Professor of Mathematics,
Vice President for Student Affairs, Saint Peter’s College
A third generation Nutleyite, Eileen L. Poiani, is the daughter of Eileen L. and Hugo F. Poiani. The family resided in the Lincoln Apartments on Park Avenue.
Valedictorian of the Nutley High School Class of 1961 and named a Nutley Rotary Scholar, Eileen was voted “Most Likely to Succeed” by her class. Among her activities were editorship of the Gauntlet, the literary magazine; service on the Maroon and Gray newspaper; and membership in the National Honor Society and various clubs. She received the Olsen Cup for mathematics.
Responsibilities gravitate to those who can shoulder them – so says the caption under Eileen’s high school yearbook photo. Whoever wrote it must have known her well, and she has always striven to fulfill this expectation.
A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Douglass College, the women’s division of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, she majored in mathematics and minored in French. Pursuing graduate study at Rutgers, under a Bevier Fellowship and a Graduate Assistantship, she earned the Master of Science and Ph.D. degrees in mathematics.
In 1967, Dr. Poiani joined the faculty of Saint Peter’s College as the first woman in its Mathematics Department. A national leader in mathematics education, Dr. Poiani earned full professorship in mathematics at Saint Peter’s and has spent the majority of her career teaching mathematics while holding administrative positions. Dr. Poiani has served as the Vice President for Student Affairs at Saint Peter’s since 1999. From Saint Peter’s she received the first Magis award.
Dr. Poiani has published numerous articles and presented papers in the fields of mathematics; mathematics education for the underrepresented; strategic planning in higher education; and institutional research. A recent article appears in the Encyclopedia of Mathematics Education.
The year 2003 has been very special for Dr. Poiani, highlighted by her induction into the Nutley Hall of Fame. When she was honored at the 22nd Annual Women of Achievement Awards at Drumthwacket, bestowed by the New Jersey State Federation of Women’s Clubs, she stated, “I am proud to be a native New Jerseyan and appreciate the increasing leadership role women are playing in the State. This personal achievement is especially meaningful because it relies on my helping students shape their own success stories which I consider to be the fundamental purpose of education.”
She has long been listed in publications such as Who’s Who in America, American Men and Women of Science, and World Who’s Who of Women.
Source: Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs, Saint Peter’s College, 2641 Kennedy Boulevard, Jersey City, NJ 07306
Induction Date: September 28, 2003