Rowan leaders celebrated in NJBIZ Education Power List 2025

This week, the 2025 NJBIZ Education Power List shined a light on transformative leaders shaping the future of education in New Jersey, including four honorees from Rowan University, starting with President Ali Houshmand.

Houshmand, the editors noted, continues to redefine public higher education. President since 2012, under his leadership, Rowan has become the third-fastest growing public research university in the nation. His vision has led to the launch of New Jersey's first veterinary school this year, a new nursing school, and a biomedical research center. With more than $1.36 billion in completed university-related construction and $1.5 billion more planned for the next decade, Houshmand's entrepreneurial approach has fostered public-private partnerships and elevated Rowan to Carnegie R2 research university status, with R1 on the horizon.

NJBIZ noted that Dr. Thomas Cavalieri, a respected geriatrician and academic leader, has played a pivotal role in expanding medical education in South Jersey. As vice president, senior advisor for health care and medical education for the University, Cavalieri was the inaugural vice president of the Virtua Health College of Medicine and Life Sciences and chief academic officer for Virtua Health.

The longtime former dean of the School of Osteopathic Medicine, Cavalieri saw the school triple enrollment and expand to a second campus. Editors noted that he also facilitated the development of the school's several centers of excellence including the N.J. Institute for Successful Aging; the NeuroMusculoskeletal Institute; the Child Abuse Research, Education and Services (CARES) Institute; and the Regional Integrated Special Needs Center

Editors wrote that Dr. Matthew Edson, founding dean of Rowan's Shreiber School of Veterinary Medicine, is leading the state's first veterinary school, which opened in Harrison Township this fall. Editors noted the importance of the milestone veterinary school opening, which features an initial cohort of 75 students, 40 from New Jersey. "Having an in-state veterinary program will reduce the debt burden for many aspiring New Jersey veterinarians," explained Edson. Involved with the project from the beginning, around 2019, Edson is also a businessperson - founder and owner of Rancocas Veterinary Associates, a multi-doctor mixed animal practice in Mount Laurel.

Editors wrote that Dr. Annette Reboli, dean and professor of medicine at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University in Camden, "oversees all areas of the school," which holds distinction as the only four-year, M.D.-granting medical school in South Jersey.

Under Reboli, they noted, CMSRU has been listed among the "Top 10 Most Competitive" medical schools for admission and, since its first commencement in 2016, has graduated nearly 750 physicians. Reboli is board certified in internal medicine and infectious diseases and has co-authored more than 180 peer-reviewed publications. Outside of CMSRU, she has served on several committees for Camden County and the state of New Jersey, volunteering her expertise in infectious diseases. A prolific researcher, Reboli has secured more than $15 million in support from a variety of public and private sources.