Advisory Board
Meet Leir Research Institute's Advisory Board Members.
The Leir Research Institute has recruited representatives from each of our stakeholder groups (Government, NGOs, Academia, and Corporations) to help guide and direct the LRI Director in advancing the mission of the institute.
|
Judith Sheft
(Government) |
Judith is the Executive Director of the New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation, and Technology and formerly a colleague at NJIT. The Commission's mission is to accelerate economic development in New Jersey through science, innovation and technology including stimulating academic-industrial collaboration and encouraging and supporting entrepreneurs and inventors. |
|
Rodney Priestley
(Academia) |
Rod is the Vice Dean for Innovation at Princeton University and Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering. He has applied principles of physics, chemistry and engineering towards nanoscale processing and characterization of polymers and soft matter with particular emphasis on thin films, colloids, and nanocomposites. |
|
Ahu Yildirmaz
(Corporate) |
Ahu is the founding head of ADP Research Institute® and currently co-heads the Institute, where she directs economic and labor market research. The institute leverages insights gained from ADP’s global employee sample of nearly 40 million workers worldwide, to conduct research that illuminates the crucial trends shaping today’s working environments. |
|
Gregory Smith
(Corporate) |
Greg, Executive Vice President of and Head of Commercial Lending at Peapack - Gladstone Bank, is an experienced Group Executive with a demonstrated history of working in the financial services industry and is skilled in commercial lending, banking, sales, credit analysis, and branch management. |
|
Victor Salama
(NGO)
|
Victor is the Executive Director at Greater Newark Enterprises Corporation. He specializes in non-profit management and fundraising, entrepreneurship instruction, and partnership building. |