Provided/Stockton University President Harvey Kesselman presents Atlantic City 4th Ward Councilman MD Hossain Morshed with a commemorative Stockton coin at the Dec. 21 City Council meeting in Atlantic City. Kesselman presented each council member with a coin.
ATLANTIC CITY – The City Council Dec. 21 unanimously approved an ordinance designating a portion of Albany Avenue as Dr. Harvey Kesselman Way. The block, located along the Stockton University Residential Complex, will officially be renamed at a ceremony in 2023.
“I’m honored and humbled by this,” Kesselman said. “It’s not only very meaningful to me and my family but also the university that I’ve spent my entire adult life at. We are very thrilled to be in Atlantic City, and we will continue to expand in Atlantic City.”
The entire council agreed to move the ordinance forward for a second reading.
The ordinance commends Kesselman’s commitment to the public-private partnership to build the Atlantic City campus, which opened in 2018.
In 2023, a second Atlantic City residential building will join the John F. Scarpa Academic Center and the existing residential complex in the University District.
“Dr. Kesselman’s visionary prowess and collaborative nature has positioned Stockton University’s Atlantic City Campus to be an extraordinary Anchor Institution and a major economic driver for the region and the educational capital of southern New Jersey,” the ordinance reads.
“This is the perfect way to honor a man who has been a mentor and close friend of mine for a long time,” Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Sr. said. “Dr. Kesselman has done so much for the City of Atlantic City, and I’m glad to see him getting the recognition he deserves. Between this and the ongoing development at Stockton, this is an exciting time for the university, and I’m glad it’s all happening under my administration.”
Kesselman announced in July that he will retire as Stockton’s fifth president on June 30, 2023.
Kesselman is unique in the history of Stockton. As a member of the first class at then Stockton State College in 1971, he continued on to become a faculty member, and has held several mid- and senior-level administrative positions, including provost and executive vice president. He began serving as acting president in April 2015 and was named president later that year.
His career parallels the institution’s growth, from a small college in the Pinelands National Reserve to a world-class university with locations in Galloway Township, Atlantic City, Hammonton, Manahawkin and Woodbine.
He shepherded the university through its expansion to Atlantic City, including being named an Anchor Institution by the state. He also successfully championed equitable funding for public colleges and universities in New Jersey.
