Burkina Faso RPCV Timothy J. Rutenber dies in Buffalo
TIMOTHY J. RUTENBER, OFFICIAL IN UB FOREIGN PROGRAM, DIES
Apr 4, 2004
Buffalo News
Timothy J. Rutenber, a top administrator in University at Buffalo's Office of International Education, died Wednesday (March 31, 2004) in his Clarence Center home after a long battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease. He was 50.
A native of Sidney, he grew up on his family's dairy farm near Mount Upton. He graduated from Mount Upton Central Schools and earned a bachelor's degree from Clarkson University in Potsdam and a master's in public administration from Cornell University.
As a Peace Corps volunteer in Upper Volta, West Africa, he worked with rural villagers on rice irrigation and vegetable gardening. He later worked in Niger on a University of Dayton-sponsored agricultural research project and for the U.S. Agency for International Development.
In 1979, he married Pamela Winters in a chapel in Niamey, the capital of Niger.
Mr. Rutenber returned to the United States, attended Cornell and accepted a job at Tufts University, in Medford, Mass., as campus administrator of another USAID project in Niger.
In 1986, he joined UB in a temporary job as director of a cooperative education program with the Malaysian government.
UB soon hired him on a permanent basis, and Mr. Rutenber played a major role in establishing the Office of International Education, becoming its chief operating officer.
He helped UB win subsequent contract programs in a variety of countries, including Indonesia, Taiwan, Cambodia, Korea and Japan, and traveled extensively as part of his work.
He was appointed to his most recent position, associate vice provost for international education, in 1991. Last year, he received the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Professional Service.
Mr. Rutenber was a member of a number of professional organizations. The Association of International Education Administrators established an award for outstanding service in his name.
He was a longtime lector and active member of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Swormville.
In addition to his wife, Mr. Rutenber is survived by a son, William A. of Clarence Center; his father, Rodney E., and stepmother, Althea, both of Mount Upton; a sister, Connie Ackley of South New Berlin; and three brothers, Reno of Mount Upton, the Rev. Daniel of Smiths Mills and Thomas of Homesville.
Prayers will be said at 9:15 a.m. Monday in Urban Brothers Funeral Home, 5895 Goodrich Road, Clarence Center. A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 10 in St. Mary's Catholic Church, 6919 Transit Road, Swormville. Burial will be in Prospect Hill Cemetery, Sidney.
