Donna Breault, Brian Kirkpatrick, and Ira Thor Also Recognized as 2024 Influencers

JERSEY CITY, N.J. | New Jersey City University (NJCU) Interim President Andrés Acebo has been recognized as the new No. 1 higher education influencer in the state of New Jersey in the 2024 ROI Higher Education Influencers announced on May 15 by ROI-NJ, a statewide leading business publication.

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Acebo, who is the second Hispanic to serve as the leader of a four-year public institution of higher education in the State of New Jersey and the youngest known president to ever lead a public university in the State of New Jersey, becomes the first NJCU leader named No. 1 on ROI-NJ’s annual list. In total, the honor marks the fifth time Acebo has been recognized by ROI-NJ on one of its highly revered influencer lists.

Additionally, Donna Adair Breault, Ph.D., Interim Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs, Brian Kirkpatrick, CFO and Vice President for Administration and Finance, and Ira Thor, Associate Vice President and Chief Communications Officer, were all named as 2024 ROI-NJ Higher Education Influencers — giving NJCU the distinction of having four senior leaders honored by the publication. Breault, who was also recognized in 2023, was chosen for the second time; Kirkpatrick and Thor were each selected for the first time.

“I am profoundly honored to be named the number one higher education influencer and leader in the State of New Jersey by ROI-NJ,” President Acebo said. “This recognition holds special significance for me as the first-generation son of Cuban immigrants who holds the privilege of being the first to go to college in my family and who now gets to lead a university in the very community that helped raise me in service of students whose lives overwhelmingly mirror my personal story. My parents’ sacrifices and unwavering belief in the power of education have been my guiding light my whole life.”

“This humbling accolade is a testament to the hard work and commitment of our entire community—students, faculty, staff, and supporters. It’s a tribute to our beautiful community and the power of hope and of whispered courage. Thank you to ROI-NJ for this prestigious honor and to everyone who has been part of this journey. Together, we will continue to break down barriers, push boundaries, and strive for inclusive excellence in higher education with radical resilience, unwavering grit, and unrelenting persistence.”

Since being appointed NJCU Interim President in January 2023, Acebo’s work has been widely praised by multiple publications and organizations, including ROI-NJ. He previously was named to the 2023 Super 60 Power List, the 2023 ROI Influencers Power List for Higher Education, the 2023 ROI Influencers People of Color list and the 2024 ROI Influencers Power List.

Breault was praised for helping execute a shared governance-driven Academic Master Plan and Strategic Enrollment Plan — the first such plans in the university’s history — that establish institutional key performance indicators for academic success and student enrollment retention and completion. She has served as provost since September, 2022.

Kirkpatrick, who was appointed as NJCU’s new CFO in June 2023, was recognized for his work with President Acebo to effectuate a fiscal reform plan that maximized stabilization support while enhancing student success resources and addressing decades-long deferred maintenance. Less than 18 months after NJCU declared a fiscal emergency, his work produced the first balanced operating budget since 2017 and Moody’s outlook was upgraded from “negative” to “stable.”

Thor, who has been NJCU’s spokesperson since August 2020, was praised for his proactive outreach, accurate and informative communication and timely insights throughout the financial emergency, and the recovery and revitalization of the university since.

Read the full ROI-NJ Summary of President Acebo’s No. 1 ranking, written by ROI-NJ Editor and Chief Content Officer, Tom Bergeron:

“Here’s a key thing to know about Andrés Acebo, the interim president at New Jersey City University: While so many people would point to his leadership as the reason the school not only has survived its fiscal emergency, but already appears to be in a better place — and with a brighter future — Acebo would be quick to credit so many others for the school’s turnaround.

It starts with faculty and their unions, which were quick to work together to solve the problems, even if it meant cutting jobs and courses — and support of numerous Hudson County unions.

It includes the student body, which maintained its enthusiasm for the anchor institution.

It extends to the school’s administrative leaders — including interim Provost Donna Breault and Chief Financial Officer Brian Kirkpatrick (both of whom are honored on this list) — who have worked to create the school’s Recovery and Revitalization Plan (April 2023), its first Strategic Enrollment Plan (April 2023) and its first Academic Master Plan (February 2024) — as well as a brand refresh that produced the school’s first mission statement.

And, of course, it includes local and state elected officials, both in Hudson County and certainly in Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration, who have been instrumental in guiding the school to where it sits today: One that has a balanced budget less than two years after declaring a financial emergency and upgraded outlook by Moody’s from “negative” to “stable.”

Acebo is the person that has brought all this together, provided optimism at a time when there was little, and offered hope when it was in short supply.

Still under 40, he is the youngest university president in the state — and only the second Hispanic to lead a four-year public university. He adds another distinction today: the No. 1 spot in the ROI Influencers: Higher Education list for 2024.”