Campus News
3,300+ Stevens Ducks Fly the Nest
More than 3,300 graduates received degrees at the Stevens Commencement in May at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey. YouTube superstar and professional ultimate frisbee player Marques Brownlee ’15 and entrepreneur and global business leader Michael Kakos M.M.S. ’71 served as the keynote speakers for the undergraduate and graduate ceremonies, respectively. Biomedical engineering graduate Arianna Carmela Gehan ’24 spoke at the undergraduate ceremony, while Rashi Wase M.S. ’24, an applied artificial intelligence master’s graduate, was the graduate ceremony’s student speaker. Each address shared a common theme: Change the world and do it your own way.
Stevens Receives $10 Million Gift to Expand iStem Program
Stevens has received a $10 million gift from Emeritus Trustee Emilio A. Fernandez to expand its innovative iSTEM program, with $7.5 million in anticipated matching gifts, bringing the total investment to $17.5 million. iSTEM empowers talented students who may have experienced challenges or boredom in traditional academic environments but show passion, relentlessness and creativity in solving real-world problems. “I would’ve benefited from a program like iSTEM,” said Fernandez. The expanded program will increase student intake, offer a pre-college summer program and plan the iSTEM Network across universities. President Farvardin noted, “This gift will empower more unconventional geniuses.” Among other forms of recognition for this groundbreaking gift, Stevens’ Startup Garage will be renamed the Emilio A. Fernandez iSTEM Startup Garage.
Remembering Professor Susan Levin
Professor Susan Levin, a longtime literature professor and faculty leader who was the first woman to rise to full professor at Stevens, died on February 6, 2024. Joining Stevens in 1976, Levin taught 19th-century British literature, Shakespeare, science fiction and Western literature before retiring in 2021. She published Dorothy Wordsworth and Romanticism, the first book-length scholarly study of the author; and created and performed a lecture/demonstration, Songs by Women Composers, 1650-1998, among other work. Stevens recognized her with several teaching and research awards.
Levin served on Stevens’ Promotions and Tenure Committee and helped craft Stevens’ first white paper on promotions and tenure. She also served on the 2001 Presidential Task Force on the Recruitment and Retention of Women Faculty. An Actors Equity actress and singer active in New York and regional theater, Levin directed and acted in Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues at Stevens, with a cast of women students, staff, faculty and alumnae; the production was presented annually at Stevens from 2001 to 2019 and benefitted WomenRising, a local organization that serves women and children in need. WomenRising honored Levin in 2016.
"Professor Levin gave me exposure to arts experiences that I would not have known to seek out myself,” said former student Lillian Chu Zawislak ’04. “She taught me a lot about literature, feminism, art, theater, and life. I miss her."
Her husband, Richard Ready; son, Jonathan Ready; daughter, Freda Ready; and five grandchildren survive her.
Professor Susan Levin’s colleagues remember her in this online tribute.
Two New Deans Join Stevens
Stevens has welcomed two new deans. Gert-Jan “GJ” de Vreede joined as dean of the School of Business in September, succeeding retiring dean Gregory Prastacos. De Vreede had served as interim dean of the University of South Florida (USF) Muma College of Business since August 2022 and as a USF faculty member since 2015. Under his leadership, the Muma College reached an eight-year high in enrollment and achieved new milestones in fundraising and research support. De Vreede is a widely recognized scholar in the fields of artificial intelligence, crowdsourcing and collaboration engineering.
In April, Arshad Saiyed became the inaugural chief online learning officer and dean of Professional Education with the newly created College of Professional Education. He came from Northeastern University, where he directed the Experiential Digital Global Education unit, building Northeastern’s digital services into a revenue center and launching significant corporate partnerships. Saiyed has championed integrating technology into education to enhance quality, affordability and global reach.