Appointment of Vice President and General Counsel

October 6, 2004

Members of the Rutgers Community:

It is my pleasure to announce that Jonathan Alger has been appointed Vice President and General Counsel at Rutgers, effective January 1. He fills the vacancy created by David Scott's recent retirement as University Counsel.

Mr. Alger comes to Rutgers from the University of Michigan where, as Assistant General Counsel, he played a major role in coordinating the university's efforts in its two landmark Supreme Court admissions lawsuits (including management of the largest and most diverse amicus brief effort in Supreme Court history). A nationally recognized expert on affirmative action and diversity issues, Jon led a comprehensive review of programs in admissions, financial aid, recruitment, outreach, and retention at Michigan. Some of his areas of responsibility at the University of Michigan also included intellectual property, media rights, and distance education. He currently serves on the board of the National Association of College and University Attorneys.

Jon previously served as counsel for the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), where he worked with colleges and universities nationwide on faculty-related issues such as academic freedom, tenure, due process, and discrimination. Prior to his service at AAUP, he served as an attorney-advisor in the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, where he had a leadership role in developing and implementing policy guidance on race-targeted financial aid, racial harassment, and free speech, and received the agency's highest award in 1995.

Mr. Alger graduated with honors from Harvard Law School, and with high honors and Phi Beta Kappa from Swarthmore College.

Jonathan Alger is a deeply talented, accomplished, and committed attorney who is exceptionally well-suited to lead our university's excellent legal team. He was selected as the finest of a pool of outstanding candidates, and the members of the search committee, chaired by Karen Kavanagh, deserve our thanks for all their efforts. Jon will be a terrific addition to the administration and the university community, and I hope you will join me in welcoming him to Rutgers. For more information on his appointment, please view the press release.

Richard L. McCormick
President
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey