Stockton University president leaving office next year

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Harvey Kesselman, a member of Stockton University’s inaugural graduating class who went on to serve as the school’s president for the past seven years, announced Wednesday that he will be stepping down next year.

Kesselman made the announcement during a Board of Trustees meeting at the university’s Atlantic City campus. The fifth president in the school’s history, he plans to leave that post on June 30, 2023, but will remain at Stockton as president emeritus and a tenured professor of education.

Kesselman was part of then-Stockton State College’s inaugural class in 1971 and earned a bachelor’s degree in political science, then received a master’s degree in student personnel services/counseling from Rowan University and a doctorate in higher education administration from Widener University.

He served as a faculty member at Stockton before holding several mid- and senior-level administrative positions there, including provost and executive vice president. He began serving as the university’s acting president in April 2015, and the board named him to the post on a permanent basis eight months later,

Raymond Ciccone, chairman of Stockton’s Board of Trustees, said the university will start a national search for Kesselman’s successor in the coming months.

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This story has been corrected to say Kesselman was part of inaugural class in 1971 rather than graduated in 1971.