Nobel-winning economist Milton Friedman, who died this month, was recognized for his work during his life - but now Rutgers senior David Maxham dedicates a Daily Targum column to the man he calls “Our Forgotten Alumnus.”

Earlier this month, a great American passed away. Milton Friedman was the son of Jewish immigrants from Austria-Hungary who settled in Rahway. He managed his way through college and graduate school after his father’s early death.
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Though for a time he attempted to teach at the University of Wisconsin, Friedman’s career was stymied by anti-Semitic sentiment, and he returned to government work. He was the recipient of the prestigious John Bates Clark Medal - for influential economists under the age of 40 - the Nobel Prize in Economics, the National Medal of Science and, in 1988, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, among many other awards and recognitions.
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But despite fighting bigotry and accomplishing these amazing feats, Friedman has been negligently underplayed here on the banks of the Raritan River. No building bears his name, and there is no Rutgers scholarship in his honor. Heck, he did not even get a floor in Mettler Hall - which was named after him.
Last year, I along with other members of [Rutger’s conservative journal] The Centurion staff, tried to convince the Rutgers administration to do at least one of the above. New Jersey Hall - seat of the economics department at the University - was offered by the magazine’s staff as the most suitable structure. After all, it is the economics department, and what kind of bland name is New Jersey Hall, anyway? Unfortunately, University President Richard L. McCormick’s administration disagreed - saying that no one of any actual consequence wanted the name of the building changed and that it would probably require some kind of donation.
I suppose being a Rutgers alumnus who changes the face of American economic theory does not count. And so - to this day - nothing at Rutgers is named for Friedman.
I urge McCormick and the University administration to revisit this issue, do the right thing and not let this giant of 20th century economics fade into obscurity on this campus. Doing so would also go a long way in showing that the University administration is interested in seeing real debate and discussion of the issues and not the steady drumbeat of big-government enthusiasts.