Holloway’s timeline is something else. In January, he was appointed as the 21st president of Rutgers University. In March, the COVID-19 pandemic hit the state. In July, he took over. From then on, he was in the hot seat to decide what sort of in-person system, if any, New Jersey’s largest public university would offer come September. And now here we are, and Rutgers is moving forward with mostly online classes.

“He’s an incredibly impressive guy,” someone in the know shared. “He started under the most difficult of all circumstances, I mean, I can’t imagine a tougher way to start. And more people know him already than [seven-year Princeton University President] Eisgruber. In a time when it’s very hard to meet people, he is meeting people, and as much as you can in this impossible environment, has hit the ground running. And that’s to his total credit.”

“He’s quickly tried to make himself into a New Jersey entity,” the insider said. “And kudos to him.”
Within a month of joining the Rutgers community and still amid the pandemic, he’d gotten in to meet the ever-busy Gov. Phil Murphy, too. During a July 29 press briefing, describing a meeting with him, Gov. Phil Murphy called Holloway “a star.”

And as noted elsewhere in these pages, Rutgers has emerged as a national leader in the fight against COVID-19. Holloway arrived in New Brunswick during trying times, and so far the school under his leadership is meeting all the challenges.