Fall 2024 End of Semester Address from President Nariman Farvardin

Hello, I'm Nariman Farvardin, President of Stevens Institute of Technology, and it is my pleasure to share with you the highlights of Stevens' fall semester.
The Class of 2028 marks another milestone as our second largest class ever, with nearly 1,130 new undergraduates selected from a highly competitive pool. At the graduate level, more than 1,500 new students joined us from a pool of nearly 11,000 applicants.
Several major new transformative initiatives were launched this fall. The innovative SUCCESS Core Curriculum is being offered for the first time to all first-year students, regardless of their major. The SUCCESS curriculum is designed to future-proof our students’ education. We also introduced several new Living-Learning Communities, bringing the total to 10. These theme-based residential spaces foster deeper connections among students, faculty and staff around shared interests. Importantly, a highly competitive grant from the American Talent Initiative grant, funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, will support our new Transfer Student Success Initiative, expanding STEM opportunities for talented low-income students through community college partnerships.
Leadership at Stevens grew stronger with the arrival of two key appointments: Dr. GJ de Vreede, our new dean of the School of Business, and Dean Arshad Saiyed as inaugural dean of the new College of Professional Education. The Stevens community also welcomed 26 new faculty members, bringing our full-time faculty count to a new all-time record.
Research expenditures rose 23.4% and reached a new high of $63.8 million during the last fiscal year. Also, Stevens is a key partner in the very competitive NSF Industry-University Cooperative Research Center focusing on marine energy, and our Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering launched the Center for Innovative Computing and Networked Systems, which promises to advance science and technology in the fields of computing, electrical and electronics systems, computer hardware and software systems, power grid systems and applied artificial intelligence.
While our research enterprise continues to grow, philanthropic support is enabling us to expand other vital initiatives. A transformative $10 million gift from Emeritus Trustee Emilio A. Fernandez will expand our iSTEM program, with the potential to grow to $17.5 million through matching gifts. This generous contribution ensures the program's long-term sustainability and will empower more unconventional talent in STEM fields.
Stevens faculty are increasingly visible as thought leaders in national media. Marouane Temimi shared infrastructure resilience insights in The New York Times, Lindsey Cormack discussed civic education in The Hechinger Report, Igor Pikovski's experiment to "see" gravity captured attention in Popular Mechanics and Brian Rothschild's insights on MBA education were highlighted in Fortune.
The university's global impact grew through key partnerships, including hosting the Second Annual Africa-US Presidential Forum on STEM, collaborating with Finance Montréal and launching the New Jersey Fintech Accelerator with 14 promising startups.
Our alumni continue to make us proud. The 2024 Stevens Awards Gala at Pier Sixty celebrated six extraordinary alumni advancing our global reputation in technology, engineering, entrepreneurship and service. Alumna and Trustee Pam Cheng was named to the Time100 Climate 2024 list, while a team of 2024 Biomedical Engineering alumni captured the prestigious $15,000 Venture Prize in the DEBUT Challenge for their innovative knee therapy device. Dr. Darío Gil '98, IBM Senior Vice President and Director of Research, delivered an inspiring President's Distinguished Lecture on the future of computing to a packed house.
Athletics achievements included three MAC Freedom Championships in field hockey, men's soccer and women's volleyball. Our scholar-athletes demonstrate their commitment and excellence both on and off field and make us immensely proud.
Stevens also earned another Gold STARS rating from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education — one of only three New Jersey universities to achieve this distinction.
As we celebrate these achievements, I express my deepest gratitude to everyone who contributes to Stevens' success. Your dedication strengthens our position as a premier technology-focused university.
Thank you for spending this time with me, and I wish you and yours a warm and cheerful holiday season.
Per aspera ad astra.