{"id":214414,"date":"2021-04-16T12:07:35","date_gmt":"2021-04-16T16:07:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/?p=214414"},"modified":"2021-04-16T14:52:35","modified_gmt":"2021-04-16T18:52:35","slug":"montclair-state-board-adds-two-new-trustees-honors-longtime-member-as-trustee-emeritus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/2021\/04\/16\/montclair-state-board-adds-two-new-trustees-honors-longtime-member-as-trustee-emeritus\/","title":{"rendered":"Montclair State Board Adds Two New Trustees; Honors Longtime Member as Trustee Emeritus"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Montclair State University Board of Trustees on Friday, April 16, added two new trustees and honored a longtime trustee, who has concluded 32 years of service to the University.<\/p>\n

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy recently appointed, with advice and consent of the state Senate, Sreeni Kutam, an executive at ADP, and Tracy Higgins, a law professor at Fordham University, to the Board, which represents the public interest in governance, policies and development of the University.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are extremely pleased to welcome these two very accomplished individuals to the Board. They are both deeply committed to the mission of the University, and I very much appreciate their willingness to serve as trustees,\u201d says University President Susan A. Cole.<\/p>\n

Board Chair Francis M. Cuss adds that the Board looks forward to working with Higgins and Kutam. \u201cTheir wealth of experience in areas as diverse as human resources, law and human rights will be an added resource for the board and the University,\u201d Cuss says.<\/p>\n

George Hiltzik, who began his service on the Board in 1989 and served two terms as Chair, was honored for his 32 years of service to the Board and to the University and was designated as a Trustee Emeritus.<\/p>\n

\u201cGeorge has been a consistently enthusiastic and loyal supporter of, and advocate for, the University and its mission, and he has been a valued advisor to me,\u201d says Cole. \u201cWe extend our deepest gratitude for his decades of excellent service, careful deliberations, generosity, keen insight, warm spirit, unfailing good humor, and countless contributions to Montclair State University.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tracy Higgins<\/h2>\n
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Tracy Higgins<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>
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Tracy Higgins is a professor of law at Fordham Law School where she teaches international human rights and constitutional law. She researches and writes about the way that law intersects with, reinforces, and sometimes challenges systems of racial and gender hierarchy, both in the United States and internationally. She is also the founder and faculty director of the Leitner Center for International Law and Justice, which trains students to work in international human rights advocacy by engaging them in research projects and creating opportunities for field work.
\nHiggins and her family have lived in Montclair for over two decades, where she has served for many years on the board of trustees of the Montclair Kimberley Academy, and, along with her husband, chaired the recent capital campaign for the Montclair Film Festival. She is a long-time supporter of the Montclair Art Museum where her husband, Jim Leitner, is a trustee. <\/p><\/div> <\/p><\/div> Higgins also serves on the board of PEN America and the Global Justice Center and was a co-chair of the recently concluded capital campaign for the American Civil Liberties Union. A graduate of Princeton University, she serves on the Princeton President\u2019s Advisory Council and the Advisory Council for the Mpala Research Center in Kenya, also affiliated with Princeton.<\/p>\n

She received her bachelor\u2019s degree in economics from Princeton and her J.D. from Harvard Law School.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am honored to have the opportunity to serve on the Board of Trustees of Montclair State University,\u201d says Higgins. \u201cI have been a longtime admirer of the University and am deeply committed to its mission to serve the state of New Jersey and the nation by providing a top-quality education to its talented, energetic, and diverse student body.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sreeni Kutam<\/h2>\n
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Sreeni Kutam is the Chief Human Resources Officer at ADP, which has its headquarters in Roseland, New Jersey, and is a member of the company\u2019s Executive Committee. Before joining ADP, Kutam was Vice President, HR Services and Technology at Express Scripts. Kutam also held the role of Vice President, HR Operations, with Medco Health Solutions, which was purchased by Express Scripts in 2012. In addition to Express Scripts and Medco, Kutam has held consulting and leadership positions at Hewitt Associates, Softlink, and Interim Technologies.<\/p>\n

Kutam earned his bachelor\u2019s degree in computer science from Andhra University, India, and his MBA from Purdue University.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am honored to be joining Montclair State as a Trustee and looking forward to working with all the stakeholders to help continue the success of the University,\u201d Kutam says.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Sreeni Kutam<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n