Legacy Notable Rowing Alumni
Jeffrey Bluestone RC’74
Jeffrey Bluestone RC’74, an internationally regarded immunologist whose work has brought hope to people dealing with diabetes, cancer, and other diseases, traces his love of research to his senior year at Rutgers.
Bluestone CC’74, GSNB’76 was a biology major with an eye toward becoming a veterinarian or perhaps a physician, but then he signed up to work on a research project under Robert Cousins, an assistant professor who was studying the role of heavy metals in metabolism. Cousins would go on to become one of the foremost experts on the nutritional significance of zinc. “My time in his lab was pretty transformational,” Bluestone says. “He was an incredible mentor and an amazing scientist, and I got very excited about the idea of going into research as a profession.”
‘A Great Place for Me to Go’
A self-described Army brat, Bluestone was born in Oklahoma and grew up in northern New Jersey. “I was interested in science from a pretty young age, you know, with the rock collections, blowing things up in the basement,” he told an interviewer in 2017. When the time came to choose a college, the decision to attend Rutgers was an easy one. “I applied to a number of schools,” he says, “but at the end of the day I felt Rutgers was a great school and the economics were favorable. I felt it was a great place for me to go.”
It was the height of the Vietnam War, and Bluestone was active in campus protests. “Students at the time were very focused on what was happening in the world,” he says now. “It was very impactful.” He also joined Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity and has fond memories of Bruce Springsteen playing at The Ledge (now the Student Activities Center).
He also joined the crew team and wound up as the coxswain, which taught him important lessons: “It’s not how strong any individual is, it’s not how much endurance anyone has,” he says. “It’s how well they work together that determines whether you’re going to be successful. And the job of a coxswain is to help encourage and support that team effort.” Collaboration would become a theme throughout his career, as he’s tried to make science less “silo-ized” and instead build consortium of researchers. In 1999, for instance, he founded the Immune Tolerance Network, bringing together about 100 scientists and clinicians to accelerate immune system research.
Bluestone decided to pursue a Ph.D. in immunology and has since spent more than four decades in the biomedical sciences. He has been a faculty member at two leading research universities and director of a cancer research institute and diabetes center; today he is co-founder and CEO of a private biotech company. His work has shed light on how the immune system works and how it can be modified to prevent and treat disease. His research has led to the development of several drugs now on the market, including one that can delay or even prevent Type 1 diabetes and others for treating rheumatoid arthritis and metastatic melanoma.
In 2023, he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences—one of the highest honors bestowed on American scientists. He was inducted into the Rutgers Hall of Distinguished Alumni on April 25, 2024.
Fighting Cancer with Research
After finishing his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Rutgers, Bluestone earned his Ph.D. at Cornell University, doing his doctoral research at New York’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. His work focused on harnessing the immune system to fight cancer. The idea was new at the time, but today, several immunotherapy drugs used in cancer treatment are based on the work Bluestone and others did.
Bluestone then started to wonder if the immune system could be manipulated in a different way. The system is a two-sided coin, he explains. When it does its job properly, it can ward off an infection or destroy cancer cells. But when it malfunctions, it can attack the body’s own tissues, leading to autoimmune diseases like diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, and rheumatoid arthritis. In postdoctoral work at the National Cancer Institute, and as a university faculty member for 35 years—first at the University of Chicago, then at the University of California San Francisco—Bluestone sought to answer the question, “How do we turn the immune system off?”
The work of Bluestone and his collaborators helped lay the foundation for several drugs that are now in use, including abatacept, sold under the brand name Orencia for treating rheumatoid arthritis. But Bluestone is perhaps best known for research that led to the development of teplizumab. Approved by the FDA in 2022 and marketed under the brand name Tzield, teplizumab is a first-of-its-kind treatment for Type 1 diabetes. Clinical trials showed that 14 days of treatment with teplizumab could delay the onset of diabetes by two years on average—and in some cases prevent diabetes altogether. It’s a significant step forward in dealing with a disease that previously had no available treatment, other than a lifetime of insulin injections.
The work that resulted in teplizumab—much of it in collaboration with Yale endocrinologist Kevan Herold—spanned more than 35 years, an unusually long time even in the world of drug development.
“There was a lot of drama along the way. This drug died multiple deaths,” says Doug Lowenstein, a former journalist and a consultant to the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, who is writing a history of teplizumab. “But Jeff and Kevan never gave up on it. They never wavered in their belief in this drug—that it was going to change lives.”
In addition to his work in preventing autoimmune diseases, Bluestone has remained interested in the use of immunotherapy in treating cancer. He was founding director of the San Francisco-based Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, and some of his early work led to the development of ipilimumab, sold under the brand name Yervoy, for treating metastatic melanoma.
Cell Therapy Entrepreneur
In 2019 Bluestone left UCSF, where he was the A.W. and Mary Margaret Clausen Distinguished Professor of Metabolism and Endocrinology, to start a private company, Sonoma Biotherapeutics. The move allows him to a focus on a newer idea: cell therapy. The idea, he says, is to use the body’s own cells to create drugs. “We've been doing drug development for decades now, and there are some amazing drugs out there,” he says. “But rather than making a synthetic drug or a monoclonal antibody and treating somebody, could we use our own cells?”
A few anti-cancer drugs already on the market use the idea of cell therapy, or cell transplantation—removing a patient’s own cells, reengineering them, and then reimplanting them. Bluestone is hoping to apply the same concept to the other side of that coin, to shut down harmful immune responses in people who have autoimmune diseases. It’s early yet, he says. But if his past success is any indication, it’s only a matter of time before he—and his collaborators—make it happen.
Bluestone is one of five new inductees who will be formally enshrined into the Rutgers Hall of Distinguished Alumni in a ceremony starting at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 25, at the Stone House at Stirling Ridge in Warren, New Jersey. For more information, visit the Hall of Distinguished Alumni page.
Anthony Genatempo RC’90
| Anthony W. Genatempo | |
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| Nickname(s) | Awgie[1] |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Service / branch | United States Air Force |
| Years of service | 1991-present (33 years) |
| Rank | Major General |
| Commands | C3I Networks Directorate, AFLCMC Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center Armament Directorate, AFLCMC 640th Aeronautical System Support Squadron |
| Awards | Defense Distinguished Service Medal Legion of Merit (2) |
Pictured below is Coxswain Anthony "Awgie" Genatempo '90 *flying high* after a W along with a great photo w/his teammates!
Awgie is currently a Major General in the US Air Force. Props also to all the Rutgers *men* and *women* rowing alumni who served and are currently serving in the military. Upstream Red Team!
From dredging to disaster recovery, Weeks Marine's leader transformed challenges into triumphs while championing environmental stewardship
Richard Weeks RC'50
Richard Weeks RC’50 is chair of Weeks Marine Inc., a leading marine construction, dredging, and tunneling firm in North America. He follows in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, who founded the New Jersey-based company in 1919. At that time, Weeks Stevedoring loaded and unloaded coal from cargo ships in the Port of New York, using just two floating cranes.
Today, Weeks Marine’s business involves dredging, marine construction, and tunneling. It has confronted some of the most difficult challenges in its industry, including hauling two million tons of debris from the World Trade Center after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, salvaging the downed US Airways Flight 1549 from the Hudson River, and carrying the space shuttle Enterprise to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.
At Weeks Marine, environmental stewardship is highly valued. Having recycled surplus vessels for use in its barge rental business, the company also hauled and intentionally sank hundreds of old New York City subway cars during the late 2000s, creating artificial reefs to boost fish populations. Its environmental division restores beaches, remediates pollution in rivers and ports, and retrofits facilities to mitigate contamination.
Weeks is a proud member of the Moles, an organization made up of heavy construction and tunneling professionals. In 2001 Weeks received the prestigious Moles Member Award. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Associated Construction Contractors of New Jersey.
Richard Weeks’s dedication to his alma mater is inspiring. In 2011 he was awarded the Medal of Excellence by the Rutgers School of Engineering in recognition of his support for the Soil and Sediment Management Laboratory, where students assess environmentally responsible port dredging options.
In 2015 he made a $6 million gift to Rutgers for a state-of-the art facility that will house the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Scheduled for completion in 2017, the LEED-certified Richard Weeks Hall of Engineering is designed to strengthen the relationship between the university and New Jersey’s technology-based businesses while enhancing research and the education of future engineers.
After serving as a lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force, Weeks earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Rutgers in 1950. As an undergrad, he lettered in varsity crew. He then returned to the family business, where he initiated expansion of the company into construction, salvage, and dredging work. In 1960 he became president of Weeks Marine and led the acquisition of related businesses and a global fleet of modern equipment.
Today, Weeks Marine’s business involves dredging, marine construction, and tunneling. It has confronted some of the most difficult challenges in its industry, including hauling two million tons of debris from the World Trade Center after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, salvaging the downed US Airways Flight 1549 from the Hudson River, and carrying the space shuttle Enterprise to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.
At Weeks Marine, environmental stewardship is highly valued. Having recycled surplus vessels for use in its barge rental business, the company also hauled and intentionally sank hundreds of old New York City subway cars during the late 2000s, creating artificial reefs to boost fish populations. Its environmental division restores beaches, remediates pollution in rivers and ports, and retrofits facilities to mitigate contamination.
Weeks is a proud member of the Moles, an organization made up of heavy construction and tunneling professionals. In 2001 Weeks received the prestigious Moles Member Award. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Associated Construction Contractors of New Jersey.
Richard Weeks’s dedication to his alma mater is inspiring. In 2011 he was awarded the Medal of Excellence by the Rutgers School of Engineering in recognition of his support for the Soil and Sediment Management Laboratory, where students assess environmentally responsible port dredging options.
In 2015 he made a $6 million gift to Rutgers for a state-of-the art facility that will house the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Scheduled for completion in 2017, the LEED-certified Richard Weeks Hall of Engineering is designed to strengthen the relationship between the university and New Jersey’s technology-based businesses while enhancing research and the education of future engineers.
A Pioneer of the American West, Clum's legacy as a frontiersman, journalist, and visionary reshaped the history of the Southwest and Native American relations
John P. Clum RC 1874
John P. Clum RC 1874
John P. Clum RC 1874 was one of America’s outstanding frontiersmen. At age 21, he became acting governor of New Mexico Territory, where he opened the first English-speaking school. As a Native American agent for the Apaches at San Carlos reservation in the Arizona Territory, he helped establish a system of self-government and Apache courts. In 1877, objecting to military presence on the reservations, he founded the first American Indian police force. It became a territorial militia and Arizona’s first National Guard unit. Using his understanding of the Native Americans and their confidence in his police force, Clum captured Apache raider Geronimo without military assistance. In 1879, he founded Arizona’s first daily, the Tucson-based Arizona Citizen, and in 1880, he founded Epitaph, in Tombstone, where he was the town’s first mayor and postmaster. After a period as assistant editor of the San Francisco Examiner, he became chief of the division of Post Office Inspectors in Washington, D.C. He single-handedly established the Postal Service in Alaska during the Klondike Gold Rush of 1898. In 1911, at age 60, he began traveling the country to promote tourism in the West. Clum died in 1932.
| Robert C. Pruyn RC 1870 | |
 Leslie's Illustrated, June 15, 1901.
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| President of the National Commercial Bank and Trust Company | |
| In office 1885–1931 |
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| Preceded by | Daniel Manning |
| Succeeded by | Jacob C. Herzog |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Robert Clarence Pruyn October 23, 1847 Albany, New York, U.S. |
| Died | October 29, 1934 (aged 87) Albany, New York, U.S. |
| Spouse | Anna Williams (m. 1873) |
| Relations | Gerrit Y. Lansing (grandfather) |
| Parent(s) |
Jane Ann Lansing Pruyn
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| Alma mater | Rutgers College |
| George Sharpe Duryee | |
| U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey | |
| In office 1888–1890 |
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| President | Grover Cleveland Benjamin Harrison |
| Preceded by | Samuel F. Bigelow |
| Succeeded by | Henry S. White |
| New Jersey State Assembly | |
| In office 1877–1881 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | July 15, 1850 Newark, New Jersey, US |
| Died | October 28, 1896 (aged 46) Newark, New Jersey, US |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Virginia Teackle Beasley Duryee |
| Children | 1 |
| Alma mater | Rutgers, BA (1872) |
| Profession | Lawyer politician |
WILLIAM J. LEGGETT RC 1872
"At Rutgers, we have a natural preoccupation with our place in college football history when Rutgers played Princeton in the first intercollegiate football game in 1869. It was still a big deal 100 years later when I attended its centennial equivalent. Yet, little appreciated is the fact that Rutgers Crew, known then as the Rutgers Boating Association, was established five years prior as the first campus sport in 1864. More significantly, many of the players on that historic Rutgers Football Team also rowed for Rutgers in the spring of 1870 against Harvard. Most notable was football Captain William J. Leggett RC 1872 who valiantly replaced their best rower Claudius Rockefeller at the last moment. Rockefeller was down with a fever. Leggett “in spite of tender hands, rowed well to the last.” Leggett became the Rutgers Crew stroke in 1871 and captain in 1872. William J. Leggett is in the Rutgers Athletic Hall of Fame for football. He excelled in two sports while at Rutgers, football and crew. Playing in multiple sports was common for a small college, before athleticism became specialized in our modern era. Leggett stood out in both.
He went on to become the Reverend Dr. Leggett, studying ministry at the New Brunswick Theological Seminary after attaining his undergraduate degree at Rutgers College. He served as a minister, and as the Vice President of the Reformed Church in the US for many years." The best student among them was probably the team captain, William James Leggett, Class of 1872. Before graduating, he won prizes in Latin as well as mathematics and declamation. Amazingly, he was also Targum editor, director of the baseball team, and captain and stroke of the RU crew.
James Nielson RC 1866
James Neilson RC 1866, last surviving member of the first Rutgers Crew in1865, mentioned that when he rowed, he and fellow crewmates wore coats and ties and rowed in a gig/barge more like the other attached photo. His boat was named either "Henry Rutgers" or "Zephyr." It was James Neilson, a Rutgers Trustee who donated over $700,000 to Rutgers in 1937, mostly property on which Douglas College (Neilson Dining Room) and Cook College were established. His home is the site of the Eagleton Institute. Yet, Henry Rutgers donated a cannon and got a college named after him. Go figure.
