New program honors Newark leader Archived article from Sep 22, 2003 By Carla Capizzi   Gustav Heningburg has spent the past three decades as one of the strongest, most inspiring visionaries in Newark — helping to lead the city and its residents. To honor him and his work, the Rutgers Institute on Ethnicity, Culture, and the Modern Experience recently launched the Gustav Heningburg Civic Fellows program at Rutgers–Newark with the naming of four fellows. The program is working to create partnerships between Newark's established and rising leaders, and local and nationally known scholars, to find new ways to address some of the issues facing the city and to expand public involvement in the city's renewal. For its inaugural year, the program is examining the question "What Makes a Livable City?" in a series of public forums aimed at promoting understanding and citizen involvement. "The life of Gus Heningburg is richly textured by years of service to the city and people of Newark. It is virtually impossible to consider the last 30 years of meaningful progress here without recognizing his contributions to civil rights, community empowerment, urban affairs, higher education and informed analysis on the advancement of our collective interest," said Clement A. Price, Rutgers Board of Governors Distinguished Service Professor and director of the institute. "By naming this program in his honor, we hope to recognize and extend his legacy." Among his numerous accomplishments, Heningburg was the first president and CEO of the Greater Newark Urban Coalition, served as commissioner of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, chaired the Committee to Study the Governance of New Jersey's County Colleges, chaired the New Jersey Educational Opportunity Fund and served as a trustee of the Fund for New Jersey. A key goal of the forums, according to Price, is to encourage Newark citizens to develop a broader understanding of the cultural and historical context of issues, and to provide them with the tools they need to become more active participants. The first Heningburg fellows are: Modia Butler, executive director of Newark Now, and former executive director of Newark Do Something Debbie Salas-Lopez, M.D., assistant professor, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey–New Jersey Medical School & Medical Director of FOCUS Community Health Center Karen Torian, assistant executive director, Housing Authority of the City of Newark Nancy Zak, director of community organizing, Ironbound Community Center.

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