NJIT Highlanders Among Top Women in NJ Business

ROI-NJ recognized deans, administrators, board members, alumni and a director from New Jersey Institute of Technology as the most influential women in business for 2025.

Four of the Highlanders made the top 50 list: Trustee Elisa Charters; Michele Siekerka and Debbie Hart, who both serve on the Board of Directors of NJIT’s New Jersey Innovation Institute; and Becky Button, who serves on the Advisory Board of NJIT’s Hillier College of Architecture and Design.

The others are part of the publication’s broader, alphabetical list. Here’s a closer look at the NJIT honorees.

Deans

Gabrielle Esperdy is dean of NJIT’s Hillier College of Architecture and Design, which offers undergraduate and graduate degrees and online certificates, including a nationally-ranked game design program.

Oya Tukel is dean of NJIT’s Martin Tuchman School of Management, which offers undergraduate and graduate degrees and certificates, including a Tech MBA.

Director

Nancy Steffen-Fluhr is director of the Murray Center for Women in Technology and an associate professor of humanities and social sciences.

Administrators

Catherine Brennan is senior vice president and chief financial officer.

Angela Garretson is chief of public and community affairs.

Barbara Kauffman oversees corporate relations for the Martin Tuchman School of Management.

Board members

Charters, president of Latina Surge, joined the Board of Trustees in 2021 after serving on NJIT’s Hispanic and Latinx Leadership Council and the Board of Advisors of its Martin Tuchman School of Management. She’s also an alumna with a bachelor’s in environmental science/science, technology and society and a master’s in environmental science/chemical engineering.

Button, co-managing director and co-principal of the Morristown branch of Gensler, a global architecture, design and planning firm, joined the Hillier College Advisory Board in 2023.

Kim Vierheilig, president of the national buildings group at STV, joined the Board of Trustees last year after serving on the Foundation Board of Directors and the Advisory Board for Hillier College. She earned two degrees at NJIT: a bachelor’s in architecture and master’s in management.

Marjorie Perry, president and CEO of MZM Construction & Management, is a member of NJIT’s Foundation Board of Directors and holds an MBA from NJIT.

Siekerka, president and CEO of the New Jersey Business & Industry Association, joined the NJII board in 2016.

Hart, president and CEO of BioNJ, joined the NJII board in 2014.

Judith Sheft, executive director of the New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology, serves on the Advisory Board of two NJIT bodies: the Leir Research Institute for Business, Technology and Society and the Murray Center for Women in Technology.

Alumni

Komal Dangi, CEO of VeriKlick and president of the Asian Indian Chamber of Commerce, holds an MBA from NJIT.

Stacy McCormack, a partner at TwentyTwenty, holds a master’s in environmental policy from NJIT.