Rutgers–New Brunswick
Laureate Program

The Rutgers–New Brunswick Laureate Program is a yearly faculty distinction established to elevate the arts and humanities at Rutgers–New Brunswick. Each year, a new laureate is designated and empowered to foster deeper connections with faculty across disciplines while increasing engagement with the arts and humanities within the broader community. The laureate's work is a vital component of the Academic Master Plan in support of its Scholarly Leadership and Community Engagement pillars.

Meet the 2025-2026 Laureate About the Program

Introducing the Inaugural Rutgers–New Brunswick Laureate

Sue Huang is the Rutgers–New Brunswick Laureate for the 2025-2026 academic year. She is an assistant professor of Art & Design at the Mason Gross School of the Arts, with research specialties in ecological intimacies, human/nonhuman relations, and speculative futures. Her primary methodologies employ computational processes, performance, and cross-disciplinary approaches that bridge the arts and sciences. Her recent research has focused on multimedia performance as a means of deepening understanding of ecological relationships and scientific inquiry. This work has been presented at The Tech Interactive IMAX with SynBioBeta in San Jose and MAXmachina in New York, and is forthcoming at the 2025 BDC Summit, hosted at the Titus Theater at MoMA in New York.
 
Her laureate project, Bodies of Flora, will explore botanical loss and the potential for resurrecting vanished flora within the cultural imagination through performance. As a work of interdisciplinary research and creativity, the project invites collaboration between multiple units at Rutgers–New Brunswick: the Mason Gross School of the Arts’ Department of Art & Design, and the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences’ Chrysler Herbarium and Department of Plant Biology.

Bodies of Flora explores the resurrection of botanical species that have vanished from New Jersey’s regional ecologies due to human activity and climate change. Using emerging AI technologies to generate 3D forms, the project processes archival materials and dried specimens from the Chrysler Herbarium to reconstruct these disappeared botanicals as virtual models and sculptural instruments—reviving them within the cultural imagination through performance. This image shows reconstructions of a seed from silphium—the first species whose extinction was documented in historical records.

View Professor Huang's Profile

About the Program

The Laureate Program will support faculty in advancing their scholarly and creative work in the visual, performing, and literary arts as well as the humanities. Each laureate’s work will focus on a general theme such as climate change, artificial intelligence, or immigration.  
 
These themes will be announced during the fall term for the upcoming academic year and will be explored over a three-year cycle. In the first two years, the laureate will be selected from among Rutgers–New Brunswick faculty. In the third year, an external laureate will be appointed to build on and enhance the work accomplished during the previous two years.

...The arts and humanities will take a leading role in bringing together the campus and New Brunswick communities and in fulfilling the goals of the Academic Master Plan.

Francine Conway, Ph.D.

Chancellor, Rutgers–New Brunswick

Additionally, the themes may be expanded to involve the entire campus community, connecting the laureate's work to the broader university, highlighting the important role the arts and humanities play in shaping the world around us.

Participation in the program offers faculty meaningful opportunities for professional growth, dedicated time for focus on scholarship and creative activity, and increased impact within the Rutgers–New Brunswick community and beyond.

Laureates will be eligible for a half-time course release and may request funds up to $20,000 in support of their efforts throughout the academic year during which they hold the laureate title.

Proposal Guidelines

Eligible candidates who wish to be considered for the Rutgers–New Brunswick Laureate should submit a proposal with the following components.

• Project Narrative: Provide a detailed narrative (1–2 pages) outlining the work you intend to pursue during the Laureate year. Demonstrate how your proposed work will foster interdisciplinary collaboration and engage the wider Rutgers–New Brunswick campus and New Brunswick communities.
• Budget Proposal: Include a detailed line-item budget (up to $20,000) to support the execution of your project.
• Dean’s Endorsement: Provide a formal endorsement from the dean (or designate) of your primary school.

Proposals will be assessed on the merit of the proposed work and consideration of interdisciplinary collaboration and community engagement. They will be reviewed by the Office of the Provost in consultation with faculty members who possess expertise in the arts and humanities. Notifications will be made in late February or early March.