Governor Phil Murphy Visits NJIT, Announces Three New Cabinet Appointees
Governor Phil Murphy visited NJIT’s campus today to announce three new appointments to his cabinet.
“What a treat to be back at NJIT. This is where, about 18 months ago, I laid out our vision for a stronger and fairer economy that would lift every New Jerseyan,” Murphy said.
“This is an institution that has opened the doors to the middle class for countless graduates and their families. It is where our innovation economy takes root.”
Murphy announced Zakiya Smith Ellis as the secretary of higher education, B. Sue Fulton as chair and chief administrator of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, and Deirdre Webster Cobb, Esq. as chair and chief executive officer of the Civil Service Commission.
According to Murphy, for the first time in New Jersey’s 242 years, the majority of a governor’s cabinet appointments are female.
Smith Ellis formerly served on the White House Domestic Policy Council under President Barack Obama. Currently, she is the director of finance and federal policy at the Lumina Foundation, where she leads efforts to develop new models to help students afford postsecondary education, including working with states to design college affordability initiatives.
Fulton is a veteran of the United States Army and a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Most recently, Fulton served as a global project lead at Pfizer Consumer Health, where she developed programs to extend access to products for low-income customers.
Fulton currently serves as executive director of the Women in the Service Change Initiative, a nonprofit dedicated to advocating for women in the U.S. Armed Forces. She also currently serves on the U.S. Military Academy Board of Visitors, to which she was appointed by President Obama.
Webster Cobb is the current Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action officer at the New Jersey Department of Treasury, where she oversees enforcement of state policies prohibiting discrimination in the workplace.