Rutgers honors the memory of retired professor with flag tribute MyCentralJersey.com NEW BRUNSWICK - The Rutgers flag at Old Queens will be flown at half-staff Wednesday and Thursday in memory of retired biochemistry and microbiology associate professor William Ward. Ward, a Metuchen resident, died Nov. 3, 2020 of pancreatic cancer following a 42-year career at the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences. He retired in January 2020. In accordance with Rutgers policy, as an expression of university-wide mourning, the Rutgers Flag on the Old Queen’s campus in New Brunswick is flown at half-staff for a period of two days on the occasion of the death of a member or emeritus member of the Board of Governors or Board of Trustees, an administrative officer whose jurisdiction is universitywide; a regularly employed member of the university faculty and staff; a retired member of the university faculty and staff or a current student or Rutgers graduate who, at the time of death, was serving as an active member of the United States Armed Forces.