when someone died in office, or left unexpectedly to accept another position. Presidents of Queen's College (1785–1825) Rutgers was founded as Queen's College on November 10, 1766, and is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution. The university is one of only two colonial colleges that later became public universities. In the early days of Queen's College, the trustees wrote to the church's leadership in Amsterdam and at the University of Utrecht to seek candidates for the position of president. In their correspondence, they expressed a wish that a prospective college president possess the following characteristics: (1) he was to fill the office of professor of theology, (2) to oversee the instruction in languages through tutors until professors could be secured, (3) to do more or less the work of a minister on the Lord’s Day, (4) to be a man of tried piety, (5) to be attached to the Constitution of the Netherlands Church, (6) to be a man of thorough learning, (7) to be good natured, (8) to be free and friendly in conversation, (9) to be master of the English language, and (10) to be pleased to lecture on Marckii Medulla Theologiae Christianae. Its early history, Rutgers was closely allied with the Dutch Reformed Synod of New York which oversaw financial transactions and early selections of professors for Queen's College and the New Brunswick Theological Seminary. The Rev. John Henry Livingston (1746–1825), who served as the college's fourth president and was responsible for establishing the New Brunswick Theological Seminary, was instrumental in raising funds to support the school after several years of being closed resulting from economic difficulties. Just before his death, Livingston raised enough donations and support to place the school on more stable financial footing, including arranging for a generous donation in 1825 from Colonel Henry Rutgers (1745–1830), a wealthy landowner and former Revolutionary War officer from New York City. The trustees of the school renamed the school in honour of Colonel Rutgers in that year. Presidents of Rutgers College (1825–1924) Presidents of Rutgers University (1924–1945) Presidents of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (1945–present) References Notes Citations External links Rutgers University Office of the President of Rutgers University Lists of people by university or college in New Jersey Lists of university and college leaders