Tracy Stebbins Voorhees (June 30, 1890 – September 25, 1974) served as Under Secretary of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

from August 1949 to April 1950. He held numerous positions within the U.S. Government as a civilian. A practicing attorney, Voorhees, with the Judge Advocate General's Department, he served as part of the Surgeon General's office in the European and Pacific theatres during World War II. After the War, he served in various positions in the Defense Department.

Biography

Tracy Voorhees was born on June 30, 1890 in

New Brunswick, New Jersey New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat, seat of government of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

with a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in 1911 and an

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degree in 1914; received an

LL.B. Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

degree from

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

in 1915; was admitted to the

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

bar in 1915, and the

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

bar in 1918. He became a member of the law firm of Satterlee, Canfield and Stone in New York in 1917. He served as assistant to the Director, Bureau of Imports,

War Trade Board War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

in 1918. He was practicing attorney as a member of the firm of Ewing, Alley and Voorhees from 1919 to 1928 and member of the firm Blake and Voorhees from 1929 to 1942. He served as president of

Long Island College Hospital University Hospital of Brooklyn at Long Island College Hospital (or LICH) was a 506-bed teaching hospital located in the Brooklyn Heights and Cobble Hill neighborhoods of Brooklyn, New York. The hospital was founded in 1858 as Long Island Coll ...

from 1936 to 1944. He was a commissioned colonel in the United States Army, posted to the Judge Advocate General's Department in 1942 and detailed to the Surgeon General's Office as Director of the Legal Division, serving in the

Europea Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, and Pacific Theaters of Operation. He was special assistant to the

Secretary of War The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...

Robert P. Patterson Robert Porter Patterson Sr. (February 12, 1891 – January 22, 1952) was an American judge who served as United States Under Secretary of War, Under Secretary of War under President Franklin D. Roosevelt and US Secretary of War, U.S. Secretary of ...

in 1946. As a civilian he was special assistant to Secretaries of War Patterson and

Kenneth C. Royall Kenneth Claiborne Royall, Sr. (July 24, 1894May 25, 1971) was a U.S. Army general, and the last man to hold the office of Secretary of War, which secretariat was abolished in 1947. Royall served as the first Secretary of the Army from 1947 to 194 ...

, served as the War Department's Food Administrator for Occupied Areas, from 1947–1948 and served as Assistant Secretary of the Army, from 17 June 1948 to 21 August 1949. He served as Under Secretary of the Army, from 22 August 1949 to 24 April 1950. He was vice chairman of the Committee on Present Danger from 1951 to 1953,

Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philippin ...

Advisor to the U.S. Mission to the

North Atlantic Treaty Organization The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

with rank of minister and the director for offshore procurement in Europe for the Secretary of Defense from 1953 to 1954. He was a consultant to the Secretary of Defense from 1954 to 1961, was chairman, President's Committee for Hungarian Refugee Relief from 1956 1957 and served as the President's Personal Representative for

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

n Refugees, from 1960 to 1961. He was vice chairman of the board of Rutgers University from 1959 to 1965. He died in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. His papers are preserved in Special Collections and University Archives in the Alexander Library of Rutgers University Libraries in New Brunswick.

Honors

Voorhees' awards include

Army Distinguished Service Medal The Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a military decoration of the United States Army that is presented to soldiers who have distinguished themselves by exceptionally meritorious service to the government in a duty of great responsibility. Th ...

, the Department of Defense Award for Distinguished Public Service, and Army Distinguished Civilian Service Award. In 1974 the Board of Governors of Rutgers University renamed Rutgers' Neilson Campus in New Brunswick "Voorhees Campus" (currently "

Voorhees Mall Voorhees Mall is a large grassy area with stately shade trees on a block (sometimes known as "Voorhees Campus") of about 28 acres (0.11 km²) located on the College Avenue Campus of Rutgers University near downtown New Brunswick, New Jersey. ...

") after Tracy Voorhees. The Van Voorhees Park in

is named in honor of Tracy Voorhees and his family.

Notes

References

:''This article incorporates text in the public domain from the United States Army.'' * * Included short biography of Tracy Voorhees. {{DEFAULTSORT:Voorhees 1890 births 1974 deaths SUNY Downstate Medical Center United States Army personnel of World War II Columbia Law School alumni New Jersey lawyers People from New Brunswick, New Jersey Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Rutgers University alumni United States Army colonels United States Department of Defense officials American people of Dutch descent United States Under Secretaries of the Army 20th-century American lawyers Military personnel from New Jersey

Biography

Honors

See also

Notes

References