Business School Professor Jeffrey Robinson Named Rutgers-Newark Provost | Rutgers University

Dear Rutgers University – Newark community members,

Following up on my announcement last month about a leadership team transition, I am thrilled to share the news that effective July 1, 2022 our new Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor will be Jeffrey Robinson, Prudential Chair in Business and Professor of Management and Global Business at Rutgers Business School (RBS). Many members of the Rutgers-Newark community know Jeff for his publicly engaged scholarship, award-winning teaching, and organizational leadership roles at RBS, where he has been on the faculty since 2008 specializing in management and entrepreneurship and where he is Academic Director of the Center for Urban Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (CUEED). In the wider world, Jeff has earned a reputation nationally and internationally as a thought leader, author, and sought-after speaker and trainer working at the intersection of economic development, social problem solving using entrepreneurial approaches, inclusive innovation, and workforce diversity. That includes expansive publicly engaged scholarship that has earned him acclaim locally and statewide through CUEED and the New Jersey Social Entrepreneurship Institute, where he has created vitally important programs to cultivate and mentor entrepreneurs.

The author of many articles and books in his areas of expertise, most recently Jeff is co-author with Rutgers alumnus Dr. Randal Pinkett of Black Faces in High Places: 10 Strategic Actions for Black Professionals to Reach the Top and Stay There (published by Harper Collins Leadership, 2022). He also has extensive experience in major grant writing and management, including multimillion-dollar support from the National Science Foundation aimed at building and broadening inclusive pathways in STEM, as well as funding from numerous federal, state, and private agencies and organizations to stimulate entrepreneurship and cultivate entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds. A superlative catalyst of inclusive innovation and social entrepreneurship, he has played leading roles in convening cross-sector interests through events such as the New Jersey Social Entrepreneurship Summit, Urban Innovations Summit, NSF Workshop on Social Innovation, Inclusive Innovation Summit, Global Social Venture Research Conference, and International Social Entrepreneurship Research Conference. 

With a very broad academic and professional background spanning business, the social sciences, public policy, and engineering, Jeff is frequently approached by the media for commentary, with recent appearances on PBS, NPR, NJ PBS, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Marketplace on Public Radio International, and NJ Biz. Among the many organizations that have sought him out as a consultant are Fortune 1000 corporations, foundations, and leading social sector organizations including KIPP Schools, Legrand North America, The National Urban League, and the National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications (NAMIC). He holds five academic degrees spanning engineering, urban studies, and business. He completed a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies at Rutgers College and a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering at Rutgers School of Engineering, a Master of Science in Civil Engineering Management from Georgia Institute of Technology as a GEM Fellow, and an M.Phil. and Ph.D. in Management and Organizations from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business. 

You can see why we are so excited to welcome Jeff into his new role at Rutgers-Newark: his work exemplifies our strategic commitment to social mobility, publicly-engaged scholarship, and anchor institution collaboration as a major urban research university where cross-disciplinary collaboration is paramount and where we are profoundly committed to leveraging our strengths with those of partners locally, statewide, nationally, and globally to move the needle on the most pressing challenges facing our communities and our world. 

Please join me in welcoming Jeff to our leadership team!

Cordially,

Nancy Cantor
Chancellor