Fostering e N G A G e M e N t
Barbara Meyers Pelson came in 1955 to what was then new Jersey State teachers
College at trenton to study education and music. She found great instructors in "a warm
and caring environment." nearly 60 years later, pelson shows just how much she values the
college's signature faculty-student engagement. e trustee emerita and tCnJ Foundation
board member has funded tCnJ's first endowed chair through a $1 million gift, establishing
the Barbara Meyers pelson '59 Chair in Faculty-Student engagement.
e first of its kind at tCnJ, this position will recognize and support the work of tenured
full professors who have distinguished records of faculty-student collaborative scholarship
and are exemplars of the teacher-scholar model. rough pelson's gift, future students and
faculty will have the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of collaborative, sophisticated research
opportunities on a whole new level.
"e intent is about the feeling between the student and the professor," pelson says. "Some
people talk about giving back—but I feel that I'm giving a gift that goes onward."
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