General | 9/18/2015 5:19:00 PM

NEWARK, NJ—Lenny Kaplan, who has headed New Jersey Institute of Technology's division of physical education and athletics since August 2000, has been promoted to the new title of Assistant Vice President/Director of Athletics.
 
Kaplan has been instrumental in guiding the program's growth, first at the NCAA Division II level and, since late 2002, through its successful reclassification to NCAA Division I and, most recently, into membership in the Atlantic Sun Conference.
 
The 2014-15 academic year saw momentous accomplishments and change for Highlander athletics.
 
In competition, two NJIT teams scored victories over nationally-ranked opponents (men's soccer defeated #22 Navy and men's basketball defeated #17/#16 Michigan in Ann Arbor. Later, the men's basketball team won its first three games in the national CollegeInsider.com postseason tournament, advancing to the semifinals.
 
Off the court, NJIT announced plans to build a new Wellness and Events Center, a $100 million on-campus facility with an opening targeted for 2017. And finally, the Highlanders, who had been the only Division I Independent in the nation, accepted an opportunity to become the eighth full member of the multisport Atlantic Sun Conference, effective July 1, 2015.
 
Kaplan has served on the Division I-AAA Athletics Directors Association Executive Committee since 2012-13.
 
Going back more than a decade to his arrival at NJIT, Kaplan helped stabilize and expand a program that was entering its fourth year in Division II. In late 2002, after discussions with then-university President Dr. Robert A. Altenkirch and Vice President (now President) Dr. Joel Bloom, Kaplan took on the task of steering NJIT's programs into Division I, an arduous process that reached fruition with the NCAA's granting active Division I status, with full championship eligibility effective September 1, 2009.
 
Throughout Kaplan's tenure, NJIT has enhanced the athletics program, particularly in areas that benefit the student-athletes directly.
 
The program's sports offerings have expanded to the current 19 varsity programs.
 
Since 2004, NJIT has renovated its two main on-campus venues—Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium at Lubetkin Field and the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center. Further, the Naimoli Family Recreation Center, a 25,600-square foot facility opened early in 2011 to enhance recreational and intercollegiate opportunities on campus. The Naimoli Center is the home of both NJIT tennis teams.
 
NJIT athletics has also forged a presence in downtown Newark, playing all home baseball in the professional Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium and also hosting select basketball home games in the Prudential Center, home of the NHL's New Jersey Devils. The NJIT club hockey team also plays all of its home contests in the AmeriHealth Pavilion, which is part of the Prudential Center complex.
 
NJIT's growing success in Division I competition has been accompanied by a continued commitment to excellence in the university's rigorous academic environment. The combined grade point average of Highlander student-athletes has been above 3.0 for 12 straight semesters through Spring 2015.
  
Before coming to NJIT, Lenny Kaplan served 11 years at Manhattan College, where he began as Manhattan's director of operations and was assistant athletics director from 1991-2000.
 
Kaplan, a 1988 graduate of St. John's University with a degree in athletics administration, resides in Merrick, NY, with his wife, Nancy. They are the parents of two sons, Michael, a student at Lafayette College, and Joshua, who is in high school.