News From the Board of Governors: June 2024
Amy Towers Elected Chair of the Rutgers Board of Governors
Amy L. Towers, founder of The Nduna Foundation and former chief operating officer of a capital management firm, has been elected to a one-year term as chair of the Rutgers University Board of Governors.
Tilak Lal, a trustee governor who leads investment risk management at Lighthouse Partners and who previously served for 12 years on the Joint Committee on Investments for the Board of Trustees and Board of Governors, was selected to serve as vice chair.
Their terms begin July 1, 2024.
Towers, appointed by Gov. Phil Murphy to the board in 2020, established The Nduna Foundation in 2007 to advance interventions in nutrition and public health, community redevelopment and human rights. During the past 20 years, she has served on several nonprofit boards ranging from community-based organizations to large national and multinational boards – including UNICEF and the CDC Foundation – providing leadership on international issues and public health.
Jing Li Appointed Board of Governors Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology
The Rutgers University Board of Governors has appointed Jing Li Board of Governors Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology in recognition of her academic accomplishments that surpass the extremely high standards of distinction. The designation celebrates the most decorated academic scholars at the university.
A faculty member in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology in the School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers University-New Brunswick for more than 20 years with an unparalleled reputation as a collaborator and mentor, Li is internationally recognized for her transformative and original contributions to the field – including research in inorganic and solid-state chemistry, hybrid semiconductors, nanostructured materials and metal-organic frameworks.
Elevated to Distinguished Professor in 2006, Li has an extensive list of scholarly publications and an exceptional funding record of nearly $20 million from federal agencies. She has 460 peer-reviewed publications, including 41 invited review articles and book chapters, and has been issued 12 United States patents.
Dimitris Metaxas Appointed Board of Governors Professor of Computer Science
The Rutgers University Board of Governors has appointed Dimitris Metaxas, internationally recognized for his extensive and seminal contributions to the research areas of computer vision, medical image analysis, and graphics, including novel contributions to deep machine learning, a Board of Governors Professor of Computer Science.
The designation celebrates the most decorated academic scholars at the university.
A Distinguished Professor in the Department of Computer Science since 2007, Metaxas is director of the Center for Accelerated Real Time Analytics at Rutgers and founded the university’s Center for Computational Biomedicine, Imaging and Modeling in 2002 – which has garnered over $80 million of research funding – for over 20 years.
Elected Fellow to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the Medical Image Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention Society, and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, Metaxas has provided leadership to several editorial boards and earned an invitation from the White House to participate on the “Data Science 2030” committee.
Douglas L. Kruse Appointed to the J. Robert Beyster Professorship of Employee Ownership
Rutgers Distinguished Professor Douglas L. Kruse, a nationally recognized expert in the fields of economics and labor relations, has been appointed to the J. Robert Beyster Professorship of Employee Ownership.
Douglas L. Kruse has been appointed to the J. Robert Beyster Professorship of Employee Ownership. His term begins July 1, 2025.
The Rutgers University Board of Governors approved the professorship at its meeting Thursday. An endowed professorship is one of the highest honors a university can bestow and is reserved for an eminent scholar whose work and research significantly advances the discipline. Kruse, a faculty member at the School of Management and Labor Relations (SMLR), received the professorship in recognition of his extensive research in employee ownership and profit sharing. He currently serves as the associate director of the Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing at Rutgers. He has written or contributed to more than 120 scholarly articles in peer-reviewed journals and publications. Kruse has also authored, coauthored, or edited 14 books about the workplace, including The Citizen’s Share and Profit Sharing: Does It Make a Difference?
“I am honored to be named to the Beyster Chair,” Kruse said. “I look forward to continue working with our large network of international scholars and practitioners to explore when and how employee ownership can contribute to enhancing the well-being of workers, firms, communities and the larger society.”
John A. Nelson Appointed to the François-Xavier Bagnoud Chair in Community and Family-Centered Care
The Rutgers University Board of Governors has appointed John A. Nelson to the François-Xavier Bagnoud Chair in Community and Family-Centered Care at the School of Nursing within Rutgers Health.
Nelson is nationally recognized for his leadership in providing and advancing comprehensive care for those living with, affected by, or at risk of HIV.
Nelson is the first to serve in the newly renamed professorship, which was previously known as the François-Xavier Bagnoud Chair in Community Pediatric Nursing. The board revised the title to emphasize the university’s commitment to the betterment of the community it serves. The renaming of the professorship and Nelson’s appointment were approved Thursday.
“I am thrilled that Dr. John Nelson has been appointed to this important professorship," said Linda Flynn, dean and professor at the School of Nursing. "John works tirelessly to improve the health and well-being of our nation’s most vulnerable residents and families, and he is very deserving of this prestigious honor.”
A $6.3 Million Endowed Directorship at Rutgers Cancer Institute Recognizes Visionary Oncology Leader
Bolstered by $6.3 million raised in donations, the Rutgers Board of Governors today approved the establishment of the William Hait Endowed Directorship at Rutgers Cancer Institute. Moving forward, the director of Rutgers Cancer Institute will be known as the William Hait Director.
Recognized for his visionary leadership in the field of cancer research and patient care, William N. “Bill” Hait is the executive vice president, chief external innovation and medical officer at Johnson & Johnson as well as the founding director of Rutgers Cancer Institute. During his 14-year tenure as director, he earned the Institute the prestigious National Cancer Institute (NCI) designation in 1997 – the first and only in New Jersey. He also led the center to achieve Comprehensive Cancer Center designation from the NCI in 2002, in a record amount of time.
“On behalf of our faculty and staff, I thank the many donors who have made the William Hait Endowed Directorship possible,” said Steven K. Libutti, M.D., director of Rutgers Cancer Institute. “It is a fitting tribute to Bill’s remarkable leadership and innovation in the field of oncology, and the legacy that he created at New Jersey’s only NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center,” added Libutti, who is also the senior vice president of oncology services at RWJBarnabas Health.
