Kolluri will assume post from July 1.
By The American Bazaar Staff
NEW YORK: Kris Kolluri, who has gone down in the history books as being an acting Governor of New Jersey, albeit only for a day, has been approved as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Rowan University / Rutgers-Camden Board of Governors.
Kolluri made history when he became the 117th New Jerseyan to become acting governor, in December of 2006. The then Gov. Jon Corzine and all other three top ranking state officials after him, went on vacation at the same time, and Kolluri, who was then the state’s Commissioner of Transportation – who was next in line as the top most official in the state – got the reins of power for at least a day.
Kolluri’s new job will have him oversee the daily operations at the campuses of both universities, reported the Courier-Post. Kolluri will assume his new position on July 1, at an annual salary of $275,000.
The creation of the Board of Governors at the two campuses culminates a 2012 law aimed at restructuring higher education in New Jersey, said the report. The board provides oversight for any new health science programs created by Rowan or Rutgers-Camden or by a collaboration of the two schools.
Rowan University is a public institution with three main campuses dispersed throughout the state: Glassboro, Stratford, and Camden. Rutgers-Camden is the Camden-based wing of Rutgers University, the state’s largest public university, which also has three distinct campuses spread across New Jersey.
He will have his hands full in his new job. Rowan University alone has nearly 11,000 undergraduate students, and over 1,600 post-graduate students, who are taught by an academic staff of over 1,200 and an administrative staff of nearly 800. Rutgers-Camden is smaller, with about 6,100 under and post-graduate students, and a staff about 700.
An attorney by trade, Kolluri earned his B.S. in Marketing and Management from Rutgers-Camden in 1991, followed by his M.S. in International Business from Johns Hopkins University in 1996, and his J.D. from Georgetown Law in 2004. He was the Chief of Staff for the New Jersey Department of Transportation from 2002-2004 before joining Parker McCay P.A. for a year from 2005-2006.
From 2006-2008, he was the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Transportation, where he was responsible for nearly $2 billion in operational funding, and then spent two years as the CEO of the New Jersey Schools Development Authority.
He then became a Principal at a law firm called TKG LLC in 2010, and in 2012, became a practicing attorney with Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf LLP in New Brunswick, where he currently is. Kolluri has also worked as a legal aide, mostly in the 1990s, and was a special advisor on India and Indian American affairs to former Congressman Dick Gephardt (D-MO).
1 Comment
The article incorrectly states Mr. Kolluri’s new position will have him oversee the daily operations of (Rowan and Rutgers-Camden). He is the CEO of an entity created by the N.J. Medical and Health Science Education Restructuring Act of 2012 that partners Rowan and Rutgers Camden in developing new graduate level programs in the Life Sciences.
Joe Cardona, Vice President for University Relations, Rowan University