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Rooting Down and Supporting the Growth of the Next Generation

By Loukaia Taylor '22

FOR JANICE CAMBRON ‘79, returning to her roots in South Jersey marked the beginning of her ongoing support for �ֲ���ý��Ƶ and its campus. 

Cambron was living and working as a medical assistant in Washington, D.C., when she received a call about her mother’s sudden illness. She was also in the midst of debating a career change — Cambron was developing a desire to pursue the field of public health.

That’s when she remembered the college in the woods not too far from her mother, who still resided in her hometown of Egg Harbor Township.

“I got interested in public health, and �ֲ���ý��Ƶ miraculously had a Public Health program. I think I probably transferred in with more credits than anybody else in �ֲ���ý��Ƶ's history,” Cambron said with a smile. 

CAMBRON REMINISCES ON DAYS reminisces on days full of studying hard and playing even harder. When she wasn’t hard at work and learning from her professors, she played racquetball with her peers.

“Everybody was very friendly,” she said. “All of the professors were great: they were all involved with the students and very accessible. The campus was a little more rugged than it is now, but we had a pub, and that was great fun.”

She also remembers the relief she felt at receiving a scholarship during her senior year. “It really was a big help to me, especially being an older student, so it's always been important to me to give back to �ֲ���ý��Ƶ. And, you know, as long as I can do it, I like to do as much as I can.”

After graduating from �ֲ���ý��Ƶ, Cambron built a career centered on service and care for others. She spent 35 years at Seashore Gardens Living Center, serving first as assistant executive director and later as executive director until her retirement in 2019.

A licensed nursing home administrator and certified assisted living administrator, she led innovative programs for residents, fostered partnerships with �ֲ���ý��Ƶ students through internships in health sciences and physical therapy and created opportunities for young people to engage with older adults through volunteer service. 

NOW, AS A PROUD ALUMNA, Cambron’s relationship with the University has continued to grow. She is a frequent participant in programs and courses hosted by the �ֲ���ý��Ƶ Center on Successful Aging and the �ֲ���ý��Ƶ Institute for Lifelong Learning.

For more than two decades, she has also supported and attended �ֲ���ý��Ƶ’s annual Scholarship Benefit Gala, reflecting her longstanding commitment to helping provide educational opportunities for today’s Ospreys.

Cambron is also a member of the �ֲ���ý��Ƶ Evergreen Society, which recognizes her more than 30 years of giving to the �ֲ���ý��Ƶ Foundation and support for student scholarships, much like the one she received in her senior year.

“Supporting �ֲ���ý��Ƶ is important to me because it prepares students to be able to engage with others, whether in our own backyards or around the world, and one of the things I always loved about �ֲ���ý��Ƶ was how diverse the student population is – they try to give everybody an opportunity,” Cambron said.

“When you give, you get, and when you give to good causes, you get good feelings and good karma,” Cambron continued. “You're helping someone to achieve a goal they've set, and giving back to your community and society helps make it better."

Through her continued generosity, Cambron is helping ensure that today’s students have access to the same opportunities that shaped her journey, creating an impact for generations to come.

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From Pune to Galloway: Honoring a Legacy Through Giving Back

By Loukaia Taylor '22 

A  CHILD'S LOVE for their parents knows no distance – not even almost 8,000 miles, as shown by a �ֲ���ý��Ƶ professor whose determination to share the American dream with his parents led him to leave their legacy on a university campus they never had the chance to visit. 

Before he was a long-standing professor within �ֲ���ý��Ƶ’s  program, Renganathan Iyer was the youngest of six children born to a couple in Pune, a city in western India.  

Education was highly valued in their household; despite Iyer’s mother never attending school, every single one of her children pursued and earned at least their bachelor’s degree. Iyer’s connection to education ran even deeper because of his shared love of mathematics with his father.  

For Iyer, this wasn’t just the catalyst for his journey in higher education, but also the way his parents showed their love for him and his siblings.  

“I think that's the best thing we can do as parents: to give them a good education,” Iyer said.  

With that gift, Iyer earned a merit scholarship, enabling him to attend a prestigious Ph.D. program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 

BY 1991, IYER was the recipient of a year-long teaching position within �ֲ���ý��Ƶ’s Mathematics program. As evidenced by his impressive three-decade tenure, Iyer was more than a good fit in �ֲ���ý��Ƶ’s campus community. “I decided to stay put,” Iyer said emphatically.  

“What attracted me to �ֲ���ý��Ƶ was it’s commitment to teaching and it’s encouragement of interdisciplinary research amongst faculty members.”  

“And our class size is very small within Mathematics, with a maximum of 35 students, which is unheard of for most college classes,” Iyer continued. “It's nice to have that interaction with the students.” 

Iyer didn’t just love �ֲ���ý��Ƶ’s ideals or its students. The community that he created of faculty, students and staff became integral to his life, even after he married and began a family of his own.

Unfortunately, the circumstances surrounding tourist visa procedures prevented Iyer’s father and mother from visiting the United States before their passing in 2004 and 2018, respectively. 

DESPITE HER EFFORTS to ensure that Iyer received the education she was never promised, his mother never got to see Iyer teaching and inspiring the next generation, and his father never had the opportunity to witness his grandchildren’s inherited love and passion for mathematics. 

With that in mind, Iyer and his wife, Anu Vedantham, decided to donate to the �ֲ���ý��Ƶ University Foundation to dedicate a bench in memory of his parents, placing it in his favorite place on campus: along one of the paths to Lake Fred.  

“The fact that they couldn't come here definitely bothered me, so at least this is a nice way of, I think, giving something back to the community, as well as honoring my parents’ memory here,” Iyer shared.

“I thought donating a bench was a lovely decision considering �ֲ���ý��Ƶ has been his home for 35 years, and he’s taught thousands of students, some of whom come back to visit him from time to time. Benches help, not just for fundraising, but for bringing people and memories back to campus,” Vedantham said of the donation.

Vedantham had fond memories of her years working at �ֲ���ý��Ƶ in various roles including founding the Atlantic County Educational Technology Training Center (ETTC), which is now the Southern Regional Institute (SRI). The Rowan University library administrator describes her and Iyer’s relationship to �ֲ���ý��Ƶ's campus community as “remarkably close.”

“The Math program is like a family,” Vedantham said. “It’s a very special community where people look out for each other. It’s �ֲ���ý��Ƶ that makes relationships like this possible.”

Additionally, he plans to include �ֲ���ý��Ƶ in his estate planning, which he hopes will support students on their collegiate journeys. “For me, this is a small thing to do because what I've gotten from �ֲ���ý��Ƶ in the last 35 years is priceless.”  

“Anything that's student-centered, I want to contribute towards it,” Iyer continued, mentioning that he also supports �ֲ���ý��Ƶ’s Math program through a monthly recurring gift. “I think if you’ve gotten a lot from �ֲ���ý��Ƶ, it just makes sense to give back, so my goal is to give back as much as I can.” 

Iyer’s love for his parents knows no distance, and he’s no longer separated from them by 8,000 miles. Through his generosity, he has created a place on campus where he can reflect, share his day and take in his favorite view, surrounded by the love and legacy that shaped his life.

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