James H. Rhodes CCAS’94 served as Camden County’s deputy county administrator and is now vice president and executive director at PERMA Risk Management. Photo by John O’Boyle.
Nineteen years passed between Jim Rhodes’ freshman year and his graduation from Rutgers–Camden that was his launching pad for a successful career in government and insurance. As an alumnus, he devoted countless hours to volunteering for the university, including overseeing restructuring of the Rutgers University Alumni Association (RUAA) and serving as its inaugural chair. He will be inducted into the Hall of Distinguished Alumni on April 23.
James Rhodes says it was a “dark time” in his life.
In his early 30s and a married father of two young children, he worked as a stevedore, unloading barges on the docks at Petty Island, an industrial shipping site in the Delaware River between Philadelphia and South Jersey. He labored, he says, in “eyesight” of the Rutgers University–Camden campus, where he had started school in the mid-1970s but had not earned a degree.
Finishing college at that point seemed like a discarded dream.
In his six years as a student in the late ’70s and early ’80s, he had been a political activist, a bartender, and a promoter of punk rock bands. After dropping out and starting a family, he looked for a job that paid better. He landed the stevedore role where at one time he had the assignment of crawling under 18-wheel truck trailers when they were lifted up for loading.
“It was a tough job, but I was making very good money,” he says. “I had a mortgage and kids.”
One day he was inspecting trailers when he tripped and fell. He reached to catch himself and wrenched his arm in the process. Soon after his arm went numb. He ultimately went through a year and a half of surgeries and treatment for nerve damage and was unable to return to work, qualifying for disability payments.
“It was very stressful,” he says. “I asked myself often, ‘What am I going to do?’”
Longtime Rutgers faculty and staff member Cal Maradonna, left, and Rhodes in the Rutgers–Camden Alumni House
When he learned that the New Jersey Division of Vocational Rehabilitation would pay for college tuition, he returned to finish his degree at Rutgers–Camden. He had kept in touch with Cal Maradonna, who at the time was associate provost of student affairs, who encouraged him.
“Cal was always a big supporter of mine on campus, and he tried to keep me from dropping out,” Rhodes says.
Even after Rhodes dropped out, Maradonna had reached out and invited him to events and made him aware of lectures and other campus activities. “He often said to me, ‘You’re always welcome back.’”
Returning to Rutgers–Camden marked the turning point toward Rhodes’ long-term career success.
“I went back,” he says. “I overloaded for two semesters. I was on the dean’s list each of those semesters. I had a new perspective.”
Philadelphia Roots
Rhodes' student I.D. in 1979
Rhodes was born in Philadelphia and lived in the west part of the city before moving to Southwest Philadelphia. His mother was a nurse and his father was a Philadelphia police officer who later worked as director of security and operations for the Philadelphia Eagles and the Spectrum, the arena where the NBA 76ers played and concerts from Bruce Springsteen to Frank Sinatra took place. The family moved to South Jersey when Rhodes was in high school, and he graduated from Washington Township High School in 1975 and enrolled at Rutgers–Camden.
His political activism, part-time jobs as a punk rock promoter and bartender at The Grille, a popular Camden hangout, kept him busy as a student his first stint on campus. While taking a political science course, he landed an internship with a state assemblyman and befriended Patricia Egan Jones, a Camden County government leader who later would serve in the state legislature.
The internship that Rutgers facilitated would pay dividends and then some, more than a decade later.
‘Making the World a Better Place’
After his graduation in 1994, he connected with Jones who recommended him as an aide to newly appointed Camden County Commissioner Ed McDonnell, a role he held for four years. He then took a position in the insurance industry as a lobbyist for ten years but in 2007 was offered the role of deputy county administrator for Camden County. He retired from that role in 2025 and became vice president and executive director for New Jersey Health Insurance Funds at PERMA Risk Management.
He credits many in his career for supporting him, but he says it began with returning to Rutgers–Camden.
Rhodes with former Governor Phil Murphy
“I can say that earning a degree from Rutgers University changed my life,” he says. “I was able to take advantage of opportunities along the way because of Rutgers.”
He has served—and continues to serve—on numerous government committees and in nonprofit associations, including chairing the Camden County Board of Social Services for more than 20 years. A resident of Haddon Township, he chairs the town’s Shade Tree Commission. He also is vice chair of the nonprofit Larc Norcross School in Bellmawr, New Jersey, which provides for the specialized needs of children with disabilities.
“I’ve always believed in being involved in the community and trying to do things for the better, making the world a better place,” he says.
Leading a Rutgers Alumni Association Reorganization
Rhodes with his daughter Sydney, a 2011 graduate of Rutgers–New Brunswick
Rhodes remained closely connected to Rutgers after earning his degree, participating in various alumni associations. His volunteer roles at the university grew, including chairing the Rutgers–Camden Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Leadership Council and serving on the universitywide Rutgers Board of Trustees from 2012 through 2024.
His signature accomplishment as a Rutgers volunteer is serving as inaugural chair of the RUAA Board of Directors from 2008–2011, leading restructuring of the association to connect all of Rutgers’ chartered alumni associations under one umbrella.
“The RUAA has had a tremendous impact,” Rhodes says. “Today you will find alumni groups across the country and across the world that in some ways receive support and inspiration from the RUAA.”
Rhodes says he was “speechless” when he learned that he was being inducted into the Hall of Distinguished Alumni.
“It's an incredible honor because I’ve seen the type of individuals who have been honored before me,” he says. “It means a lot to me because of the journey I’ve taken.”
Nominator’s Remarks
Jim Rhodes has spent his career, both in the private sector and in public service, working for the benefit of society. And in his “spare” time, he has devoted himself to serving the university in numerous leadership roles. Year in and year out, Jim has given his time and support in multiple ways to the university. —Margaret Marsh, University Professor and Distinguished Professor; Executive Dean Emerita, Faculty of Arts and Sciences–Camden; former interim chancellor Rutgers–Camden
James Rhodes is one of five inductees who will be formally inducted into the Rutgers Hall of Distinguished Alumni in a ceremony starting at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, April 23, at Park Chateau Estates & Gardens, 678 Cranbury Road, East Brunswick, New Jersey. For more information, visit the Hall of Distinguished Alumni page.
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