NJIT will receive a $150,000 gift from PSEG to launch a scholarship for freshmen enrolled in NJIT’s Albert Dorman Honors College.
“The scholarship symbolizes the ongoing partnership between our institutions,” said Rodney Dickens, an NJIT alum and PSE&G’s vice president of asset management and centralized services. “There is a long tradition of NJIT alumni who have had long, successful careers with Public Service. This scholarship will help make an NJIT education more affordable, and help to ensure a pool of skilled workers for companies like PSE&G in the future.”
The PSEG Honors Scholarship Endowment will be available to freshmen enrolling next fall in NJIT’s Honors College. Recipients will also have the opportunity to consider a compensated internship at PSEG. In granting scholarships, preference will be given to students who plan to study engineering or the following sciences including management, computer, information, chemistry, physics and mathematics.
NJIT President Robert A. Altenkirch said that he is always pleased to see corporate partners support learning. “The generosity of this gift coming from PSEG is unusually gratifying. Some 200 professional PSEG employees are also NJIT alumni. In 2006, these alums, with help from PSEG’s matching employee gift program, donated $70,000 to NJIT. The grant is especially notable because it recognizes what so many of us in education have been saying for a long time. We need to encourage and reward math and science education so that our best people can remain in these fields. Attention like this can go a long way as a model for others in education and industry.”
The PSEG alumni maintain an active and visible presence through the PSEG/NJIT Corporate Club. The group, which meets four times a year, participates in events ranging from luncheons to lectures. They also maintain an active presence at NJIT’s semi-annual career fairs. So far this year, club events have included a discussion of volunteer opportunities at NJIT and a luncheon featuring a talk by chemist Zafar Iqbal, a research professor in the department of chemistry and environmental science at NJIT.
Club members include Frank Cassidy (NJIT, Class of 1969), PSEG President and Chief Operating Officer (retired); Russ Furnari, (NJIT, Class of 1979), PSEG Environmental Policy Manager; John Lombardini (NJIT, Class of 1975) PSEG Public Affairs Manager; Peter Cistaro (NJIT, Class of 1968), PSEG Vice President of Gas and Delivery (retired) and member since 2001 of the NJIT Board of Trustees.
(ATTENTION EDITORS: To attend the celebration of the award on Oct. 15, 2007, 4:30-6 p.m., at PSEG’s headquarters in Newark, call Rosalyn Roberts, 973-596-3433.)