85-Year-Old Engineer Gets Master’s From Rutgers, Becomes School’s Oldest Graduate

At age 85, Tom Maniscalco earned his master's in Methods of Applied Engineering from Rutgers University. His achievement set a new record at the school.

"It's a sense of accomplishment at my age," said Maniscalco to Rutgers Today.

His first try at Rutgers in 1957 ended early. "When I started at Rutgers, I was taking, as a freshman, 21 credits — and that's part of the problem," said Maniscalco to NJ.com. Mental strain and an overloaded schedule forced him to step away.

Life took an exciting turn when he joined Bendix Corporation. There, he put his skills to work on Saturn V rocket test gear for Apollo missions. By 1967, he had earned his bachelor's from New York University.

His work at Kearfott Guidance & Navigation proved vital to the Space Shuttle program's success. Not stopping there, he pushed forward to gain more credentials from New Jersey Institute of Technology, including a Doctor of Engineering.

At 79, retirement opened a new door. He started taking classes at Rutgers one at a time. The shift to online learning during COVID-19 made studying from his Garfield home much simpler.

His dedication caught Professor Marcio Fuzeto Gameiro's eye. "He was always the very first student to turn in the assignments," Gameiro said.

Now vice chair of his local American Society of Mechanical Engineers chapter, his passion started young. At just 8 years old in 1948, he found his calling while building a house with his grandfather on Long Island.

"When I got this degree, it's some closure because my father sent me to Rutgers to get a degree in mechanical engineering, which I was never able to achieve. I'm back where I started," said Maniscalco.

Though accepted into Rutgers' Mechanical Aerospace Engineering Ph.D. program, he's chosen to wrap up his academic path. His focus now shifts to personal interests: studying aerodynamics and World War II aircraft.