News Archive

Rich Bakker, Ed.D., professor of health and physical education, looks back on his 50 years at Kean — teaching and coaching baseball — as he prepares to retire at the end of June.

For Kean Ocean graduating senior Julianna Mascia, drumming has gone from a cure for high school distraction to the launchpad for an international career. See how this public relations student used social media to earn sponsorships, land touring gigs and build connections with artists like the Jonas Brothers.

Harwood Arena was bursting with energy and pride recently as the Kean community celebrated seniors who are graduating with honors at the Honors Convocation. More than 900 students will graduate summa cum laude, magna cum laude, and cum laude this year.

Emmy Award-winning actor and three-time Tony Award nominee Jeff Daniels, who is currently on Broadway in the critically acclaimed production of To Kill a Mockingbird, will address more than 2,800 students and their families as the featured speaker at Kean University’s Undergraduate Commencement on Thursday, May 23 at the Prudential Center in Newark. Comedian, actress, CBS News Sunday Morning contributor and self-described “accidental pundette” Nancy Giles will speak at the Nathan Weiss Graduate College Commencement on Friday, May 17 at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark.

Four women of color who will graduate with mathematical sciences degrees from Kean this May have been accepted to graduate programs nationwide, bucking a national trend showing both gender and racial gaps in math higher education and professions.

The Rev. Stefanie R. Minatee, D.Min., has performed gospel with Queen Latifah and Ray Charles, but her career really started with a decision she made at Kean - to major in music.

Kean alumnus Dr. Youssef A. Kousa ’05, ’07 M.S. and his collaborators made a breakthrough discovery, identifying three genes that could be responsible for two previously unrelated types of congenital disorders — cleft lip and palate, and neural tube defects like spina bifida.