NJIT Welcomes Paul Profeta to its Board of Trustees

New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) is deepening its relationship with Paul V. Profeta - a major benefactor who is passionate about stimulating entrepreneurship in underserved communities, real estate and helping students - by welcoming him to its Board of Trustees.

Profeta, whose connection with NJIT dates back a decade, epitomizes generosity in higher education.

He serves on the Board of Directors of the Foundation at NJIT, the university's fundraising arm, which he joined in 2014.

In 2021, he made the single largest donation ever to NJIT, which funded research and education centers focused on real estate and entrepreneurship for local Newark residents.

Also, within the last year, he helped NJIT identify a downtown Newark building that non-student-facing departments are moving to, freeing up space for new classrooms and labs in Fenster Hall. He additionally began donating fresh produce from his family's organic farm to the university's Food Pantry, which serves needy students.

Profeta's appointment to the Board of Trustees - confirmed by the state Legislature on Sept. 30 - affirms what NJIT Highlanders already know: He is a passionate advocate for a public polytechnic university that strives to strengthen ties with its home city of Newark and tackle global problems.

"Paul is an exceptional friend of NJIT, generous with his time, wisdom and expertise, and loves Newark as much as we do," said President Teik C. Lim. "We are grateful to add his enthusiasm and experience to a diverse group of alumni and business leaders who serve generously as Trustees."

"I have met and gotten to know most of the members of the Board of Trustees from my involvement with NJIT," Profeta said. "Most of them are alumni. They care deeply about the school and work hard on committees and in board meetings to make NJIT the best it can be. They are an inspiring group."

Profeta, a commercial real estate investor and developer for nearly 50 years, has decades of experience in business, education and philanthropy that has largely focused on revitalizing Newark. That includes the Profeta Urban Investment Foundation, which he established in 2008 to help launch or expand minority-owned business in the city by providing expertise, mentorship and interest-free funds.

Similarly, the Paul Profeta Community Entrepreneurship Program at NJIT's New Jersey Innovation Institute provides free workshops for budding entrepreneurs in Newark and the surrounding area. Profeta himself teaches the workshops.

The Paul Profeta Real Estate Technology, Design and Innovation Center at NJIT's Martin Tuchman School of Management is a hub for teaching, training and research around the disruptive technologies, innovation and design and construction techniques that are transforming the field of real estate.

Beyond NJIT, Profeta, who holds a bachelor's from Harvard College and an MBA from Harvard Business School, serves on the Board of Trustees of Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and the Board of Directors of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce. The real estate center that he launched at NJIT is his third, having previously created real estate centers at Columbia Business School (when he was an associate professor there) and Rutgers.

In addition, Profeta has worked as an educator, teaching real estate as an associate adjunct professor at Columbia Business School in the 1980s after guest-lecturing at Harvard Business School.

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