Rutgers University. Office of the President.

Robert Clothier's vision of growth and development for Rutgers coincided with the Depression and war years. State appropriations were drastically reduced during the early 1930s and private gifts were not forthcoming. He nonetheless encouraged a "friendly and understanding" relationship with the state and embarked on an expansion program. In 1935 he announced the acquisition of a 256-acre tract immediately across the Raritan River. The River Road Campus, as it was called at the time, soon featured playing fields for intramural and intercollegiate athletic programs, a 22,000-seat stadium, the Chemistry Building, a faculty village and a housing development for married students. By the 1940s, the University had acquired buildings along Georges Road for the College of Agriculture, buildings on College Avenue, and the President's House on River Road. It had constructed an annex to the Engineering Building, and transformed the Neilson Campus, now known as Voorhees Mall.

During the early years of Clothier's presidency, the curriculum was strengthened and new programs were added. The Graduate Faculty was formed in May 1932, two years later University College was established, and the following year the first graduate school of banking was initiated with the collaboration of the American Bankers Association. In March 1936, the Rutgers University Press was founded. Additional programs begun during Dr. Clothier's first decade included the Bureau of Biological Research, the Rutgers Research Council, the State Scholarship Program, and the departments of personnel and placement, alumni, and public relations.

...