Three-Time NJIT Alum and Medtech Leader Robert C. Cohen Named New NJIT Board of Trustees Chair
New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) is pleased to announce that Robert C. Cohen ’83, ’84, ’87, of Basking Ridge, NJ, has been appointed Chair of its Board of Trustees. Cohen succeeds Stephen P. DePalma ’72, who stepped down after a distinguished seven-year term.
Cohen has formed a close lasting connection with NJIT as a three-time alum and as an influential member of the university’s leadership, offering strategic guidance through his service on NJIT’s board since 2018, as well as on the Newark College of Engineering’s Board of Visitors and Alumni Association Board of Directors for over 10 years.
“Without question, it is a privilege and honor to serve my alma mater in this capacity, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to help lead the college into the future,” said Cohen. “As the new Chair of NJIT’s Board of Trustees, I commit to you that my fellow board members’ and my efforts always will be guided by the greatest interests of NJIT’s students, alumni, faculty and staff.”
Cohen is President of Digital, Robotics, and Enabling Technologies at Stryker Corporation — one of the world’s leading healthcare technology companies, with more than 40,000 employees distributed across 11 countries. This position includes the driving of Stryker’s enterprise-wide digital healthcare strategy, accelerating innovation on new surgical robotic and enabling technology platforms and applications, and utilizing high-speed connectivity to benefit operating rooms of the future.
As an engineer, Cohen’s contributions to the growth and success of NJIT are joined by his decorated 35-year plus career in the MedTech industry. He holds more than 25 patents and is noted for developing novel biomaterials for implantable medical device use, innovating orthopedic protheses designs using metal 3D printing, bringing bone-cutting surgical robotics into hospitals for total joint procedures, and leveraging digital health clinical data to assist in improving patient outcomes.
Cohen has led numerous collaborations with NJIT faculty in the R&D and commercialization of medical devices and equipment to advance robotics-assisted joint surgery, while also playing an integral role with Stryker in currently employing more than 100 NJIT alumni throughout the Fortune 500 company’s N.J.-based facilities.
Among his many professional distinctions, Cohen is a Fellow to the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering; a Research and Development Council of New Jersey board member and a Stryker R&D Fellow. In addition, he was recently named “Champion of the C-Suite” by ROI-NJ Publishing, which is awarded to technology executives of companies in New Jersey who are influencers, trailblazers, innovators and exemplary leaders creating a better tomorrow for the Garden State’s business community.
Cohen has also been a strong advocate in championing diversity and inclusion programs at Stryker and advancing STEM education, especially in New Jersey. Stryker has partnered with the NJIT Center for Pre-College Programs in an effort to get more high school students interested in a technical career path. Cohen has served the Newark community with STEM education opportunities locally through a Stryker-NJIT-Newark partnership that sponsors Malcolm X Shabazz High School’s new Engineering Academy.
At NJIT, Cohen earned both a B.S. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering and an M.S. in Engineering Management.
About NJIT
One of only 32 polytechnic universities in the United States, New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) prepares students to become leaders in the technology-dependent economy of the 21st century. NJIT’s multidisciplinary curriculum and computing-intensive approach to education provide technological proficiency, business acumen and leadership skills. NJIT is one of only 131 universities rated an “R1” research university by the Carnegie Classification®, which indicates the highest level of research activity. NJIT conducts more than $160 million in research activity each year and has a $2.8 billion annual economic impact on the State of New Jersey. NJIT is ranked No. 1 nationally by Forbes for the upward economic mobility of its lowest-income students and is ranked in the top 100 colleges and universities nationally for the mid-career earnings of graduates, according to PayScale.com. NJIT also is ranked third in New Jersey and 74th among colleges and universities nationwide by the QS World University Ranking® 2020.
About Stryker Corporation
Stryker is one of the world’s leading medical technology companies and, together with our customers, is driven to make healthcare better. They offer innovative products and services in Orthopaedics, Medical and Surgical, and Neurotechnology and Spine that help improve patient and hospital outcomes.
