Monmouth University President Patrick F. Leahy has been named to the 2020 NJBIZ Education Power 50 list following his first year in West Long Branch, while Monmouth University Polling Director Patrick Murray remains in the top 10 for a second consecutive year. The 2020 roster emphasizes the role played by educators and researchers during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how crucial universities and medical schools have been in getting New Jersey through the worst of the public health emergency and on the road to recovery.
In their profile of Leahy, NJBIZ notes that under his leadership, “Monmouth reached its highest U.S. News & World Report ranking, jumping five places from 28 to 23 in a single year, and welcomed its most diverse and academically prepared class—boasting the highest grade point average of any incoming cohort—in the school’s history.” They also note that Leahy “launched a President’s Relief Fund to provide direct aid to students economically impacted by COVID-19 before the federal CARES Act was signed into law,” while remaining focused on expanding student access to academic excellence by “increasing the financial aid budget to the highest level in the University’s history to $79.2 million, a 7.9 percent increase over the previous year.”
Murray, who took the number 10 slot in the rankings, “is an astute and articulate political analyst and routinely appears on television news programs covering national elections and is a go-to source for political journalists of all stripes. And as the presidential campaign moves into high gear, his profile will only get higher.” NJBIZ also notes that the Monmouth University poll “is one of the most highly regarded measures of public opinion in the country. In fact, it is one of a handful of gold standard polls, recognized as rigorous and reliable.”
Read more about the 2020 NJBIZ Education Power 50 list.