Douglass Residential College, is an undergraduate, non degree granting higher education program of Rutgers University-New Brunswick for women. It succeeded the liberal arts degree-granting Douglass College after it was merged with the other undergraduate liberal arts colleges at Rutgers-New Brunswick to form the School of Arts and Sciences in 2007. Originally named the New Jersey College for Women when founded in 1918 as a degree granting college, it was renamed Douglass College in 1955 in honor of its first dean. Now called Douglass Residential College, it is no longer a degree granting unit of Rutgers, but is a supplementary program that female undergraduate students attending the Rutgers-New Brunswick undergraduate schools may choose to join. Female students enrolled at any of the academic undergraduate schools at Rutgers–New Brunswick, including, e.g., the School of Arts and Sciences,

School of Engineering Engineering education is the activity of teaching knowledge and principles to the professional practice of engineering. It includes an initial education (bachelor's and/or master's degree), and any advanced education and specializations that ...

, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences,

School of Pharmacy The basic requirement for pharmacists to be considered for registration is often an undergraduate or postgraduate pharmacy degree from a recognized university. In many countries, this involves a four- or five-year course to attain a bachelor o ...

, Mason Gross School of the Arts, may now also enroll in Douglass Residential College, which offers special enrichment and career preparation experiences, special projects, and educational and service travel, and at which they must satisfy additional requirements specific to the college. Douglass seeks to provide the benefits of a close-knit small community of women students and offers programs specially designed to help women students to identify their unique abilities and develop confidence. These programs include, for example, a strong emphasis on opportunities to participate in service/learning trips in foreign countries, support for and expansion of racial and cultural diversity, and a wide range of training and enrichment activities offered by a career and leadership development center known as the "BOLD" Center (acronym for Building Opportunities for Leadership and Career Development).

Deans

Mabel Smith Douglass Mabel Smith Douglass (February 11, 1874 – September 21, 1933) was the first dean, in 1918, of the New Jersey College for Women in New Brunswick, New Jersey. In 1955, the college was renamed Douglass College in her honor. Life Douglass was appoint ...

(1918–1932): A graduate of Barnard College, Mabel Smith Douglass was a leader of the

New Jersey State Federation of Women's Clubs New Jersey State Federation of Women's Clubs (NJSFWC) was founded in 1894 and is currently located in New Brunswick, New Jersey. NJSFWC is the largest volunteer women's service organization in the state of New Jersey and a member of the General F ...

. * Margaret Trumbull Corwin (1934–1955): A graduate of Bryn Mawr with a master's degree from Yale. It was during Dean Corwin’s tenure that the New Jersey College for Women became Douglass College. *

Mary Bunting Mary Ingraham Bunting (July 10, 1910 – January 21, 1998) was an influential American college president; ''Time'' profiled her as the magazine's November 3, 1961, cover story.

(1955–1960): A graduate of Vassar with advanced degrees in microbiology from the University of Wisconsin. She resigned to become president of Radcliffe. * Ruth Marie Adams (1960–1966): An Adelphi graduate with a doctorate in English from Radcliffe. She resigned to become president of Wellesley. * Margery Somers Foster (1967–1975): A graduate of Wellesley with a doctorate in economics from Radcliffe. * Jewel Plummer Cobb (1976–1981): A graduate of Talladega College in Alabama with advanced degrees in cell biology from New York University. She resigned to become president of California State University at Fullerton. * Mary S. Hartman (1982–1994): A graduate of Swarthmore with an M.A. and Ph.D. from Columbia University in history, Mary S. Hartman became a member of the Douglass History Department in 1968 (Institute for Women’s Leadership, 2004, p. 1). She served as director of the Women’s Studies Institute from 1975 to 1977, was named acting dean in 1981, and dean in 1982. She resigned to become director of the Institute for Women’s Leadership at Rutgers University. * Barbara A. Shailor (1996–2001): A graduate of Wilson College with a master's degree and doctorate in classics from the University of Cincinnati. She resigned to become Director of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University. She was appointed the Deputy Provost for the Arts at Yale University in 2003. * Carmen Twillie Ambar (2002–2008): A graduate of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, Carmen Twillie Ambar earned a law degree from Columbia School of Law and a master’s in public affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. In 2008, Ambar resigned to become president of

Cedar Crest College Cedar Crest College is a private liberal arts women's college in Allentown, Pennsylvania. At the start of the 2015-2016 academic year, the college had 1,301 undergraduates (628 traditional age, 673 adult) and 203 graduate students. Men may ...

in Allentown, PA, and in 2017 she became President of Oberlin College.. * Jacquelyn S. Litt (2010–2022): A graduate of William Smith College with an M.A. and Ph.D. in sociology from University of Pennsylvania.

Notable alumnae and year of graduation

* Alice Aycock DC'68: Sculptor * Catherine H. Bailey NJC '42: plant geneticist *

Cheri Beasley Cheri Lynn Beasley (born February 14, 1966) is an American attorney and jurist who served as the chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court from 2019 to 2020; she was appointed an associate justice in 2012. Beasley had previously served o ...

DC'88: Chief Justice, North Carolina Supreme Court *

Leonie Brinkema Leonie Helen Milhomme Brinkema (born June 26, 1944) is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Early life and education She was born as Leonie Milhomme in Teaneck, New Jersey. S ...

DC'65: Judge, U.S. District Court, E.D. Va. *

Elise M. Boulding Elise M. Boulding (; July 6, 1920 – June 24, 2010) was a Norwegian-born American Quaker sociologist, and author credited as a major contributor to creating the academic discipline of Peace and Conflict Studies. Her holistic, multidimensional a ...

NJCW'40: Peace activist, sociologist * Elizabeth Cavanna Harrison NJCW'29: (known as Betty Cavanna and also used names Elizabeth Headley and Betsy Allen) children's book author *

Carol T. Christ Carol Tecla Christ (born 1944) is an American academic administrator. In March 2017, she was named the 11th Chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, the first woman to hold that position. She succeeded outgoing Chancellor Nicholas B ...

DC'66: former President,

Smith College Smith College is a private liberal arts women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith and opened in 1875. It is the largest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite women's coll ...

, current Chancellor of

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...

Chris Dailey Christine A. Dailey (born September 7, 1959) is an American women's basketball coach, who has been the associate head coach for the Connecticut Huskies women's basketball team since 1988. Dailey was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fa ...

DC'82:

Women's Basketball Hall of Fame The Women's Basketball Hall of Fame honors those who have contributed to the sport of women's basketball. The Hall of Fame opened in 1999 in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. It is the only facility of its kind dedicated to all levels of women's ba ...

-member associate head coach for

Connecticut Huskies women's basketball The UConn Huskies women's basketball team is the college basketball program representing the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Connecticut, in NCAA Division I women's basketball competition. They completed a seven-season tenure in the America ...

Janet Evanovich Janet Evanovich (née Schneider; April 22, 1943) is an American writer. She began her career writing short contemporary romance novels under the pen name Steffie Hall, but gained fame authoring a series of contemporary mysteries featuring Stepha ...

DC'65: author *

Jeanne Fox Jeanne Fox is the former President of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. She was originally appointed to the position in 2002 by former Gov. James McGreevey and was retained in the Cabinets of former Gov. Richard Codey and Gov. Jon Corzi ...

DC'74: Former president, New Jersey Board of Public Utilities *

Barbara S. Held Barbara S. Held is the Barry N. Wish Research Professor of Psychology and Social Studies Emerita"Psychology: Barbara S. Held," ''Bowdoin'', https://www.bowdoin.edu/profiles/faculty/bheld/index.html at Bowdoin College in the fields of clinical ...

, DC' Professor of Psychology and Social Studies * Helen Hall Jennings NJCW'27: American scientist in the fields of psychology and sociology * Jaynee LaVecchia DC'76: New Jersey Supreme Court Justice * Linda Lindroth DC'68: American artist, photographer, and writer * Susan Martin DC'68: retired Georgetown University professor, expert on international migrations * Imbolo Mbue DC'02: Novelist *

Janet L. Norwood Janet Lippe Norwood (December 11, 1923 – March 27, 2015) was an American statistician and the first female Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) when she was appointed in 1979 by President Jimmy Carter. She was reappointed ...

DC'45: economist, US Commissioner of Labor Statistics (1979–1991) * Judith Shatin DC'71: composer *

Joann H. Smith Joann H. Smith (May 12, 1934 - May 18, 1998) was an American politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly from the 13th Legislative District from 1986 to 1998. Early life Born and raised in Perth Amboy, as Joann H. Belkowski, she ...

NJC or DC?, politician who served in the

New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 Session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts f ...

from the 13th Legislative District *

Kathleen C. Taylor Kathleen C. Taylor (born 1942) is a chemist who won the Garvan–Olin Medal in 1989, and is notable for developing catalytic converters for cars. Education Taylor attended Douglass College at Rutgers University, earning a bachelor's in chem ...

, DC'64, award-winning chemist and automotive engineer * Freda L. Wolfson DC'76: Judge, U.S. District Court, D. N.J. * Joanne Yatvin, NJCW'52: President of the National Council of Teachers of English (2006–2007), author of books and articles for teachers

References

External links

Official Website
{{coord, 40.484, -74.435, region:US-NJ_type:edu, display=title Rutgers University Educational institutions established in 1918 1918 establishments in New Jersey Residential colleges