Dolores Morris’ road to a career in television production was circuitous but ultimately fruitful and rewarding — from Children’s Television Workshop to ABC to Disney to HBO. It didn’t come easily, however.

Morris, speaking at New Jersey Institute of Technology on International Women’s Day, explained that at times she was among few women in the room and the only person of color. Still, she found the strength to assert herself, perhaps remembering the words of her father: “You can be whatever you want to be.”

A year earlier than targeted, New Jersey Institute of Technology has earned the federal distinction of being a Hispanic-serving institution (HSI).

Four NJIT Highlanders are featured in NJBIZ’s Power 100 list for 2024, including President Teik C. Lim.

The others are Luis De La Hoz, who serves on NJIT’s Hispanic Latinx Leadership Council, and two members of the Board of Directors of NJIT’s New Jersey Innovation Institute: Debbie Hart and Michele Siekerka.

In its entry for Lim, the business publication cited the high rank that NJIT achieved from The Wall Street Journal/College Pulse last year: No. 19 in the U.S. — the second highest ranking for a public university.

Engineer and diversity consultant Randal Pinkett opened New Jersey Institute of Technology’s Black History Month celebration by directly addressing inequities that still face minority communities in 2024.

Pinkett worked out of NJIT’s VentureLink startup incubator and earned an honorary doctorate of science in 2007. “It has been an absolute blessing to be a part of this university community. Everywhere I go, I carry my NJIT ID,” he said.

It has been close to 50 years since Bob Medina ’75 graduated from NJIT as an engineer, and when he looks back at his journey, he marvels at how NJIT gave him the tools to excel. In fact, he still has the slide rule he used in class, in the days before calculators were allowed and laptops existed.

A new committee aims to accelerate gender equity among faculty members at New Jersey Institute of Technology.

The Women Faculty Advisory Committee, chaired by Nancy Steffen-Fluhr, will hold peer forums to examine key issues based on the testimony of junior faculty members. It also intends to poll women faculty to gather quantitative data. Both will fuel an action plan and create a foundation for measuring progress toward faculty gender diversity. 

The New Jersey Chamber of Commerce and African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey have recognized NJIT as an Emerging Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Influencer in the chambers’ annual Trailblazer Awards program.

“This award affirms our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion,” said NJIT President Teik C. Lim. “Our goal is constant improvement as we attract, support and graduate an array of students from all backgrounds, including underrepresented residents in Newark and its surrounding communities. We want to embody the diverse world that we live in.”

With $1.94 million in federal funding, New Jersey Institute of Technology is launching a new program that will help Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander students navigate the academic, social and emotional challenges of transitioning into college.

The initiative, known as Improving AANAPI Student Outcomes Through Opportunities for Engagement, or ISOTOPE, begins next summer with academic and experiential orientation for 175 first-year AANAPI students. 

NJIT has established employee resource groups (ERG) that meet regularly and encourage faculty and staff to connect outside of their direct working relationships. This month, NJIT is celebrating its Hispanic/Latino ERG and profiled two of its members: Vivian Lanzot, director of Community and Public Service in the Career Development Services office; and Roberto Rojas-Cessa, professor in the Helen and John C. Hartmann Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE).

LunaTech, a web application where players can learn about space from a cartoon cat and send their professors into orbit, won first place in GirlHacks 2023 at New Jersey Institute of Technology.

The application is the brainchild of Fizah Fahad, Adrianna Rust and Ayushi Sangoi, who combined to win a $1,500 cash prize for their efforts. The trio coded in CSS, JavaScript, Python and a NASA programming interface.