Saint Peter’s College Vice President Will Receive
New Jersey Woman of Achievement Award
March 24, 2003— Jersey City, NJ– Dr. Eileen L. Poiani (Nutley, NJ), who has served as an educator and administrator at Saint Peter’s College since 1967, will receive one of New Jersey’s top honors when she is honored at the 22nd Annual Women of Achievement awards presentation on April 6 at Drumthwacket, the Governor’s residence in Princeton.
The New Jersey State Federation of Women’s Clubs and Douglass College present the awards annually to outstanding women in such areas as public and community service, business, education, sports, and the arts. Dr. Poiani is one of six recipients which include: Sister Janet Christenson, Rehabilitation Counselor and Founder, Epiphany House; Elaine Feller, Advisor, Mentor and Program Manager, Displaced Homemakers Network of NJ; Dina Matos McGreevey, Executive Director, Columbus Healthcare Foundation; Marijane Singer, Director, Hirman Blauvelt Art Museum; and Frances Treanor, Founder and Executive Director, Media Women, Inc.
“This honor is exhilarating for several reasons,” Dr. Poiani said. “I am proud to be a native New Jerseyan and appreciate the increasing leadership role women are playing in the state. The students at Saint Peter’s College, along with my colleagues, have made my career so rewarding. This personal achievement is especially meaningful because it relies on my helping students shape their own success stories which I consider to be the fundamental purpose of education.”
Dr. Poiani has served as the College’s Vice-President for Student Affairs since 2000. She guides a department of 93 employees working in 10 departments, including the College’s NCAA Division I athletic program, Residence Life, Dean of Students office, Campus Ministry, Yanitelli Recreational Life Center, Student Activities, and Career Services. Dr. Poiani became the first woman vice president of Saint Peter’s after serving four presidents of the College as Executive Assistant to the President and Assistant to the President for Planning. She has served on numerous accreditation teams for the Commission on Higher Education of Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.
A national leader in mathematics education, Dr. Poiani earned full professorship in mathematics at Saint Peter’s in 1980 and has spent the majority of her career teaching mathematics while holding administrative positions. She remains active with the Mathematical Association of America, most recently on the Education Council and was the founding director of the MAA’s Women and Mathematics Program. She also chaired the U.S. Commission on Mathematical Instruction for the National Academy of Sciences and was the first woman elected president of Pi Mu Epsilon, the national honorary mathematics society, in its 75-year history.
A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Douglass College with a Ph.D. from Rutgers, Dr. Poiani is a charter member of the Rutgers University Board of Trustees. She has served as a Trustee of Saint Peter’s Preparatory School and the Nutley Free Public Library, as a member of the New Jersey Supreme Court Ethics Committee for District VI, and as a member of the National Seminar on Jesuit Higher Education. Active with NCCJ, she is now on its Youth Leadership Institute Council.
Her status at Saint Peter’s College was cemented in 2002 when Dr. Poiani was the first recipient of the Magis Award, now presented annually for outstanding service to the College students. That same year, the students honored her as a “legend.”
Saint Peter’s College is the Jesuit College of New Jersey. Founded in 1872, Saint Peter’s has an enrollment of more than 3,000 students in undergraduate and graduate programs. The main campus is located in Jersey City and a branch campus, specializing in adult education, is located in Englewood Cliffs. Saint Peter’s also offers classes in downtown Jersey City near the waterfront financial district. -SPC-