Jonathan GS Koppell Biography

Dr. Jonathan Koppell, Montclair State University’s ninth president, is a nationally recognized scholar of global governance and public administration with a reputation as a visionary leader emphasizing public service and solutions-oriented engagement in the community. 

As President of the second largest institution in New Jersey, he leads over 27,000 faculty, staff, and students towards the University’s mission of delivering transformational opportunities for students of all backgrounds. Montclair is a research doctoral institution ranked in the top tier of US universities, a federally designated Hispanic-Serving Institution and is nationally recognized for social mobility and exceptional student outcomes. 

Since joining in 2021, Koppell has overseen record enrollment and retention numbers, attracting the three largest first-year classes in Montclair history. He also led the strategic re-imagination of schools and colleges to meet the needs of today’s students, as well as merging Bloomfield College, New Jersey’s only four-year Predominantly Black Institution, into the University. This is the first ever merger between a public and private institution in New Jersey.  

Koppell is a firm believer that public universities play a fundamental role in advancing society, and he is focused on enhancing Montclair’s contribution to the prosperity and well-being of New Jersey and the nation. He has brought service-leadership programs including Next Generation Service Corps to the University, as well as the “One Square Mile” concept he originated at Arizona State University. The initiative promotes a place-based approach to community revitalization and equitable outcomes within a designated square mile of a community.

Koppell previously served as dean of ASU’s Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions and vice provost for public service and social impact, leading the nation’s largest comprehensive public affairs college. 

Before becoming dean at ASU, Koppell was director of its School of Public Affairs. He began his academic career at Yale University, where he held faculty appointments in the School of Management and led the Milstein Center for Corporate Governance Performance. 

Koppell earned a doctoral degree in political science from the University of California – Berkeley and a bachelor’s in government from Harvard University. At ASU, he held the endowed Lattie and Elva Coor Presidential Chair as Professor of Public Administration and Policy and is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. At Montclair he is a tenured faculty member in political science. He serves on the boards of several nonprofit organizations and has been a visiting scholar at the Brookings Institution, a Markle Fellow at the New America Foundation and a Fulbright Lecturer in Shanghai, China.