Eliminating Barriers for Graduate Students
The Louis Eckstein Fellowship, created by a faculty member in honor of his late father, supports graduate students in the Rutgers School of Public Affairs and Administration at Rutgers-Newark.
After caring for and ultimately losing her almost 3-year-old daughter Penelope to cancer in 2021, Cassandra Izquierdo changed her path to devote her life to childhood cancer advocacy and awareness.
She transferred from the University of Central Florida to the Rutgers School of Public Affairs and Administration (SPAA) at Rutgers–Newark, earning an undergraduate degree in 2025. She moved on to the school’s graduate program as an Eckstein Fellow, which allowed her to complete a master’s degree in public administration in May.
“I am very grateful for the fellowship,” says Izquierdo, who lives in Garfield, New Jersey. “The fellowship and other financial aid I received gave me peace of mind and an opportunity to fully focus on my academics rather than worry about how I would pay my tuition. It also helped me reduce my financial stress and pay for a winter course so I could graduate on time.”
Izquierdo worked at Rutgers–Newark as an orientation leader for the Office of New Student and Family Programs and for the Office of Career Resources and Exploration, first as a Raider career ambassador and then as a graduate coordinator. After volunteering with organizations to fundraise for cancer research and host blood drives, she is seeking a full-time position in nonprofit development operations. She says she has “a passion for helping my community and creating a positive, lasting impact.”
A Legacy of Support
Izquierdo is one of more than a dozen students who have benefited from the Louis Eckstein Fellowship since its establishment in 2014. Rutgers lecturer Norman Eckstein created the Louis Eckstein Fellowship in memory of his father, who died from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, at age 56.
Norman Eckstein, and his brother Craig Eckstein, were first-generation college students. Norman received his MPA in 2008 from the Rutgers School of Public Affairs and Administration, and he divides his time between his work as a lecturer in the SPAA graduate program and as the chief financial officer and tax collector for Boonton Township in Morris County.
A graduate of Clifton High School who lives in West Orange, New Jersey, Eckstein says he is concerned about social mobility. “Knowing how important public education is, and knowing and hearing that getting financial resources for graduate students is not that easy, I thought it would be a good idea to give money for graduate programs,” he says. “My fellowship will hopefully eliminate one of the barriers for people to continue in their studies.”
Eckstein says people remember his father, a truck driver for a lumber company who grew up in Paterson, New Jersey, for his smile and his kindness.
“I think the idea of my father having a strong work ethic” has encouraged my brother and I to succeed, he says.
In addition, Eckstein says that he is inspired by his graduate students who also work hard to succeed, he says. “I know that students at Rutgers–Newark are balancing life and pleasure and work, so I am hoping that my fellowship will hopefully reduce financial stress for them.”
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