Sandy Stewart CCAS’81, GSC’87, the first Rutgers University–Camden graduate to chair the Rutgers Board of Governors

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Photography: 
Nick Romanenko

During the summer, Sandy Stewart, the first Rutgers University–Camden graduate to chair the Rutgers Board of Governors, was elected to a second term. The distinction is a fitting acknowledgement of his volunteer work at the university and involvement on its boards since 2006. Stewart CCAS’81, GSC’87, a committed philanthropist, has a long history of giving to Rutgers. Most recently, he made a $2.5 million bequest intention—the Sandy J. Stewart Equipment and Instruments Endowed Fund—which will provide Rutgers–Camden students with the equipment used in leading labs and give them an advantage in finding employment. Stewart hopes the bequest will change the lives of students the way that Rutgers–Camden changed his own. As an undergraduate, Stewart was influenced by immunology professor Henry Stempen, whose lab he once offered to clean. Stempen eventually invited Stewart to conduct experiments, and his protégé made a discovery about fungi and how they attach to corn leaves; the two coauthored a paper on the finding. Stewart, who received both his undergraduate and graduate degrees in biology, began his own successful career at Novartis Pharmaceuticals and went on to found several biotech companies.