Francine Newsome Pfeiffer Takes On Expanded Government Relations Role

Alumna known as the voice of Rutgers on Capitol Hill serves as university's top advocate in Washington, D.C., and Trenton

In her nearly three-decade career advocating for Rutgers on Capitol Hill, Francine Newsome Pfeiffer regularly calls on the skills she developed as a first-generation student at Rutgers.

"What has drawn me to this path is the transformative power of higher education. Education is the clearest investment we can make for social mobility in this country," Pfeiffer said. "Every single opportunity I've had, Rutgers opened those doors for me, and I'm very driven to make those same doors open for others."

Pfeiffer, appointed senior vice president for Government Relations by President Jonathan Holloway, said the lessons she learned as a Scarlet Knight will continue to serve her well as she leads Rutgers' efforts to secure vital funding and shape higher education policy in both Washington, D.C., and Trenton, N.J.

Before assuming her new role in July, Pfeiffer devoted her 27-year career to Rutgers' Office of Federal Relations in Washington, starting as a staff assistant just a year after the office opened and ascending to director in 2004. Working closely with administrators, faculty, staff and students across the university, her D.C. team - now led by Ian Grubman and Samantha Booth - built relationships with key federal policymakers to advance campus priorities and elevate Rutgers' profile.

"It is about putting what Rutgers offers in front of all of our policymakers, by connecting them directly to people and programs that make this university tick," she said, adding she plans to take a similar approach while overseeing Rutgers' Trenton office. "Our job is to let our policymakers see for themselves the transformative power of higher education at Rutgers and remind them that whatever the global moment might be, this is what we're about day in and day out."

Sometimes getting that message across means illustrating Rutgers' contributions to agriculture by delivering New Jersey blueberries to every New Jersey congressional office on the Hill. Other times it calls for hosting legislators on campus to highlight a new facility or bringing Rutgers students to Washington by train to share how Pell Grants made their college education possible.

Pfeiffer's tactics have proven fruitful for the university. Under her leadership, Rutgers students received $485 million in federal financial aid during the 2022-2023 academic year, and Rutgers researchers were awarded $514 million in federal funding in the 2023 fiscal year.

Widely regarded in the higher education community for her leadership and expertise, Pfeiffer was selected as the first recipient of the Association of American Universities' Ripple Effect Award in recognition of her mentorship and support of federal relations colleagues from across the Association of American Universities' membership.

The daughter of working-class parents from Williamstown, N.J., Pfeiffer grew up in a family that invested in their community and valued civic engagement and education. This spring marks her 30-year anniversary as a Rutgers alumna, after graduating in 1995 with a bachelor's degree in political science and French.

Pfeiffer said her formative years spent training as a gymnast, resident advisor (a role that made it possible to afford living on campus) and member of student government help her empathize with students, staff and faculty when reviewing bills that will affect higher education at large or Rutgers specifically.

"I'm thinking, 'What is this really going to mean on campus?' I can picture the people it's going to impact and how complicated implementation might be," she said. "And I think it just makes me better at my job."

And no matter how much time has passed since her undergraduate days, Pfeiffer said she will never forget the economic challenges she faced as a college student. Those experiences fuel her efforts to increase students' access to Rutgers and career-building internships in the public sector.

In fact, had it not been for a series of serendipitous moments at Rutgers - including a friend from Maryland offering her a free room for the summer - Pfeiffer would not have been able to accept a White House internship with the Domestic Policy Council that sparked her career in D.C.

"I just got really lucky. It shouldn't take luck for a young person without means to find their way to Washington," said Pfeiffer, who helped launch the Rutgers-Eagleton Washington Internship Award Program in 2016 and now oversees the Rutgers Scarlet Service program, for which she led the establishment of the Washington, D.C., component, known as RSS-DC, in 2023. Both internships provide stipends to ease the financial burden of interning at a nonprofit or government office in Washington. The Scarlet Service program - a paid internship initiative inspired by the public service priorities of Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway - also supplies free housing and civic education for two dozen interns each summer in our nation's capitol.

"I think what we're doing here is removing some of the chance and creating those clear pathways and opportunities for students regardless of their socio-economic background,'' Pfeiffer said.

The goal of Scarlet Service, she said, is not just to connect students with government and nonprofit positions, but to push them out of their comfort zones so they can become more civic-minded citizens open to working through differences. It's a program she plans to continue expanding with government offices in Trenton.

Pfeiffer replaces Peter J. McDonough Jr., who retired in July. During his tenure, McDonough, who had worked at the highest levels of the state and federal government, capitalized on his strong Trenton ties to shepherd the successful integration of Rutgers with the former University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and strengthen the university's relationship with state lawmakers.

"When I first started out at Rutgers, there was a lack of attention to Trenton. And now they're our partner," she said. "Pete has really helped to build Rutgers' reputation as a problem solver for the state."

Pfeiffer plans to build on McDonough's legacy of working across the aisle to maintain Trenton's strong support and respect for Rutgers. Working with her Rutgers team in Trenton led by George LeBlanc and Gene Lepore, she hopes to forge new partnerships, and increase the University's visibility with policymakers in the State's capital to help demonstrate the countless ways Rutgers serves the common good.

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