Robert G. Torricelli

Robert Torricelli represented New Jersey citizens as a senator from 1997–2003. During his tenure, he advocated for campaign finance reform, confronted New Jersey’s breast cancer epidemic, and worked to protect human rights, particularly in Latin American countries. He took a leading role in environmental issues, having negotiated an agreement with the Clinton administration that finally ended 100 years of ocean dumping off the New Jersey coast. Torricelli was also an ardent supporter of gun control. While a student at Rutgers, he was elected class president his junior and senior years, and he worked on Brendan Byrne’s successful 1973 campaign for governor. During the Carter administration, Torricelli served as a counsel to Vice President Walter Mondale. In 1982, at age 31, the citizens of the Ninth Congressional District elected Torricelli to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served until 1996, when the people of New Jersey elected him to the U.S. Senate. He resigned from the Rutgers Board of Governors upon his election to the House. In 2003, he established a business consulting firm, Rosemont Associates.