State Business Publication Lists NJIT Officials Among Top Education VIPs

Five NJIT executives are featured in ROI-NJ's inaugural list of higher education influencers, which debuted this week.

On the academic side, the statewide business publication featured President Joel S. Bloom, Provost Fadi Deek and Newark College of Engineering Dean Moshe Kam. For industry relations, ROI-NJ highlighted Simon Nynens and Donald Sebastian, who are the CEO and president, respectively, of NJIT's New Jersey Innovation Institute (NJII).

Bloom, the publication stated, "[H]as helped lift NJIT to extraordinary levels. It is now recognized as a Top 100 university in the country — but doesn’t look anything like it did when Bloom started there, as the Newark campus has undergone an impressive rebuilding in recent years. Long a leader in all things STEM in the state, NJIT also can be saluted for its commitment to educating first-generation college students, especially those from underserved communities — with a noted emphasis on Newark."

"Deek has been an institution at the school for more than three decades as a student (he earned his bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate there), teacher, dean and now provost," ROI-NJ continued.

"Kam, a former president of IEEE, led the creation of Makerspace at NJIT, a training-focused, rapid prototyping facility that is central to both the university’s learning mission and its growing relationship with the state’s manufacturing community." (IEEE is the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, a widely respected global trade association.)

"NJII, which was founded at NJIT in 2014, is the prototype of how universities can bring ideas in the academic world into the marketplace," the ROI-NJ editors noted. "Nynens, a longtime entrepreneur and leader in the business world, is the perfect fit in this role."

They referred to Sebastian as "[A] Hall of Famer in the New Jersey tech community. A member of numerous boards throughout the state, Sebastian also serves as senior vice president of technology and business development at NJII."

Bloom, Nynens and Sebastian were also featured by ROI-NJ in March for a wider report that covered education, executive leadership, healthcare and technology.