Rider president named vice chair of newly merged independent colleges organization

President Gregory G. Dell’Omo, Ph.D., was recently named the vice chair of Independent Colleges and Universities of New Jersey, or ICUNJ. The organization recently became one single nonprofit after the merger of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in New Jersey and the Independent College Fund of New Jersey.

“I am wholly dedicated to supporting the mission of ICUNJ and building awareness of the first-class independent institutions of higher education in our great state,” says Dell’Omo, who will also serve as chair of ICUNJ’s Government Relations Committee. 

The merger was completed this summer, with the intention to more efficiently and effectively advocate on behalf of the students who are served by independent colleges and universities in New Jersey. Rider is one of 14 institutions that make up ICUNJ’s membership. The ICUNJ Board is comprised of the 14 member presidents, plus four executives from the New Jersey corporate community. Sixty corporate leaders from across the state of New Jersey serve as a board of advisors. 

Dell’Omo serves on several other boards and organizations that advocate for and support higher education, including the New Jersey Presidents’ Council’s Executive Committee and the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Presidents’ Council.  He is also on the Board of Directors for the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU).

He has served as Rider’s president since 2015. Since then, the University has developed more than a dozen new undergraduate and graduate academic programs, including the University’s first doctoral program. Under his leadership, the University also launched its signature Engaged Learning Program and other innovative initiatives designed to strengthen the overall value of a Rider education, including Lifting Barriers and the Cranberry Investment. 

Along with the merger, ICUNJ also announced a leadership change. Stephen R. Reynolds became president in July, succeeding the retiring Louis T. Manzione. Reynolds has had a long and successful career serving in prominent roles as a corporate lawyer and litigator — most recently at Gibbons, P.C. as a director — and brings more than 35 years of management, leadership and negotiation skills to ICUNJ.