April 19, 1999

Edwards & Kelcey Chairman Wiss joins four other NJIT graduates on Alliance for Action Board

NEWARK - April 19, 1999 -

     New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) graduate Ronald Wiss, chairman and chief operating officer of Edwards and Kelcey, Morristown, has been nominated to serve a three-year term on the Board of Governors of the Alliance for Action, Inc.

      The Alliance is a non-profit group of 600 business, industry, labor, professional, academic and governmental organizations whose goal is to improve the quality of life for New Jersey residents through creation of jobs and investment in infrastructure while protecting the environment.

      Wiss joins four NJIT graduates re-appointed to three-year terms; Stephen DePalma, chief executive officer and president, Schoor DePalma, Inc., Manalapan; Eugene DeStefano, executive vice president, Killam Associates, Millburn; Robert Kirkpatrick, president, Keller & Kirkpatrick, Inc., Parsippany, and Stephen J. Kukan, executive director, Prosperity New Jersey, Trenton.

      All are graduates of the Newark College of Engineering (NCE), now a college of NJIT.

      Wiss, who graduated in 1966 with a BS degree, has overseen many of Edwards and Kelcey's complex, large-scale development and transportation projects. Among the former are such projects as St. Barnabas Medical Center, Site Development, Livingston; Embassy Suites, Hotel Development Site Plan, and the Round Valley Reservoir Recreation Area, Lebanon.

      Wiss transportation projects for Edwards and Kelcey include the Allied Junction/Secaucus, Rail Transfer Station Feasibility Study and Conceptual Design; New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority, Meadowlands Sports Complex Transportation Master Plan; and NJ Transit, Newark-Elizabeth Trail Link PE/DEIS.

      Other Wiss-led transportation projects include MARTA, Decatur Station and Line Sections, Atlanta-Decatur, GA, and SEPTA, Media-West Chester Systems Improvements, Phase II, Philadelphia, PA.

      DePalma has been with Schoor DePalma, Inc., since 1972, the year he graduated from NJIT as a Civil Engineer. Serving in his current position since 1991, his leadership responsibilities include the ongoing growth and profitability of the company. He is also responsible for planning, human resources, administration, finance, marketing/sales and operations management of the firm, which has seven offices in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

      Previously, he served as President and Partner-in-Charge of General Civil Engineering for the Corporation's Central Region, as well as Chief Engineer for its Manalapan Branch. He has also been a Branch Manager, and a Design Engineer for the firm.

     DePalma was recently chosen to receive the "Engineer of the Year" award of the New Jersey Society of Professional Engineers and was nominated for "Civil Engineer of the Year" honors by the Central Jersey Branch of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

      DePalma is a Registered Professional Engineer in New Jersey, Delaware and Florida, and a Registered Professional Planner in New Jersey.

      DeStefano, a 1967 Civil Engineering graduate of NJIT, has managed a variety of engineering projects for Killam Associates in such areas as solid and hazardous waste, inflow and infiltration, and water leak surveys.

      He also has extensive experience in management, administration, engineering design, construction and construction supervision.

      DeStefano joined Killam Associates in 1980 after having served in several key engineering positions for Woodbridge Township. He also served the township as Director of Public Works.

      Kirkpatrick, a 1963 graduate, heads a firm that provides general civil engineering, surveying, landscape architecture and planning services to industry and government agencies and the general public. He also has served as Municipal Engineer for Florham Park and Chatham Township.

      Prior to entering private practice, Kirkpatrick was Municipal Engineer for Morristown.

      He was named "Engineer of the Year" by the New Jersey Society of Professional Engineers in 1996, one of several honors Kirkpatrick has won for his professional work.

      He also has served as President of both the New Jersey Society of Municipal Engineers, and the Association of Practicing Civil Engineers and Land Surveyors.

      Kukan, a 1967 NJIT graduate with a BS in Industrial Engineering, also has an M.B.A. from Fairleigh Dickinson University. As executive director of Prosperity New Jersey, he heads a statewide public-private partnership that brings together top leaders from state government, private industry, education, labor and the environment to develop and implement ways to improve the health and prosperity of the state's economy.

     Kukan was previously general manager, area development for Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G), Newark.

      Active in a wide range of industrial and business organizations, Kukan is Secretary and Director of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties, and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Southern New Jersey partnership for Economic Development and the New Jersey Industrial Development Association.