Wise was elected to a one-year term during the board's re-organization meeting, held at the college's Branchburg campus.
Robert P. Wise Robert P. Wise of Clinton Township has been named the new chair of the Raritan Valley Community College board of trustees.
Wise was elected to a one-year term during the board's re-organization meeting, held at the college's Branchburg campus.
During the meeting, Gary Hazard of Flemington was elected vice chair from Hunterdon County and Tracy DiFrancesco Zaikov of Watchung was chosen to continue serving as the vice chair from Somerset County. The terms for vice chairs are for one year.
A member of the RVCC board since 2004, Wise served as a vice chair (Hunterdon County) of the board from 2011-2015.
Wise has been president and chief executive officer of the Hunterdon Medical Center since 1990. He also serves as president of Hunterdon Healthcare System, Hunterdon Healthcare Foundation, Hunterdon Regional Community Health and Midjersey Health Corporation.
Wise received his undergraduate degree from Boston College and his Masters in Public Health from the University of Pittsburgh. Prior to coming to the Medical Center, he held administrative positions at Rancocas Hospital (Executive Director), Albert Einstein Medical Center (Vice President), and Kennedy Memorial Hospital (Administrator).
Wise serves on the board of trustees of the New Jersey Hospital Association and is a past Chairman of that organization. He serves as a director on the Board of NJHA HealthPAC, serves as a member of the NJHA Chairman's Advisory Committee on Industry Direction and the NJHA Committee on Nominations.
Wise is the recipient of the NJHA 2014 Distinguished Service Award and the American College of Healthcare Executives Senior Leader Regent's Award in 2005. He is a former director of the Center for Health Affairs and the Health Research and Education Trust. He serves on the Board of Directors of VHA Mid-Atlantic, and served as Chairman of VHA, East Coast.
Locally, Wise was board chairman of the Hunterdon County Chamber of Commerce. He served as a board director of the Rotary Club of Flemington, and was a former Director of United Way of Hunterdon County. Wise received the Hunterdon County Business Leader of the Year Award in 2000 and the Distinguished Citizen Award from the Boy Scouts of America in 2001.
He received the Elks Distinguished Citizenship Award in 2010. Wise is a founding director of the Hunterdon County Partnership for Health. He serves on the School Advisory Committee for Immaculate Conception Church and serves as a Lector at St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church in High Bridge.
Wise assumes the RVCC leadership role from Dr. Paul J. Hirsch, who served as chairman from November 2013 to November 2015. A member of the RVCC board of trustees since 1986, Hirsch previously served as chairman of the board from 2008-2011. He also has served as a vice chair from Somerset County.
Under Hirsch's recent leadership of the board, the college has made a number of significant advancements including opening the Ray Bateman Center for Student Life and Leadership; selecting Dr. Michael J. McDonough is as the college's eighth president; and breaking ground on the expansion of the Christine Todd Whitman Science Center and a new Workforce Training Center that will house programs designed in partnership with local industry.
The board of trustees is responsible for the overall planning and policy-making for the college.