Historian Jonathan Holloway will be named as Rutgers first black president

Rutgers University is set to name its first black president, Jonathan Holloway, provost of Northwestern University and a former Stanford football player, NJ Advance Media has learned.

Holloway will be named president Tuesday, pending formal approval by the university’s Board of Governors and Board of Trustees, according to a high-ranking university official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the hiring is not final.

NJ Advance Media first learned of the selection from four sources who had knowledge of the decision but were not authorized to speak on the record.

Holloway, 52, will replace current president Robert Barchi, who announced in July he will step down at the end of the 2019-20 school year. A historian specializing in African American studies, Holloway received his undergraduate degree from Stanford University, where he played football with New Jersey U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, according to his official Northwestern University biography.