Fairleigh Dickinson University is a
private university with its main campuses in the U.S. state of
New Jersey. Founded in 1942, Fairleigh Dickinson University currently offers more than 100 degree programs to its students. In addition to its two campuses in New Jersey, the university also has a campus in Canada, a campus in the United Kingdom, and an online platform. Fairleigh Dickinson University is New Jersey's largest private institution of higher education, with over 12,000 students.
History
Fairleigh Dickinson University was founded as the Fairleigh Dickinson Junior College in 1942 as a
junior college
A junior college (sometimes referred to colloquially as a juco, JuCo or JC) is a post-secondary educational institution offering vocational training designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations and workers in su ...
by Dr. Peter Sammartino and wife Sally, and was named after an early benefactor Colonel
Fairleigh S. Dickinson
Colonel Fairleigh Stanton Dickinson Sr. (August 22, 1866 – June 23, 1948) was the co-founder of the Fortune 500 medical technology company Becton Dickinson and the named benefactor of Fairleigh Dickinson University.
Biography
Born in Core ...
, co-founder of
Becton Dickinson. Its original campus was located in Rutherford, NJ. By 1948, Fairleigh Dickinson Junior College expanded its curriculum to offer a four-year program when the
GI Bill
The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the G.I. Bill, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in 1956, bu ...
and veterans' money encouraged it to redesignate itself as Fairleigh Dickinson College. In that same year, the school received accreditation from the
Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools
The Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (Middle States Association or MSA) was a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit association that performed peer evaluation and regional educational accreditation, accreditation of public and priva ...
. In 1956, the institution was recognized as Fairleigh Dickinson University by the New Jersey State Board of Education. In 1958, the university acquired the former
Twombly-Vanderbilt estate in Madison and Florham Park, New Jersey, to serve as its third campus.
[About Florham Campus](_blank)
Fairleigh Dickinson University. Accessed October 1, 2021. Fairleigh Dickinson University is a member of the
National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities
The National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) located in Washington D.C.. It is an organization of private American colleges and universities. Founded in 1976, it has over 1,000 independent hig ...
.
Landscape architect
Frederick Law Olmsted, the designer of Central Park, was also commissioned to design the landscape for the Twombly-Vanderbilt estate (now the Florham Campus). The main house of the Twombly-Vanderbilt estate, now Hennessy Hall, was designed by architectural firm
McKim, Mead, and White in the
Georgian Revival style. The mansion was completed in 1897 and was modeled after the wing of Hampton Court Palace designed by architect Sir Christopher Wren.
The Friends of Florham, founded in 1990 by Emma Joy Dana, university librarian Dr. James Fraser, and a group of friends and colleagues works with the mission of advising and assisting the administration and board of trustees in the care, maintenance, and preservation of the Twombly Estate, known as "Florham".
Presidents
* ''Presidents who served only as an acting or interim president.''
Campuses
Fairleigh Dickinson University has four campuses: two in
New Jersey (
Madison/
Florham Park and
Teaneck/
Hackensack), one in
Vancouver,
British Columbia, and one in
South East England, as well as an online platform.
Florham Campus

The Florham Campus is located in the suburban towns of
Madison and
Florham Park, New Jersey, on the grounds of the former
Florham estate of
Hamilton McKown Twombly (1849–1910) and his wife,
Florence Adele Vanderbilt Twombly (1854–1952), a member of the wealthy
Vanderbilt family.
The Florham Campus finished construction on the John and Joan Monninger Center for Learning and Research. It opened during the spring 2013 semester. Student enrollment at the Florham Campus consists of over 2,757 undergraduates coupled with 690 graduate students giving a total of 3,417 students. The
full-time equivalence (FTE) for undergraduates on the campus is 2,481. The FTE for graduates on campus is 796.
Metropolitan Campus
The Metropolitan Campus, close to
New York City and spanning the
Hackensack River in
Teaneck and
Hackensack, New Jersey, has a greater focus on business and professional majors compared to the Florham Campus. The Metropolitan Campus has 5,734 undergraduates and 1,748 graduate students, with an undergraduate
full-time equivalence (FTE) of 2,481.
21% of Metropolitan Campus students are minority and international students. Approximately one thousand students live on campus in the residence halls.
Wroxton College
Farleigh Dickinson University's
Wroxton College
Wroxton Abbey is a Jacobean house in Oxfordshire, with a 1727 garden partly converted to the serpentine style between 1731 and 1751. It is west of Banbury, off the A422 road in Wroxton. It is now the English campus of Fairleigh Dickinson Univ ...
is located in
Wroxton,
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...
, in
South East England. When Fairleigh Dickinson University acquired
Wroxton Abbey in 1965, FDU became the first American university to own and operate a campus, Wroxton College, outside of the United States. Although Wroxton College dates to the 18th century, the housing has been modernized.
Vancouver Campus
FDU's Vancouver Campus is located at 842 Cambie Street and 89 West Georgia Street in
Vancouver,
British Columbia. It opened in 2007.
Former campuses
In addition to the present campuses, Fairleigh Dickinson University previously operated campuses in
Rutherford, New Jersey (where the university was founded in 1942) and in
Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. Operations on the Rutherford Campus were merged with the Metropolitan Campus in 1993. The Rutherford Campus was sold to
Felician College in 1997. The West Indies Laboratory which opened in 1972 was damaged beyond repair during
Hurricane Hugo
Hurricane Hugo was a powerful Cape Verde tropical cyclone that inflicted widespread damage across the northeastern Caribbean and the Southeastern United States in September 1989. Across its track, Hugo affected approximately 2 million peop ...
in 1989 and was closed shortly afterwards in 1990.
Academics
Fairleigh Dickinson's national student body consists of a total 10,899 students, 8,461 of whom are undergraduates and the remaining 2,438 are graduate students with a
full-time equivalence (FTE) of 7,434, making it the largest private institution in the state of New Jersey.
FDU has over 1,100 international students from approximately 17 countries around the world ranking it 15th nationally among their Carnegie peer group. The majority of international students attend the Metropolitan Campus and FDU's Vancouver Campus, which was founded primarily to educate international students. The Vancouver Campus is the first American owned and operated institution in
British Columbia to receive University status.
The university is ranked 44th by U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges 2022 Regional University rankings (North).
Fairleigh Dickinson consists of two academic colleges: the Maxwell Becton College of Arts and Sciences and the Silberman College of Business, along with seven independent schools: the Gildart Hasse School of Computer Sciences and Engineering; the Peter Sammartino School of Education; the International School of Hospitality, Sports, and Tourism Management; the Henry P. Becton School of Nursing and Allied Health; the School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences; the School of Psychology and Counseling; and the School of Public and Global Affairs.
Becton College of Arts and Sciences
Fairleigh Dickinson's Becton College offers just over sixty undergraduate majors to its full and part-time students. The college is headed by its dean, Dr. Geoffrey Weinman and the department is located on the Florham Campus.
Silberman College of Business
The Silberman College of Business is a tri-campus college of Fairleigh Dickinson University. It offers graduate and undergraduate degrees at the Florham Campus, the Metropolitan campus, and offers bachelor's degree studies in Business Management and Information Technology at the FDU-Vancouver campus.
FDU offers
AACSB-accredited graduate and undergraduate business degrees through its Silberman College of Business. Fairleigh Dickinson's Silberman College of Business was ranked as one of the top 295 business schools in the country for 2014 by
The Princeton Review. The college has also been recognized as an "Excellent Business School" according to a 2011
Eduniversal Eduniversal is a university ranking business by the French consulting company and rating agency ''SMBG'' specialized in Higher Education. Founded in 1994, one of the main goals of Eduniversal is to provide a tool, for students all around the world, ...
survey which ranks the top 1,000 business schools worldwide; Eduniversal is an international university ranking consulting company that specializes in higher education. The Silberman College of business received "three palmes" (a multi-colored palme is used in place of stars as a representation of Eduniversal's logo), an indication of excellence, national strength, and international links.
Fairleigh Dickinson University's International School of Hospitality and Tourism Management features the US national headquarters of the international gastronomic society
Confrérie de la Chaîne des Rôtisseurs located at the Chaîne House on the Florham Campus.
Graduate studies
Graduate programs are offered at all four of the university's campuses, and a number are offered solely through online delivery, including a postdoctoral MS in clinical psychopharmacology (MSCP) through the School of Psychology and Counseling. Graduate studies include the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) offered by the School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in clinical psychology, the Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) in school psychology, and a large number of master's degree programs, including the Master of Public Administration (MPA) and an MA in global affairs offered to nearby consular and diplomatic staff.
FDU School of Pharmacy
In 2012, Fairleigh Dickinson opened New Jersey's first school of pharmacy associated with a private higher education institution, at the Florham Campus. It is the second pharmacy school in New Jersey and the first to open in the state in over 120 years.
FDU School of Public and Global Affairs
After a major gift from alumnus James Orefice in 2017, Fairleigh Dickinson formed a new graduate School of Public and Global Affairs comprising the Master of Public Administration, the Master of Administrative Science, the M.A. in Global Affairs, the M.S. in Cyber and Homeland Security Administration, the Master of Arts in Higher Education Administration, and the survey research group,
PublicMind.
FDU Libraries
The university maintains libraries on all four of its campuses. Between the three libraries and one archive located at FDU's Florham and Metropolitan campuses, the university library system holds over 450,000 titles.
The Florham Campus library is part of the John and Joan Monninger Center for Learning and Research. A portion of the library is housed in the old
Orangerie of the Twombly-Vanderbilt estate which was built in the 1890s by McKim, Mead, and White.
The Metropolitan campus features the Metropolitan Library, the Business Reference Library in Dickinson Hall, and the North Jersey Heritage Center (an archival collection of New Jersey books, documents, maps, newspapers and reference material, as well as FDU history). The New Jersey collection began in 1961 when FDU became one of the earliest participants in the New Jersey Document Program listed as fourth in precedence out of 80 depositories behind the Council of State Government, Rutgers University and the NJ State Library. The Metropolitan Library holds the
Columbia Pictures Archive, a collection of over 230 movies from the Columbia Pictures Studios on 16mm film. The archive was given by Columbia in the 1980s to FDU through the work of Jack Kells, FDU alum and former Columbia executive.
Athletics
In intercollegiate athletics, the Metropolitan Campus competes in
NCAA Division I, while the Florham Campus competes in
Division III, making it one of only a few schools in the United States to field both Division I and Division III teams. The teams at the Metropolitan Campus are known as the Knights, while the Florham Campus teams are known as the Devils.
Florham Campus – NCAA Division III
The FDU Florham Campus sports teams are called the Devils. They are in NCAA
Division III and the
Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) and they compete in the
Middle Atlantic Conferences' (MAC)
MAC Freedom. The women's basketball team won the national collegiate basketball championship in the year 2013–2014. The Women's basketball team also made it to the NCAA tournament four times in a row from the year 2012 to 2016. Their mascot is Ian the Devil.
Devils Division III Athletics
PublicMind
Fairleigh Dickinson University's PublicMind is an independent research group that conducts
public opinion polling and other research on politics, society, popular culture,
consumer behavior
Consumer behavior is the study of individuals, groups, or organizations and all the activities associated with the purchase, use and disposal of goods and services. Consumer behaviour consists of how the consumer's emotions, attitudes, and pr ...
and
economic trends. PublicMind associates undertake scientific survey research for corporations, non-profits, and government agencies as well as for the public interest, as well as information regarding the FDU community as a whole.
Notable alumni
*
Stephanie Adams (1970–2018), model, writer and murderer.
*
Alejandro Bedoya (born 1987), professional soccer player for
Nantes
Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...
in France and a
U.S. International
The U.S. International (officially Yonex / K&D Graphics International) is an open international badminton tournament held in Orange County, California, United States. This tournament previously a BWF Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold, Grand Prix level ...
(did not graduate).
*
Brenda Blackmon
Brenda Blackmon is an American anchor based in New York City. Blackmon most recently anchored the PIX11 News weeknights at 6:30 with Kaity Tong. Blackmon joined the station in 2016 as an anchor. She first co-anchored in New York at WWOR-TV with ...
, television news anchor for
WPIX.
*
Ron Blomberg (born 1948), baseball player who played for the
New York Yankees.
*
Lisa Blunt Rochester (born 1962), member of the
U.S. House of Representatives for
Delaware's at-large congressional district.
*
Mensun Bound
Mensun Bound (born 4 February 1953) is a British maritime archaeologist born in Stanley, Falkland Islands. He is best known as director of exploration for two expeditions to the Weddell Sea which led to the rediscovery of the Endurance,BBC News, ...
(born 1953),
marine archaeologist
Maritime archaeology (also known as marine archaeology) is a discipline within archaeology as a whole that specifically studies human interaction with the sea, lakes and rivers through the study of associated physical remains, be they vessels, s ...
.
*
Ron Brill, co-founder of
Home Depot.
*
Tomer Chencinski (born 1984), Israeli-Canadian football player.
*
Katlyn Chookagian (born 1988), professional
Mixed Martial Artist, current
UFC Flyweight
*
Richard Codey
Richard James Codey (born November 27, 1946) is an American Democratic Party politician who served as the 53rd governor of New Jersey from 2004 to 2006. He has served in the New Jersey Senate since 1982 and served as the President of the Senate ...
(born 1946), former governor and state senate president of
New Jersey.
*
Nicholas Felice
Nicholas R. Felice (February 5, 1927 – August 24, 2021) was an American Republican Party politician who represented the 40th Legislative District in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1982 to 2002, in addition to serving as mayor of Fair La ...
(born 1927), politician who served in the
New Jersey General Assembly and was mayor of Fair Lawn.
*
Marcus Gaither (1961–2020), American-French basketball player.
*
Charles A. Gargano
Charles A. Gargano (born October 28, 1934, in Sant'Angelo dei Lombardi, Avellino, Italy) is an Italian born American businessman, government official and the former U.S. Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago. He was the chairman of the Empire State De ...
(born 1934), former
U.S. Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago
The current United States ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago is Shante Moore as Chargé d'Affaires ''ad interim''. The United States Embassy is located in Trinidad and Tobago's capital, Port of Spain, and was established there on August 31, 1962. ...
and chairman of the
Empire State Development Corporation.
*
Gilbert M. Gaul (born 1951), won two Pulitzer Prizes and got to the podium for journalism's highest award four other times.
*
John Gottman (born 1942), Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the
University of Washington in
Seattle.
*
Reinaldo Marcus Green (born 1981), filmmaker and writer who directed the film ''
King Richard King Richard normally refers to the three English monarchs.
English monarchs
*Richard I of England or Richard the Lionheart (1157–1199)
*Richard II of England (1367–1400)
*Richard III of England (1452–1485)
Although no monarch has assumed th ...
''
*
Seth Greenberg (born 1956), former
Virginia Tech Hokies head basketball coach and current
ESPN personality.
*
Mike Hall (born 1989),
bassist
A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a Bass (instrument), bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboar ...
.
*
Sung-Mo Kang, president of
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.
*
Jim Keogh, (born 1948), author of nearly 100 books sold worldwide introduced PC programming nationally in his Popular Electronics Magazine column in 1982.
*
Eleanor Kieliszek
Eleanor Manning Kieliszek (September 25, 1925 – May 16, 2017) was an American politician who served as the Mayor of Teaneck, New Jersey, for two tenures, 1974 to 1978 and 1990 to 1992, as well as an elected member of the Teaneck Township Coun ...
(1925–2017; B.A. 1979), politician, first woman chosen as
Mayor of Teaneck, New Jersey.
*
Garry Kitchen (born 1955; B.S. 1980), video game pioneer.
*
Stewart Krentzman Stewart H. Krentzman (born March 30, 1951) is the founder of Hummingbird Enterprises, Inc., a private holding company involved in several entrepreneurial startups.
From 2003 until 2010, Krentzman was the president and chief executive officer of 120 ...
, president and CEO of
Oki Data Americas, Inc.
*
John Legere (born 1958), former CEO of
T-Mobile.
*
William Leiss, president of the
Royal Society of Canada
The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; french: Société royale du Canada, SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bil ...
from 1999 to 2001 and Officer of the
Order of Canada.
*
Jacob Lissek
Jacob Lissek (born August 17, 1992) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper. He played college soccer for Fairleigh Dickinson University, and set the Knights’ all-time career record for shutouts (26). After co ...
(born 1992), soccer player.
*
George Martin (born 1953), former
defensive end for the
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
, who is Executive Director NFL Alumni Association.
[Johnson, Roy S.; and Fiffer, Steve]
"Sports World Specials; Giant Scholars"
'' The New York Times'', June 1, 1987. Accessed July 27, 2022. "Yet, there stood 34-year-old George Martin yesterday afternoon in cap and gown, with diploma in hand, proclaiming, 'this is the day I've been waiting for all of my life.'... Martin was among the 2,500 students who received bachelor's degrees from Fairleigh Dickinson University in a ceremony held at the Brendon Byrne Arena.... Martin and Williams are the first Giants to attain bachelor's degrees through the Degree Completion Program for Pro Athletes, which was started at F.D.U. in 1985."
*
Yahya Maroofi
Mohammad Yahya Maroofi (or Maroufi) (born March 5, 1939 in Kabul), is an ethnic Pashtun from the Barakzai tribe. His family is from District Maroof Kandahar, Afghanistan.
Diplomatic career
He was nominated on February 2, 2002, as Special advise ...
, Former Secretary General of the
Economic Cooperation Organization
*
D. Bennett Mazur
David Bennett Mazur (December 14, 1924 – October 11, 1994) was an American politician and academic who served six terms in the New Jersey General Assembly, where he represented the 37th Legislative District from 1982 to 1992. Mazur also sp ...
(1924–1994), member of the
New Jersey General Assembly.
*
Danielle McEwan (born 1991), ten-pin bowler and
PWBA title holder
*
John J. Mooney
John Joseph Mooney (April 6, 1930 – June 16, 2020) was an American chemical engineer who was co-inventor of the three-way catalytic converter, which has played a dramatic role in reducing pollution from motor vehicles since their introduction i ...
(1930–2020), co-inventor of the three-way
catalytic converter and co-winner of
National Medal of Technology.
*
Vince Naimoli (1937–2019), founder and chair of the
Tampa Bay Rays.
*
Peggy Noonan (born 1950), columnist, author and former speechwriter for
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
.
*
Christine O'Donnell
Christine Therese O'Donnell (born August 27, 1969) is an American conservative activist in the Tea Party movement best known for her 2010 campaign for the United States Senate seat from Delaware vacated by Joe Biden.
O'Donnell was born in ...
(born 1969), 2010 Republican nominee for U.S. Senator from Delaware.
*
Gregory Olsen (born 1945), entrepreneur and astronaut.
*
Mel Schrieberg
Melvin Schrieberg (1942–2017) was an American businessman, best known for co-founding Election.com, where he acted as the project manager for the first major political election ever run over the internet, the Arizona Democratic Primary of 2000, w ...
(1942–2017), co-founder of Election.com, running the only major public sector election ever run on the Internet, the Arizona Democratic primary in March 2000.
*
John Spencer, actor known for his role on ''
The West Wing'' (did not graduate).
*
Dennis Strigl (born 1946), president and COO of
Verizon Communications.
*
Stephen Spiro
Stephen Spiro (1939–2007) was a political activist known for his opposition against the Vietnam War and his advocacy of an ideology that opposes abortion, capital punishment, assisted suicide, and euthanasia. Opposing the Vietnam war based on th ...
, Vietnam War opponent, conscientious objector, received pardon by Gerald Ford.
*
Guy Talarico
Guy F. Talarico (born August 28, 1955) is an American Republican Party politician, who served two full terms in the New Jersey General Assembly, where he represented the 38th Legislative District.
Biography
Talarico earned his undergraduate d ...
, member of the
New Jersey General Assembly.
*
Rahshon Turner
Rahshon Turner (born March 10, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player. Turner is a veteran of the European leagues, playing for teams in the Netherlands, France, Israel, and Spain. In 2008-09 he was the top rebounder in the I ...
(born 1975), basketball player
*
Jeff Van Drew (born 1953), member of the
U.S. House of Representatives for
New Jersey's second District.
*
Ben Weinman (born 1975), founding lead guitarist of
The Dillinger Escape Plan.
*
Sara Whalen (born 1976), Olympic soccer player
*
Zygi Wilf (born 1950), billionaire real estate developer and owner of the
Minnesota Vikings football team.
*
Perry Williams (born 1961),
cornerback who played in the NFL for the
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
.
[
* Bill Willoughby (born 1957), retired NBA professional, who earned his FDU degree after skipping college and playing in the NBA.
* Darren Young, professional wrestler formerly working for WWE.
* ]Gerald H. Zecker
Gerald H. Zecker (born April 12, 1942) is an American Republican Party politician who served 18 years in the New Jersey General Assembly, from 1984 to 2002, where he represented the 34th Legislative District, losing office after several heavily ...
(born 1942), politician who served as Deputy Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly.Assemblyman Gerald H. Zecker
New Jersey Legislature
The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and the ...
, backed up by the Internet Archive as of February 25, 1998. Accessed June 14, 2010.
Notable faculty
Seth Roland is the head coach of the Fairleigh Dickinson men's soccer team, a position he has held since 1997, and was named 2000
Northeast Conference Men's Soccer Coach of the Year
The Northeast Conference Men's Soccer Coach of the Year is a soccer award given to head coaches in the Northeast Conference (NEC). The award is granted to the head coach voted to be the most successful that season by the league's coaches. The awar ...
. As of 2022, he was the winningest coach in FDU men's soccer history, the winningest coach in
Northeast Conference history, and the ninth active-winningest-coach in
NCAA Division I.
References
External links
*
{{coord, 40.897967, N, 74.029278, W, source:dewiki_region:US-NJ_type:edu, format=dms, display=title
Educational institutions established in 1942
Universities and colleges in Morris County, New Jersey
Private universities and colleges in New Jersey
Florham Park, New Jersey
Hackensack, New Jersey
Madison, New Jersey
Teaneck, New Jersey
Sports in Bergen County, New Jersey
1942 establishments in New Jersey
Private universities and colleges in Canada
Universities and colleges in British Columbia
Universities and colleges in Bergen County, New Jersey