating that an excellent public land-grant university provides tangible value and a solid return on investment for students, families, communities, and the state. We are working with industry to build a forward-focused curriculum that is both rigorous and relevant—conducive to successful careers and fulfilled lives.

Our goal is to ensure that every student who enters our vibrant community will feel welcomed and valued, and will graduate ready to succeed—and to ensure that we create new knowledge that strengthens our communities and world.