School of Engineering honored five distinguished graduates of the school at a gala event on Thursday, October 5, recognizing alumni achievement in technology and asset management, automotive safety research, telecommunications advancements, and aerospace innovation. More than 250 alumni, industry partners, faculty, and students attended the 2017 Medal of Excellence and Distinguished Alumni event which celebrated the accomplishments of John P. Cipolletti, Reates K. Curry, Andrew L. Intrater, Emeka O. Oguh (ECE), and Roman P. Pacewicz (ECE). This year’s event, which supports engineering scholarships, generated more than $200,000 through sponsorships and ticket sales.
“Our school continues to be steeped in academic excellence, creativity, integrity, and service,” said Thomas N. Farris, dean of the School of Engineering, during the evening’s proceedings. “We’re here tonight to honor the best of Rutgers Engineering’s alumni: the honorees who demonstrate the impact that our graduates have on every aspect of our lives – growing our cities, improving our health and quality of life, educating our children, and advancing our nation’s innovation leadership.”
Distinguished Achievement in Industry
As chief product officer for AT&T Business, Roman Pacewicz is leading product development that supports nearly 3.5 million business customers and an annual revenue stream of nearly $70 billion. His team is responsible for every element of product management from defining the strategy and developing the product portfolio to delivering the revenue performance and profitability. Since joining AT&T in 1988, he has held an array of leadership positions in product management, systems development, marketing, engineering, and operations. He most recently served as senior vice president of offer management and service integration, advancing the development of industry-leading Software Defined Networking (SDN) based offers. Pacewicz holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Rutgers University and an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.
Distinguished Young Alumnus
Emeka Oguh is the founder and CEO of PeopleJoy, a benefits platform company that provides employee retention solutions focused on financial wellness. He previously founded a mobile app publishing company that was acquired in 2015. Prior to that, he worked as director of product at a venture-backed financial technology startup and as a Wall Street analyst at Merrill Lynch. He is a Huffington Postcontributor, providing articles related to financial wellness and managing student debt. He also volunteers with MLT Ascend, a mentoring program for first-generation, low-income college students. In addition to his Rutgers electrical engineering degree, Oguh earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.
