Rowan President Houshmand ranked highest among educators in 2023 ROI-NJ Power Influencer issue

Rowan University President Ali A. Houshmand, a mainstay on the statewide annual ROI-NJ Power Influencers list, this week appeared on the 2023 list at #11, higher than any other educator.

This year’s list, dubbed the “Super 60,” includes Gov. Phil Murphy in the first spot. Other higher education leaders making the list include New Jersey Secretary of Higher Education Brian Bridges, Rutgers University-Newark Chancellor Nancy Cantor, and Rider University President Gregory Dell'Omo.

Houshmand, who this year celebrates his 10^th anniversary as president of the University, has led it during a period of unparalleled growth including the founding of Cooper Medical School of Rowan University in Camden, the acquisition of the School of Osteopathic Medicine in Stratford and last year’s historic partnership with Virtua Health. Rowan, under Houshmand, is also creating New Jersey’s first school of veterinary medicine.

Named by the Chronicle of Higher Education last year the third fastest growing public research university in the nation, Rowan acquired R2-high research status from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education and is pushing to move up to R1.

Since becoming the University’s seventh president, Houshmand has been adamant about leveraging Rowan as an economic driver for the region and keeping the institution competitive and affordable for undergraduates, imperatives that for years have clearly impressed ROI-NJ editors.

“If Rowan’s rising academic and research profile over the past decade isn’t enough,” editors wrote, “Houshmand’s business acumen (Rowan is an economic driver for the region) is unmatched.”