Bridgewater Surgeon Named RVCC Board Chairman

Longtime RVCC Trustee Dr. Paul J. Hirsch, of Bridgewater, was named the new chairman of the school's Board of Trustees during the board’s reorganization meeting Tuesday at the college’s Branchburg Campus.

Dr. Hirsch, a member of the RVCC Board of Trustees since 1986, previously served three terms as chairman of the Board of Trustees from 2008-2011. He also has served as a vice chairman from Somerset County. 

Dr. Hirsch helped launch the Institute for Holocaust & Genocide Studies at Raritan Valley Community College. He is an orthopedic surgeon in Bridgewater and a clinical professor of orthopedics at Seton Hall University School of Health and Medical Sciences. 

He is chairman of the Edward J. Ill Excellence in Medicine Foundation and is also on the Editorial Board of MDAdvisor Journal. 

Dr. Hirsch assumes the RVCC leadership role from Dr. Catherine Hebson McVicker, who served as chairwoman from 2011-2013. Under Dr. McVicker’s leadership, the college has made a number of advancements, including graduating a record number of students and the first class of RVCC’s Honors College; becoming the only college in New Jersey to be awarded a $4.6 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Labor to partner with local businesses to train workers in new career paths; adopting a new Strategic Plan; constructing the Ray Bateman Center for Student Life and Leadership to facilitate collaborative learning and foster leadership development; earning continued national recognition for the College’s Service Learning Program; and receiving the first Higher Education Excellence in Diversity award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine.

Also during the meeting, Robert P. Wise, of Clinton Township, was chosen to continue serving as the vice chairman from Hunterdon County, and Peter G. Schoberl, of Hillsborough, was chosen to continue serving as the vice chairman from Somerset County. The terms for vice chairs are for one year.

Other one-year leadership positions approved during the meeting include Secretary: Tracy DiFrancesco Zaikov (Watchung); Treasurer: Dr. Frederic C. Sterritt (Neshanic Station); Board of School Estimate: Raymond H. Bateman (North Branch) and Robert P. Wise (Clinton Township).

The Board of Trustees is responsible for the overall planning and policymaking for the College.