Hudson County Community College President Dr. Glen Gabert Named Dante Alighieri Society 2014 Man of the Year

A Chicago native, Glen Gabert earned his Ph.D. from Loyola University (where he was a Schmitt Fellow and member of the adjunct faculty of Graduate School of Education), and his post-doctoral M.B.A. from the Graduate School of Management of Rockhurst University. He also holds a master’s degree from Notre Dame University (where he was a Hearst Fellow), and a bachelor’s degree from Benedictine University.

Dr. Gabert has dedicated much of his career to the development and advancement of community colleges, beginning at Moraine Valley Community College in the Chicago metropolitan area where he was the Assistant to the Academic Vice President, Assistant to the President, and an Adjunct Professor. He went on to Johnson Community College in the Kansas City metropolitan area, where he served as Dean with responsibility for human resources development, institutional research and planning, and public relations/communications.

Glen Gabert is the longest-serving President in Hudson County Community College’s history, and has been the driving force behind the College’s overall development for the past 22 years. At the time he became HCCC President, the College was an institution with about 3,000 students that owned one building, and had a curriculum that was largely focused on developmental education and limited career programs. Under his guidance, and with the support and endeavors of Hudson County Community College’s Board of Trustees, faculty and staff, there are now more than 9,000 students enrolled at HCCC who attend classes on two campuses that include nearly a dozen, College-owned, state-of-the-art buildings. The College now offers a comprehensive, student-centered program that includes strong transfer and several productive signature programs, including the nationally acclaimed Culinary Arts Institute and Developmental Education programs, a cutting-edge ESL/Bilingual program, Allied Health, Business, Criminal Justice, Hospitality Management, Homeland Security, the Sciences, and Studio Arts/Computer Art. Workforce development programs and cooperative alliances with private and governmental organizations have also been forged to prepare area residents for employment in nursing and other health fields, as well as hospitality management. The College’s Center for Business & Industry is the area leader in developing and delivering educational classes, as well as programs for businesses, organizations, and individuals.

He is currently a Vice Chair of the Hudson County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, and a member of the Journal Square Restoration Corporation Board of Trustees.  He is also a member of the New Jersey Council of County Colleges’ (NJCCC) Facilities Committee and past chair of the NJCCC Presidents.  Dr. Gabert serves on the Board of Directors of the international Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities.  He is also a member of the Executive Committee of the Presidents Academy of the Association of Community Colleges, and a past member of the Association’s Commission on Diversity.  

Dr. Gabert has been honored by the Meadowlands Chamber of Commerce as the 2007 Educator of the year, by the Hudson County Chamber of Commerce with their 2012 Legends Award, and by the Boys & Girls Club of Hudson County with its 2013 Distinguished Service Award. In 2013, he was one of just five U.S. community college presidents to receive a Distinguished Executive Officer Award from the Association of Community College Trustees.