Walter E. Foran

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Walter Edge 'Moose' Foran (May 14, 1919 – December 8, 1986) was an American Republican Party politician from New Jersey, who served in both houses of the New Jersey Legislature. He followed in the footsteps of his father, Arthur F. Foran, who served in the New Jersey Senate.

Foran was born in Flemington, New Jersey, the fourth of five sons to Arthur F. and Elizabeth Foran. The eldest son, Dick Foran, would go on to be a famous B-movie actor. Walter Edge Foran was named in honor of Walter Evans Edge, his father's political mentor. Arthur F. Foran had already served as Mayor of Flemington before working as an aide to Edge, then Governor of New Jersey, in 1917. By the time of Walter Foran's birth in May 1919, Edge had been elected to the United States Senate.[1]

After graduating from Staunton Military Academy in Virginia, Foran attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He served in the Army field artillery in World War II.[2]

Foran served as the Hunterdon County Republican Chairman from 1961 to 1970. He was elected to the New Jersey State Assembly in 1969 and served as a member of the Joint Appropriations Committee, eventually becoming Minority Leader. He was elected to the New Jersey Senate in 1977, taking the seat of Anne Clark Martindell, a Democrat who resigned to serve in a series of positions in the Carter administration including United States Ambassador to New Zealand. In the Senate Foran was the ranking Republican on the Revenue, Finance and Appropriations Committee.[1]

Foran was considered an "old school statesman" and "an imposing figure" (hence the nickname "Moose"), who had "a congenial and persuasive manner and a quick mind."[3] He died in office in December 1986 at the age of 67. A special election to fill his seat was won by Dick Zimmer, then serving in the Assembly.

On the Cook College campus of Rutgers University, Walter E. Foran Hall was dedicated on October 30, 1995. It is a 154,000-square-foot complex housing the Biotechnology Center for Agriculture and the Environment, the Department of Plant Biology and Pathology, and the Chang Science Library.[4] Foran was an early champion of agricultural biotechnology and was instrumental in the founding of the center.[3]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b "The Forans of Hunterdon County", Politicker NJ, August 10, 2006. Accessed March 11, 2008.
  2. ^ "Walter Foran, State Senator And G.O.P. Official in Jersey". The New York Times, December 10, 1986. Accessed March 11, 2008.
  3. ^ a b "Dick Foran, 'The Singing Cowboy'", The Old Corral. Accessed March 11, 2008.
  4. ^ The George H. Cook Campus, Rutgers University. Accessed March 11, 2008.

[edit] External links

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