Speakers, Honorees Named for NJIT's 2025 Commencement Ceremonies
New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) has named the distinguished keynote speakers and honorary degree recipients for its 2025 commencement ceremonies, each representing a remarkable journey of achievement and success. Visit https://commencement.njit.edu/ for all the details.
Undergraduate Ceremony
WHEN: Wednesday, May 21 at 9 a.m. (doors open at 7:30 a.m.)
WHERE: Prudential Center, 25 Lafayette St., Newark
KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Kevin O’Toole, managing partner at O’Toole Scrivo and chairman of the Board of Commissioners of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. He also served 21 years in the New Jersey Legislature as a senator and assemblyman. O’Toole holds a J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law and a bachelor’s in political science from Seton Hall.
HONORARY DOCTORATE RECIPIENTS: O’Toole; Dennis Bone, former president and CEO of Verizon New Jersey and executive in residence at Montclair State University’s Feliciano School of Business; and Jennifer Taubert, worldwide chairman, innovative medicine at Johnson & Johnson and a member of the Board of Directors of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.
Graduate Ceremonies
Master’s candidates at the Ying Wu College of Computing
WHEN: Monday, May 19 at 9 a.m. (doors open at 8 a.m.)
WHERE: Joel and Diane Bloom Wellness and Events Center at NJIT
KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Maria Vasquez Karim ’05, engineering program manager for YouTube ML hardware readiness at Google. She’s also co-chair lead of the Familia Employee Resource Group at YouTube. Earlier in her career, she worked at IBM, Intel and British Telecom. Karim holds a master’s in electrical and electronics engineering from Columbia University and a bachelor’s in computing engineering from NJIT, where she was an Albert Dorman Honors Scholar.
Master’s candidates at the Newark College of Engineering, Hillier College of Architecture and Design, Jordan Hu College of Science and Liberal Arts and Martin Tuchman School of Management
WHEN: May 19 at 1 p.m. (doors open at noon)
WHERE: Joel and Diane Bloom Wellness and Events Center at NJIT
KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Ken Colao ’77, CEO of construction management company CNY Group. He also serves as co-executive chair of NJIT’s Foundation Board of Directors and chair of the Advisory Board of NJIT’s Hillier College of Architecture and Design. Colao holds a bachelor’s in civil engineering from NJIT.
Ph.D. candidates at all academic colleges
WHEN: May 19 at 4 p.m. (doors open at 3 p.m.)
WHERE: Joel and Diane Bloom Wellness and Events Center at NJIT
KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Anita La Salle ’64, ’71, former program director at the Division for Computer and Network Systems at the National Science Foundation and retired computer science professor. She taught at NJIT and American University, and at the NSF helped create the Innovation Corps. La Salle holds a Ph.D. in computer science from Stevens Institute of Technology and both a master’s and bachelor’s in computer engineering from NJIT.
