RUTGERS UNIVERSITY-NEWARK ANNOUNCES PRINCIPAL FROM TAFT AND PARTNERS AS CHAIR OF ADVISORY BOARD
LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. (July 16, 2014) – Taft Communications (“Taft”) announced today that Oliver B. Quinn, principal and senior counselor, was named chair of the Rutgers University-Newark Advisory Board. The new board was created a year ago this month as the result of legislation integrating Rutgers University and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey last year.
Taft is a Lawrenceville-based communications firm specializing in mission-driven corporate communications, PR and branding. Quinn advises Taft clients on compliance and ethics campaigns; dispute resolution; leadership communications; risk and conflict management; and diversity and inclusion. Quinn is a distinguished member of the Rutgers School of Law-Newark’s Class of 1975.
The Rutgers University-Newark Advisory Board works with campus leadership in spreading the teaching, research, and service mission of the university and engaging the campus with local and statewide communities and initiatives. Throughout its 100-year-plus history of providing higher education, Rutgers University-Newark, one of the leading urban research universities in the nation, has been an anchor institution in the state’s largest city. The university, which enrolls more than 12,000 undergraduate and graduate students on a 38-acre-campus in downtown Newark, is among the nation’s most diverse national universities and offers 42 undergraduate programs, 33 master’s programs, and 22 doctoral programs.
Members of the Advisory Board unanimously selected Quinn as chair last year. His background makes him especially well-suited to the task, having advised leaders in the public, private, and non-profit sectors on matters of law, ethics, public affairs, and management for more than 30 years.
“Much of my career, including with Prudential and now with several Taft clients, has centered around Newark,” says Quinn. “As newly appointed Chancellor Nancy Cantor and the campus community work to develop a vision and strategic plan for RU-Newark, I am very excited to lead the board to provide the support needed to make that vision a reality.”
The Plainfield, N.J., resident is excited about the opportunities and challenges that await RU-Newark as a result of its new governing structure. “The stars are aligning nicely for RU-Newark and I am pleased to be part of it,” Quinn says.
During his distinguished career Quinn also has served as corporate vice president and chief business ethics officer at Prudential Financial; deputy solicitor, United States Department of Labor; deputy commissioner, New Jersey Department of Labor; administrative law judge, State of New Jersey; assistant counsel, Judiciary Committee of the United States House of Representatives; and assistant dean of Rutgers Law-Newark. Quinn has been honored by Rutgers School of Law-Newark Alumni Association for his achievements in the field of law, receiving the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2010.
The other members of the Advisory Board are:
• Cami Anderson, superintendent, Newark Public Schools
• Divij Pandya, student, president of the Student Governing Association
• Markos Papadakis, student, president of the Graduate Student Governing Association
• Clement Price, Rutgers University Board of Governors Distinguished Service Professor
• John Schreiber, CEO, New Jersey Performing Arts Center
• Sharon Taylor, senior vice president, Human Resources, Prudential Financial
• James Tepper, Rutgers University Distinguished Professor, Rutgers Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience
• Permelia Toney-Boss, Rutgers administrative staff and president of the Union of Rutgers Administrators/AFT
• Miklos Vasarhelyi, Rutgers University Distinguished Professor, Rutgers Business School
• Marge Derrick, alumnae trustee, Rutgers Board of Trustees; Newark College of Arts and Sciences Class of 1971
• Richard Roper, president, Roper Group, Public Policy Consulting; member, Rutgers Board of Governors; Newark College of Arts and Sciences Class of 1968
About Taft Communications
Taft Communications is a New Jersey-based communications consulting firm with 30 years of experience creating and implementing targeted campaigns for mission-driven clients across the globe. Taft is made of diversely-experienced pros from a range of industries, working together to respond to both internal and external communications issues. Clients include foundations, non-profits, Fortune 500 companies, hospitals and universities. The firm has particularly in-depth experience in the health and life sciences sectors. Taft has two sister divisions: PharmApprove, the leading strategic, regulatory, and scientific communications consultancy to the pharmaceutical and biotech industries in the US, Canada, and Europe; and ClearPoint, the leadership communications firm providing courses, clinics and coaching to help leaders manage the “constant conversation.”