2022_09_New_Jersey_Monthly

Our STATE of EDUCATION
CHAMPION OF DIVERSITY
With a focus on diversity, Teik Lim is bringing a unique
perspective during his inaugural year as president of NJIT.
[ ]
&
A
by jacqueline mroz
TEIK LIM IS KICKING OFF HIS FIRST FALL AS PRESIdent
of the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark. The
ninth leader of the lauded polytechnical research university
and the first president of color to lead the institution, Lim, 57,
a mechanical engineer, is a renowned scholar and educator.
He is of Chinese descent, and grew up in Malaysia, where he
endured racism as an ethnic minority. He hopes to use his
position to ensure that NJIT is welcoming to students of all
backgrounds. He also wants to create a strong technological and physical infrastructure
at the school and help it adapt to the digital revolution.
QCan you talk about representation
and the significance of being the
afirst Asian-American president of NJIT?
In all my time in higher ed, I have
championed diversity, equity
and inclusion. Diversity is a strength
that helps our academics and research
flourish. Having a person of color to be
president here for the first time is very
significant. This school has a diverse
student population and employees, and
in terms of representation, (my appoint-
ment) shows the commitment of this institution.
QGrowing up in Malaysia as an ethnic
minority, can you talk about the rac-
you experienced? aism
I came to this country 40 years ago
to get an education and to be free
from the racism, bigotry and inequity I
endured for most of my teenage life. I’m
forever grateful to my adopted country.
In high school, I was beaten and called
names daily. They told me to go back to
China, even though I was born in Malaysia.
When I graduated, I applied for a
scholarship to attend college there, but
was told I didn’t qualify because of my
ethnicity. For nearly 20 years, I would
wake up at night with nightmares,
screaming. Then I traveled to Malaysia
and visited my high school, and after that,
the nightmares were gone.
QHow does that experience inform
your leadership at the helm of one
of the most diverse public colleges in the
state, with students of color comprising
a60% of enrollment?
I learned to forgive and forget and
to use that experience to champion
equity and belonging, because I know how
important that is. I hope I can play a part
in helping every student at NJIT find their
dream, without the experiences that I had.
QWhat are the main challenges
ayou’re facing at NJIT?
The challenge is to keep going on
the college’s amazing trajectory, to
further the rise of NJIT, and to become a
preeminent public polytechnic research
university in the country and globally.
We need to embrace the use of digital
technology in everything we do and use
it to enhance learning.
QWhat are some of your goals as the
anew president of NJIT?
Higher education is in the midst
of a digital revolution. For NJIT
to excel, we must create a technological
and physical infrastructure so that our
core enterprises are unbound by space
or time. We must also assure that NJIT is
accessible to students of all backgrounds
and is a truly welcoming and inclusive
community where everyone is respected
and can be successful.
PHOTOGRAPH: COURTESY OF NEW JERSEY INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
70 SEPTEMBER 2022 NJMONTHLY.COM