LEADING INTO THE FUTURE
LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
NJIT’s
2019 annual report, Leading into the Future, is a celebration of our achievements, as well as a record of the advancements we have made over the past year. In this annual report, you will read about NJIT’s remarkable progress toward completion of its previous strategic plan, 2020 Vision. NJIT students are succeeding at record levels, and we are continuously striving to maximize their educational experiences by incorporating real-world skills and cutting-edge instructional methods. We have greatly increased our institution’s capacity for research, innovation and entrepreneurship in recent years, and even more is envisioned for the near future. Initiatives such as VentureLink are helping faculty and students turn their research and ideas into commercial products. Additionally, the new Microfabrication Innovation Center promises opportunities for critical scientific breakthroughs. As this publication goes to press, though, our individual and collective attention has turned toward the future and the uncertainties of what it holds for us in the near-term. We are in the midst of a global pandemic and in the early stages of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak in the United States. Universities throughout much of the country have moved exclusively to online education; K-12 schools, in large part, have followed that same path; businesses are closing or encouraging massive numbers within the workforce to perform their duties remotely, if possible; entire cities and even nations are on lockdown; and we are a society that finds it necessary to stay away from one another (social distancing) in order to best care for one another. This is an uncertain and unnerving time, but we will defeat this virus by making the individual sacrifices necessary for the common good and through the power of scientific and technological innovation. So, it is my hope that this publication will provide you with a reminder of not just what NJIT accomplished during 2019, but also with the confidence that we have the people, the ability and the will to prevail over our current circumstances and emerge stronger in the future. n Sincerely,
Joel S. Bloom President
njit.edu
2019 President’s Report 1
