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Andrés Acebo is the proud first-generation son of Cuban exiles and a Hudson County native who grew up in Union City, N.J., and has maintained strong ties to the community. In January 2023, he became only the third Hispanic to serve as the leader of a four-year public institution of higher education in the State of New Jersey. He is the youngest known president to ever lead a public university in New Jersey.

In less than two years of widely praised mission-driven servant leadership, Acebo has demonstrated extraordinary vision, guiding NJCU from a fiscal emergency to a remarkable recovery which will be a case study throughout higher ed.

In May 2024, ROI-NJ named him the in New Jersey Higher Education in the 2024 Higher Education Influencers annual publication. In September 2024, he in the 2024 NJBiz Education Power 50 List. Acebo earned the highest ranking of any college or university president in New Jersey in the 2024 Power 50. In October 2024, he was named to the 2024 ROI Power and Influencer Awards Champions of the C-Suite Top 30 and in January 2025 was selected to the 2025 ROI Influencers Power List Super 75 list.

Taking office in the midst of a financial emergency, he has steered NJCU forward. He has helped orchestrate four major strategic initiatives: the release of the NJCU Recovery and Revitalization Plan (April 2023), and introduction of the university's first Academic Master Plan (February 2024) and first Strategic Enrollment Plan (April 2023) and inaugural Student Development and Community Engagement Strategic Plan (December 2024).

In February 2024, the university unveiled a refresh of the University Mission Statement and introduced its first-ever Vision Statement.

Furthermore, Acebo has led to the University's finances being stabilized and the first balanced operating budget since 2017 — less than two years after NJCU reported a $22.7 million deficit. Moody’s agreed, upgrading NJCU’s outlook from “negative” to “stable” in February 2024. In November 2024, Fitch Ratings did the same. These two upgrades in rating and outlook are the first for NJCU in more than a decade.

Additionally, he has forged key partnerships with other colleges, highlighted by the Hudson Connect Program with Hudson County Community College, and similar agreements with Essex County College and Mercer County Community College. He has signed key strategic MOUs, including with the NJEA, Hudson Building Trades, GLACO, AFT Local 1839, Jersey City POBA, Boys & Girls Clubs of Hudson County, SHCCNJ and HCLACC.

NJCU’s relationship with the Jersey City Public Schools (JCPS) has never been stronger than during Acebo’s tenure, launching partnerships with the A. Harry Moore Laboratory School for its new LIFT program and JCPS Visual and Performing Arts Program — both on the NJCU campus.

Acebo holds a B.A. from Brown University and a Juris Doctor from Rutgers Law School. A North Jersey resident, he is a proud product of Union City public schools