3 NJIT Highlanders Recognized for Environmental Leadership
New Jersey Institute of Technology Trustee Dennis Toft tops ROI-NJ’s inaugural list of influencers on the environment, which also features Trustee Gary Dahms and Colette Santasieri, executive director of NJIT’s Center for Community Systems (CCS).
Toft, chair of environmental law at Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi in Roseland, N.J., was recognized for being “one of the top environmental lawyers for decades — one whose impact on the state goes far beyond legal proceedings, into the shaping of policy and regulations that have helped both the environmental and business community.”
ROI-NJ added that Toft, who joined NJIT’s Board of Trustees in 2018, is “as impactful and influential now as he has ever been — a go-to source for environmentalists, government officials and business leaders.”
Dahms was honored for his work as CEO, president and chairman of T&M Associates, an engineering and environmental consulting firm, and Santasieri, for her leadership of a key unit of CCS: the New Jersey Brownfields Assistance Center (BAC).
Dahms joined NJIT’s Board of Trustees in 2011 and serves as chair of its Building and Grounds Committee.
As executive director of the BAC, Santasieri advises communities on how to clean up abandoned, environmentally damaged properties and turn them into viable developments. As such, she’s at the center of revitalizing cities and towns.
