Celebrating 2 Years as NJIT President
Dear Highlanders,
July 1, 2024 marked my two-year anniversary as president of NJIT, and I am humbled to have had the opportunity to lead this great university throughout that time. The past two years have been incredibly fulfilling for my wife, Gina, and me as we have been welcomed into the NJIT family with open arms. This time also has been momentous for our university, as it has resulted in numerous and significant accomplishments.
We have been recognized as the only public university in New Jersey and one of only 54 total universities nationally to receive a five-star rating in Money’s annual best colleges list, and the Wall Street Journal ranked NJIT #19 overall and #2 among public universities in the United States. The New York Times college ranking tool rated NJIT #1 nationally among all public universities when you prioritize high alumni earnings, economic mobility, and academic profile, and the Princeton Review named us the #23 best value among public colleges and universities throughout the United States. We also climbed 11 spots in the annual U.S. News & World Report college rankings.
Our status as an R1 research university in the Carnegie Classification, which is the highest possible rating, was affirmed, and we grew our research activity to exceed $178 million during fiscal year 2022-23 and are on course to reach $200 million for 2023-24. We also launched the Center for Translational Research, which serves as a hub for commercialization training and development, with the support of a $6 million grant from the National Science Foundation. And our New Jersey Innovation Institute completed the sale of its subsidiary, BioCentriq Inc., for $73 million.
We recently concluded our most successful year ever, in terms of garnering philanthropic support, and we enrolled the largest and most diverse first-year classes in university history en route to becoming the only polytechnic university that is an R1 and is designated both an Asian-American Serving and Hispanic Serving Institution. In addition, our students, faculty, staff, alumni, and board members have won prestigious national and international awards, such as Goldwater scholarships, Fulbright fellowships, major research grants, as well as athletic and academic honors, and induction into national academies, among many others recognitions. And I had the opportunity to join New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and several business leaders on a mission to expand economic and academic partnerships in East Asia.
We filled key leadership positions during the last two years. These include the hiring of John A. Pelesko as senior vice president and provost, David E. Jones as NJIT’s first chief diversity officer, Ed Wozencroft as vice president for digital strategy and chief information officer, Michael Johnson as president of the New Jersey Innovation Institute, Susan Gross as vice provost for enrollment management, Gabrielle Esperdy as dean of the Hillier College of Architecture and Design, and Jamie Payton as dean of the Ying Wu College of Computing. We also set a course for our future by developing and launching a new strategic plan that will enhance our status as the greatest producer of technological talent and knowledge in New Jersey by enabling us to become a nexus of innovation — a physical and intellectual focal point for innovative ideas, actions, and people.
These have been truly remarkable years, and I want to thank each of you who have helped make these achievements and so many others possible. NJIT has many strengths, but none is greater than the collective talent and spirit of its people. You are the primary reason for our university’s remarkable ascension, and your continued commitment to NJIT is what will fuel our rise even higher. Thank you all for your support of NJIT!
Sincerely,
Teik C. Lim
NJIT President
