Hudson County Community College Professor to Be Honored at Hudson County’s Women’s History Month Celebration
March 19, 2013
JERSEY CITY, N.J. / March 19, 2013 - Hudson County Community College (HCCC) Professor Mojdeh Tabatabaie, Ph.D., P.E., who has helped pioneer the way for women in the sciences, will be honored as one of the remarkable women who have made a difference in the community at Hudson County’s Annual Women’s History Month Celebration on Tuesday, March 19, 2013 at 6 p.m.
“Professor Tabatabaie is one of Hudson County Community College’s most committed teachers and one of the community’s greatest assets,” said HCCC President Dr. Glen Gabert. “She is beloved and respected by her students and colleagues,” he stated.
A native of Iran, Mojdeh Tabatabaie comes from a family of educators — her father was a math teacher and her mother studied early childhood education. After graduating from high school at the age of 15, she went on to earn her bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering. After graduation, she worked as a process engineer in a suburban Tehran cement plant, where she was the sole female employee and was charged with supervising 15 technicians. In 1975, Prof. Tabatabaie and her husband migrated to the United States, and she pursued and earned master’s degrees in chemical engineering from the University of Illinois-Chicago and environmental engineering from New Jersey Institute of Technology, and a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from New Jersey Institute of Technology.
Professor Tabatabaie began her career at Hudson County Community College in 1983. In addition to teaching mathematics, science and computer courses, she served as the Dean of the College’s Division of Math, Science and Technology for seven years, and was New Jersey’s only female coordinator of an engineering program at that time.
Prof. Tabatabaie’s experience, education and understanding for her students are only surpassed by her passion to see her students succeed. Her teaching methodology is student-centered and she is more interested in making certain that her students understand and learn their coursework rather than just getting a good grade. Her students consider her tough but fair, and she has earned their respect and admiration.
In addition to her teaching, Prof. Tabatabaie has mentored many of her students, providing one-on-one tutoring and advice after classes and on weekends. Her students have benefited from her affiliations, and she has worked with a host of private and public institutions to develop programs that have resulted in students being able to participate in internships and other activities, such as being involved with research at Brookhaven National Laboratory during the summer. She also assisted in developing articulation agreements between Hudson County Community College and New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) that resulted in a dual admission program which allows HCCC instructors to follow their students’ progress at NJIT.
Professor Tabatabaie has also served as a judge and advisory board member of The Jersey Journal Hudson County Science Fair, enlisting her students to assist with the event and engaging and nurturing relationships with science professors and professionals to serve as judges and to support the promotion of science and technology for students. In 2008, she was also selected to receive The Jersey Journal’s Everyday Heroes/Newspapers in Education Award.
“Mojdeh Tabatabaie is very deserving of this award, and we are privileged to have her as a vital and contributing part of our community,” Dr. Gabert said.