At 100, Bob Busse might well be R-N’s oldest alum.
Many happy returns to R-N alum Bob Busse, University of Newark, Class of 1938, who turned 100 on June 15. He is believed to be the oldest alumnus of the Newark campus! Family and friends in Fort Worth, Texas, honored him last month with a celebration fitting a century’s worth of accomplishments.
As evidenced by his photo, Bob is one of the most loyal R-N grads and loves to keep up with the latest R-N news. His loyalty has included regular donations to Rutgers in memory of his favorite professor, George Esterly, for whom the Esterly Lounge in Engelhard Hall is named.
Things on campus have changed quite a bit since Bob began college as a night student in 1931. Back then, he took a nickel trolley ride from his home in Verona to the Seth Boyden School of Business, a predecessor to what is now named the Rutgers Business School-Newark and New Brunswick. He took all of his classes in the former Ballantine brewery on Rector Street, majoring in accounting. Bob played on the newly formed men’s basketball team and acted with the Mummers, a student theater group. He also was president of the local business fraternity, Phi Sigma Beta. (Recently the fraternity honored Bob with the Order of the Diamond Helmet for 75 years of service. He and his daughter Laurie Rosenblatt share the honor of being Phi Sigma Beta’s only father-daughter members.)
After graduation, Bob enjoyed a productive career with Burroughs Corp. (now Unisys), a manufacturer and marketer of business machines, for nearly four decades. He has been active in the Rotary and also raised about $2.5 million for the Special Olympics over more than three decades, through an annual golf tournament that was renamed in his honor.
Congratulations to a loyal son of Rutgers!
Editor's Note: Bob Busse passed away in spring 2014 a few weeks shy of his 101st birthday.
