2025 HCSLA Awards Cap Historic Year, Honor Princeton University Press Director
NJIT’s Jordan Hu College of Science and Liberal Arts (HCSLA) capped one of the most eventful years in its history with its annual awards ceremony recently — the first under its new name, which was prominently displayed on gonfalons and signage decorating the Joel & Diane Bloom Wellness and Events Center to mark the occasion.
The event attracted university leaders like NJIT President Teik C. Lim, alongside students, faculty, alumni and special guests including Princeton University Press (PUP) Director Christie Henry, for an afternoon celebrating this year’s standout performers and the college’s rich history spanning more than four decades.
HCSLA Dean Kevin Belfield opened festivities by reflecting on a transformational year for the college made possible by alumnus Jordan Hu '89, founder and chief executive officer of RiskVal Financial Solutions, LLC, whose historic gift — the largest ever from an NJIT graduate — led to the college’s renaming in the fall.
“Jordan is committed to the unique role that this college plays at this polytechnic university. … Each of your efforts are what gave him the confidence to invest in this college,” said Belfield, who went on to highlight a banner year for HCSLA marked by multiple NSF CAREER Award winners, increased student enrollment across all levels and growth in faculty and instructional staff. “It takes a village — or in our case, a college — to pull it all together.”
Taking center stage was Henry, who delivered the keynote as this year’s recipient of the Jay Kappraff Award for Excellence in Science and the Arts. In 2017, she became the first woman to lead Princeton University Press, overseeing a team of 170 and a legacy of more than 9,000 publications.
Henry shared her perspective on challenges facing today’s publishing landscape, touching on generative AI’s impact on creative work and ongoing battles over copyright and censorship.
“Publishers exist to shape the world of ideas and learning,” Henry added, citing formative collections published by PUP since its founding in 1905 — such as those of Einstein, Thoreau and Jung, among others. “I never imagined I would be here talking about protecting freedoms to publish. … Race, justice, and equity have been, and will continue to be a pillar of who we are.”
Henry highlighted troubling U.S. literacy trends: nearly one in five adults reads below a fifth-grade level, which she said costs the economy over $2 trillion annually. She also noted that 42% of college students never pick up another book after graduating.
“Please help us change that statistic,” said Henry, who went on to cite new research on reading’s range of mental and social benefits, including its role in preventing diseases like Alzheimer’s. “Books are where we integrate science and the arts — the very work celebrated here. As publishers, we help authors’ work reach the world and earn recognition. I’m incredibly grateful to be here today in a space where publishers are recognized too.”
However, the spotlight soon shifted to HCSLA’s honorees — including exceptional graduate and undergraduate students from the class of 2025, faculty and staff, and star alumni from across the U.S. and beyond.
Above: President Lim congratulates this year's HCSLA award winners, including Grant Bowers, a third-year Ph.D. candidate at NJIT modeling how birds and mammals on small islands overlap in distribution to form unique species communities.
Among the Distinguished Alumni Award recipients was Te-Sheng Lin ’12, a mathematics professor at Taiwan’s National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, recognized for his research in fluid dynamics and machine learning to study complex natural phenomena like liquid droplets and film flows.
Above: Dean Kevin Belfield presents the HCSLA Distinguished Alumni Award to Te-Sheng Lin on stage.
Rising Star Alumni awardees included Christa Haskins ’18, director of information governance, cyber law, e-discovery and ESI at Becton, Dickinson and Company; Rucheet Patel ’19, director of supply chain at Evergreen Theragnostics; and Alexis Telyczka ’20, a published poet and award-winning playwright completing her master’s at The New School while working as an NJIT admissions recruiter.
Above: Patel and Telyczka express gratitude on stage after receiving HCSLA’s Rising Star Alumni awards.
“It’s an honor to be back on the campus that once felt so new to me when I first arrived in this country, holding on tight to my idea of the American dream,” recalled Patel, whose summer internship at NJIT’s New Jersey Innovation Institute opened the door to leadership roles in pharmaceutical supply chain management. “I came with ambition, but what I found here was more than education — it was community and a foundation that became a launchpad.”
Rising Star Alumni awardee Olivia Dudley ‘16, a graduate of the Department of Biological Sciences’ pre-med program — which reported a 95% matriculation rate this year — returned to her alma mater as lead physician assistant in Summit Health’s orthopedic surgery department.
As part of her acceptance speech, Dudley spoke directly to students in the audience, encouraging them with one final take home message: not to let anyone define their limits as they chase their dreams.
“If there’s something you’re passionate about, pursue it with everything you have,” she said. “No dream is too big, no obstacle too great, when you’re driven by purpose and perseverance.”
This year, roughly 30 alumni were honored for their accomplishments across a wide range of fields. Click here for the full list of award recipients.
