Dr. Larraine R. Matusak
1979–1982
Dr. Larraine R. Matusak became the institution’s second president in July 1979. She became a leader in developing higher education programs for adults through her work at the University of Evansville and the University of Minnesota. Interestingly, she worked with Dr. James D. Brown, the institution's first president, as part of the team that helped establish the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL), and he actually recommended her for the position at Thomas Edison.
Matusak created a structural context that the school needed and completed a major reorganization that created three divisions headed by vice presidents. She also oversaw the institution’s move from Princeton, N.J., to the Kelsey Building in Trenton, N.J., and played a key role working to make the presidents of other senior public institutions for familiar with the school. In 1982, she decided to leave Thomas Edison for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, where she served as a leadership scholar and director of the Kellogg National Fellowship Program. She died in March 2021.
Adult learners should receive credit for the learning they achieve in ways other than at Socrates' knee. And so, it was an interesting first couple of months getting acquainted with New Jersey, getting acquainted with presidents of other state colleges and getting them to recognize that Edison was one of the state colleges."Dr. Larraine R. Matusak, 1995 institutional interview