Alumni Authors Wanted

By Kelly O'Toole

If you met with the Chair of the English Department in the last few decades, odds are you also met Rosalind McInerney, known to the Department as Roz. As a staff member of the English Department since 1977, Roz has insured smooth continuity by working with Chairs extending from Daniel Howard to Richard E. Miller. One aspect of her position as Administrative Assistant includes scheduling appointments for the Chair, which is how most people come into contact with her. However, most of her work involves more intricate tasks, such as assembling and organizing promotion packets for tenure, revising and distributing Departmental documents, organizing and attending faculty meetings, and coordinating Murray Hall's facilities. Former Chair and current Dean Barry Qualls praises Roz's ability to resolve any situation: "In the midst of chaos, some of it developed by the Chair, she is unflappable. Floods in the building, deans calling, staff yelling, and the Chair shouting for seventeen things at once: Rosalind simply works on."

In her twenty-seven years at Rutgers, Roz's stable presence has seen the English Department through many changes, including the move from Scott Hall to Murray Hall in 1982. When asked what she liked most about her position, Roz noted that the people of the English Department, both staff and faculty, made her day-to-day environment enjoyable. The feeling is mutual, according to Professor Cheryl A. Wall, Chair of the English Department until 2003. "Working with Roz was a joy," she said. "I often commented that for any question she could not answer - and there weren't many of those - she knew whom to call."

Roz's plans for the future include spending more time with her family and her three grandchildren. Roz adds that she is the last of her circle of friends to retire, and looks forward to going on a well-earned vacation with her girlfriends. The Rutgers English Department thanks Roz for her hard work through the years, for keeping the Department running well. We will certainly miss her, and wish her a very happy retirement.

Copyright © 2004 Friends of Rutgers English
All content on this page may not be republished or redistributed without permission.

Department of English - Murray Hall
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
510 George Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901-1167
Phone: 732-932-7612 | E-mail: FOR.English@rutgers.edu