Howard Kimmel ’59 In October 2019, Professor Emeritus Howard Kimmel ’59 traveled to Washington, D.C., to receive the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring. He was one of 15 people from across the nation, “and the only one from New Jersey,” Kimmel emphasizes, to receive the award. It was fitting that he returned to his home state with the award, the nation’s highest for shepherding minorities into STEM fields. For nearly four decades, Kimmel was at the vanguard of programs created for middle- and high schools, the kind that would grab a student’s attention at an early age and ignite a spark in him or her for science and technology, including the many underrepresented students in his New Jersey. He didn’t start out to be a changemaker. When Kimmel entered Brooklyn College in 1955, he intended to make chemistry his only vocation. He credits the department and the faculty for preparing him for success in the field. He earned his master’s degree in chemistry at West Virginia University and returned to New York City. The City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center had just been established, and Kimmel joined the first class of doctoral candidates. “I was fortunate to have Dr. Clyde Dillard as my research adviser, of whom I have fond memories,” says Kimmel. “He was an excellent adviser as well as a special person. We remained in contact professionally and as friends long after I received my degree.” It was a time of new beginnings for Kimmel. While working on his doctorate, he met and married fellow Brooklyn College graduate Barbara Rosenberg ’62, who majored in biology. He also joined the Newark College of Engineering faculty, later renamed the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). He was on track, but in 1975, something happened to extend his career trajectory: He was invited to step out of his role as a research college professor and participate in a pre-college program at a Newark high school. Kimmel eagerly accepted. He taught environmental issues in a program called Urban Engineering, funded by the National Science Foundation. The experience was eye-opening. At a field trip to an Exxon refinery in nearby Linden, he witnessed students asking questions that the public relations man from Exxon was sometimes hard-pressed to answer. The students impressed Kimmel. He realized that introducing students to STEM subjects at a young age, in ways they could understand and appreciate, was crucial to attracting them to later careers in those fields. Kimmel believed he had to teach the science, math, and engineering teachers in middle- and high schools how to keep their students interested and engaged. The instructors needed comprehensive mentoring in curriculum and pedagogy for K–12 classrooms across New Jersey. It would take more than one person and plenty of resources to accomplish such a thing. But he was hooked. With a colleague, Kimmel co-founded the Center for Pre-College Programs at NJIT in 1979 to help schools draw area students into STEM careers. An advisory board was established, which included public and private school middle-school educators, business and industry leaders, and representatives from NJIT and NJIT’s foundation. Funding was secured through organizations such as the National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Education and corporations. Kimmel and his colleagues would bring to area schools new teacher training programs, new curricula and best practices as well as student talent searches, competitions, and early college-prep programs. There was something else that made Kimmel and his colleagues’ efforts stand out. In 1980, a National Science Foundation Authorization and Science and Technology Equal Opportunity Act called for broadening the participation of minorities in the STEM workforce (the percentage had been woefully low). Newark and surrounding school districts had (and still have) large Black and Latino student bodies. Through the center, Kimmel had reached those students, gaining them access to a pipeline into STEM majors and, later, vocations. It was for this that Kimmel was invited to Washington, D.C. to receive the top STEM mentoring award in the nation. Since its opening, the center has helped thousands of students into STEM vocations. Kimmel retired as executive director of the center after 45 years. Content with his long-ago career shift (“I never looked back”), he continues his mentoring mission on a smaller scale, working one-on-one with educators, helping build after-school and summer programs, and guiding high schoolers on career paths. He shows no signs of stopping.
