Jersey City, N.J. – January 25, 2024 – Saint Peter’s is proud to announce that Eugene J. Cornacchia, Ph.D., president of the University, was named to the ROI Influencers Power List for 2024 in his final year as University president. The list is issued annually and is designed to recognize the top people in the state who are making an impact in a specific sector or community.
The profile from ROI-NJ highlighted Dr. Cornacchia’s leadership when the University was thrust into the national and international spotlight following the historic run of the men’s basketball team to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament in 2022. It also cited his fundraising success, specifically with the University’s latest campaign Peacocks Rise: The Campaign for Saint Peter’s University. Peacocks Rise is the most ambitious capital campaign in Saint Peter’s 150+ year history. The University celebrated the public launch in December 2022 with $70 million secured during its quiet phase alone, breaking all previous campaign records.
Dr. Cornacchia is the 22nd president of Saint Peter’s University and the longest-serving president in the University’s history. He began his term as the first lay president in 2007 and has had a distinguished tenure marked by transformative leadership, unwavering dedication and a fierce commitment to academic excellence and the Jesuit mission. During his time as president he guided the University through a period of growth, innovation and unparalleled progress, including the achievement of university status.
On the academic front, his tenure saw the strategic expansion of academic programs resulting in a 50 percent increase in graduate students, the initiation of the institution’s first doctoral programs and the establishment of three of the four schools at the University including the Frank J. Guarini School of Business, a School of Nursing and the Caulfield School of Education.
In terms of the physical campus, he oversaw the construction of the Mac Mahon Student Center, Panepinto Hall, the creation of the Run Baby Run Arena, the addition of the Digital Research Commons in the Theresa and Edward O’Toole Library, and the creation of the STEM Empowerment Center, among many other projects.
View the complete ROI Influencers Power List for 2024 – Higher Education from ROI-NJ.
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For more than 150 years, Saint Peter’s University, inspired by its Jesuit, Catholic identity, commitment to individual attention and grounding in the liberal arts, educates a diverse community of learners in undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and professional programs to excel intellectually, lead ethically, serve compassionately and promote justice in our ever-changing urban and global environment. To learn more, please visit www.saintpeters.edu.
Media Contact
Angeline Boyer
aboyer1@saintpeters.edu