Brookdale names home-grown leader as next president

NEPTUNE - Not one or two standing ovations were enough for Brookdale Community College faculty, staff and board of trustees to express their joy over the new home-grown president of the 14,000-student school.

David Stout earned three rounds of applause as he was named the seventh president in Brookdale's history

"Lucky No. 7," a member of the audience yelled, which you can hear in the video above of Stout's first ovation.

The board of trustees selected Stout after a nationwide search that started last fall. A pool of 48 candidates applied and was narrowed using a screening committee that included college trustees, faculty members, administrators, students, alumni and a community member.

“We are confident that Dr. Stout is the right person to serve as chief executive officer at this time and to lead one of the finest community colleges in the nation," Board of Trustee Chairman Carl J. Guzzo, Jr. said Tuesday night. "Dr. Stout has made significant inroads in his brief tenure as interim president and is the best candidate to lead Brookdale to the next level of excellence."

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The board of trustee members offered three responses as they voted on Stout's three-year appointment: emphatic yes, "absolutely yes" and "enthusiastically yes."

Trustee Lester W. Richens, one of the last trustees to cast his vote, facetiously hemmed and hawed before his affirmative vote.

"Well, I don't know — ," Richens joked.

Richens also reminded Stout he won't always be getting standing ovations, foreshadowing at tough job Stout faces leading Brookdale, a college that includes a 220-acre main campus in Middletown, five regional campuses and an $84.3 million budget for the 2018-19 school year.

Yet, Stout, who at various times held back smiles as well as tears, said he was honored to lead the community college where he has worked for more than 20 years.

"You are my family and I love you all," he said.

Stout has been Brookdale's interim president since July after former president Maureen Murphy resigned to take a job in Maryland.

Stout thanked the trustees, Monmouth County freeholders and the college's community overall for their support over the past year.

But he saved his most touching words for his wife, who he called his "co-CEO" of his family and his confidante as he progressed through his career. You can hear his kind words in the video below.

He rose through the ranks at Brookdale to become the vice president for Student Success, the role he had before being tapped as the interim president.

Stout started at Brookdale in 1997 as a learning assistant before becoming a professor of psychology and human services.

As a member of the faculty, Stout served as chairman and vice-chairman of Governance, a forum the college uses to address campus issues, as well as student development, institutional planning and honors committees. He also served two terms as the president of the Brookdale Faculty Association, the faculty union.

Stout earned his bachelor's degree in psychology from Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, his Master's degree in psychological counseling from Monmouth University and his Ph.D. in behavioral medicine/health psychology from Northcentral Unversity, according to Stout's LinkedIn account.

He also served as an adjunct professor at Monmouth University, Rutgers University, Kean University and Thomas Edison State College at various points since 1999, his LinkedIn account shows.

Susanne Cervenka: @scervenka; 732-643-4229; scervenka@gannettnj.com