Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison never attended college, but he did earn 9 honorary degrees, including 2 from Rutgers. 🎓

In 1922, Rutgers honored Edison for what they called his “splendid achievements in the cause of civilization,” recognizing the impact his inventions had on everyday life.

What makes that story interesting is not just the recognition itself, but what it says about education.

Edison learned by experimenting.
By asking questions.
By failing constantly and trying again.
His laboratories = his classrooms.

Years later, universities across the country recognized in Edison the same qualities today's graduates carry with them: curiosity, resilience, and the drive to keep learning.

As graduation season reminds us, some of the most important learning happens long after the diploma.

Congratulations to the Class of 2026, and to the curiosity, resilience, and ambition that will shape whatever comes next!

Picture West Orange in the 1890s. Not far from busy rail lines and growing neighborhoods, a strange, all black building sat on Thomas Edison’s lab grounds.

It did not look like much, but it did move. Covered in tarpaper, set on a rotating base, with a roof that opened to the sky, the structure followed the best source of light ☀️. This was what they dubbed "the Black Maria."

Inside, something entirely new was taking shape.

Edison built the space to test film technology and produce short films for Kinetoscope parlors. Performers came through New Jersey to step in front of the lens, vaudeville acts, dancers, everyday moments turned into moving images.

These films were short and simple, but groundbreaking. For the first time, people were creating motion pictures for entertainment.

Before film had Hollywood, before it was a $360B industry, it had a beginning. And that beginning was here in New Jersey.

Show up for the work. That is where opportunity is hiding. 💡