Roger Locandro Award for Academic Innovation and Creativity
This faculty award is created in honor of Dr. Roger Locandro who throughout his entire career at Cook College of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, and the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station made sustained and significant contributions to education. Dr. Locandro touched the lives of thousands of men and women. His innovation, creativity and commitment to excellence encouraged the students of Cook College and Rutgers University to expand their knowledge and contribute to the betterment of the larger society.
The award is designed to recognize and honor a member of the Cook College faculty who has an outstanding record of excellence in undergraduate teaching and concern for undergraduates, as demonstrated through advising and guidance given to students, and who has demonstrated excellence in academic creativity. Recipients are chosen based on a variety of criteria, including enthusiasm; innovation in the teaching/learning process; ability to engage students both within and outside the classroom; inspire independent and original thinking in students; stimulate students to do creative work; and innovations in course and curriculum design.
The Roger Locandro Award for Academic Innovation and Creativity will be given to faculty accompanied by a stipend for each recipient. The award will be presented each spring during the Cook College/NJAES Awards Ceremony.
Born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, Dr. Locandro has dedicated his life to teaching and service to the residents of New Jersey. He began his teaching career in 1956 as an Instructor of Vocational Agriculture at Palmyra High School in Palmyra, New Jersey. While at Cook College and the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, Dr. Locandro served as a County Agricultural Agent, Associate Extension Specialist in Continuing Education, Assistant Dean, Associate Dean/Dean of Students, and Professor/Extension Specialist in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources. Dr. Locandro currently holds the position of Professor Emeritus in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources.
Dr. Locandro has provided over 100 off-campus lectures in areas of professional competence. He planned and implemented innovative Student Life Programs in finance, leadership development and student government. Dr. Locandro served as a consultant for the evaluation of college teaching programs, including Atlantic County Community College, Stockton State College, Cumberland County College and Middlesex County College. In addition, he designed and instructed unique, well-received courses in plant ecology (Landscapes of New Jersey), meat science, fisheries science, fisheries research, natural resources of Alaska, Newfoundland and Canada, and the tropical ecology portion of the class “Tropical Ecosystems and Agriculture.” Furthermore, Dr. Locandro represented Rutgers University at the United Nations Environment Program in Nairobi, Kenya, providing a unique extension of the Cook College Environmental and Agricultural instructional programs on an international level. During his tenure at Cook College he was a representative on an extension Student Life Program encompassing eighteen weeks in Europe, Africa, and England. Dr. Locandro also served as chairman and member of the New Jersey State Fish and Game Council, was a speaker at the International Plant Congress in Paris, Co-author of a study of Hunter Education in New Jersey which impacted over 300,000 people and authored the First National Marine Fisheries Habitat Policy.
Dr. Locandro holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the College of Agriculture at Rutgers University as well as a Master of Science and Post Doctoral degrees in Botany/Ecology from the Graduate School-New Brunswick at Rutgers University.