Dr. Augustine A. Boakye to be Inaugurated as Essex County College President on May 5

Dr. Augustine A. Boakye will be inaugurated as Essex County College’s 9^th President in an Inaugural ceremony on Thursday, May 5, 2022.  The ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. in the Cleo Hill, Sr. Physical Education Building on the College’s Newark campus.

Dr. Boakye was appointed Interim President on July 21, 2020. He was officially appointed President by the College’s Board of Trustees effective November 1, 2021.

“We look forward to a long and productive relationship with our new President, one that will certainly continue to put Students First,” stated Board of Trustees Chair Marion A. Bolden. “The Inaugural ceremony shows the commitment that everyone has at Essex County College to move our proud institution into our next chapter of service to the community,” she added. 

The Inaugural theme is Servant Leadership, a philosophy in which the goal of the leader is to serve. The theme fits into the Essex County College slogan of Students First and the personality of the institution’s new leader.  

Dr. Boakye started his Essex County College career in 2009 as an Associate Professor of Economics. He has also served as Chair of the Division of Business, and Acting Dean of Liberal Arts and Business. He earned his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom.

Participants in the ceremony include Essex County College President Emeritus Dr. A. Zachary Yamba, Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr., Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, and Rutgers University-Newark Chancellor Nancy Cantor.   Father Edwin Leahy, Headmaster at St. Benedict’s Preparatory School, in Newark, will deliver the invocation. 

Other state, Essex County and local officials, and representatives from New Jersey colleges and universities are expected to attend the Inauguration.   

Following the Inauguration, there will be a community reception at the College.

In the evening, the College will hold its Presidential Scholarship Gala at the Crystal Plaza, in Livingston, NJ.

Additional information on the Essex County College Inauguration is available at essex.edu/inauguration.