You're Hired! Rob Stoto Leads Rider's Human Resources Efforts
Rob Stoto coached youth soccer for 15 years in his hometown of Hillsborough, N.J., so he understands the value of people and the importance of teamwork. He can also appreciate how the right players and the right game plan lead to a team achieving its goals.
Still, Stoto didn’t have the luxury of a whistle hanging from his neck when he began his new job as the associate vice president for Human Resources and Affirmative Action at Rider University. And he didn’t need one, either – not with more than 20 years of leadership experience in the field of human resources to draw upon.
It wasn’t necessarily his plan to work in the field, but after earning a B.S. in Psychology from Seton Hall University in 1980, Stoto found an interesting opportunity with the City of Elizabeth Housing Authority, close to his native Roselle, N.J.
“I kind of fell into it, but right away, I enjoyed the field,” he recalled of his early days in Elizabeth, the fourth-largest city in the Garden State with more than 120,000 residents, many of whom depend on public housing. “I found it challenging and important, and I knew that it was going to become a career for me.”
After four years with the Elizabeth Housing Authority, Stoto made the transition to corporate human resources, taking a position with the Curtiss-Wright Corporation, where he worked in various HR roles for the next 15 years. He began as the manager of Labor Relations at the company’s Fairfield, N.J., office before eventually taking on progressively responsible roles that landed him in the position of vice president for Administration, placing him in charge of information technology and facilities management, and involving him intimately with strategic planning, in addition to his HR responsibilities.
Curtiss-Wright, a highly diversified, global corporation with a focus on advanced technologies in the defense, aerospace, energy and global industrial markets, actually traces its lineage to Wilbur and Orville Wright, whose brief 12-second flight on the beach in Kitty Hawk, N.C., in 1903 gave birth to the aeronautics industry.
The Wright Brothers’ invention represented a quantum leap for the advancement of knowledge, and over time, Stoto found himself drawn to the very type of environment where ideas and concepts are nurtured and developed. In 1999, enthusiastic to work in that kind of environment, he accepted a position at the County College of Morris (CCM) in Randolph, N.J., a place where he says he found the right fit.
“I enjoy the collegiate environment for a lot of reasons,” Stoto explained. “And I think the mission of colleges and universities is critically important. I’ve got a number of family members who work in academia, including a brother at Georgetown University.”
Still, the move from corporate to higher-educational human resources was akin to an immersion in a new culture. “I enjoy it a lot,” he said. “But it certainly was different.”
At CCM, Stoto served as the director of Human Resources for the 8,500-student campus, which boasts the highest graduation rate among New Jersey’s 19 community colleges. He also spent a year as the interim director of Enrollment Services. Along the way, Stoto also earned an M.S. in Human Resources and Industrial Relations from Rutgers University.
After 10 years at CCM, Stoto felt the pull of a new challenge, as well as the desire to work closer to home, where he lives with his wife, Gina, and their three children, Matthew, Gregory and Emily. He pursued the position at Rider, and began his duties on September 9. Already, he has plunged headlong into the challenges of his new job.
“As an office, we’ve got to get out and get involved, and really learn how we can support Rider’s employees,” Stoto said. “We’ve got opportunities to act and serve as a partner within the organization to help provide and support Rider’s goals and initiatives.”
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