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Former Senate president, and now-2025 New Jersey gubernatorial candidate, Steve Sweeney announced Jan. 5 he is resigning as advisory board chair of Rowan University’s Steve Sweeney Center for Public Policy.

Sweeney cited his run for governor, which he announced last month, as his reason for stepping down from the institute that he and Rowan President Ali Houshmand teamed up to found in March 2022.

In a press release announcing the move, the outgoing chair thanked Houshmand and Rowan’s leadership for sharing his vision.

“For an independent, bipartisan public policy center that would focus on New Jersey issues and bring together top policy experts from across the political spectrum to reach pragmatic solutions to the state’s most pressing policy issues,” said Sweeney. “To maintain the independence of the policy center, it is appropriate that I step down from the Advisory Board and no longer participate in any Sweeney Center activities while I am a candidate for governor.”

The Sweeney Center plans to select a new chair of the advisory board. Current members include:

• Houshmand
• Nawal Ammar, dean, College of Humanities & Social Sciences, Rowan University
• Former Sen. Christopher “Kip” Bateman
• Raphael Caprio, professor and director, Bloustein Center for Local Government Research, Rutgers University
• Kevin O’Toole, chair, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
• Christina Renna, president and CEO, Chamber of Commerce Southern New Jersey
• Richard Smith, president, NAACP New Jersey State Conference
• Former Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg

Mark Magyar will continue to serve as director of the Sweeney Center, which has plans for a robust 2024 calendar, including conferences on School Regionalization in New Jersey Feb. 7, Moving Forward on Offshore Wind Feb. 21, and much more.

“I am confident that the center will continue to provide valuable guidance to the governor and Legislature in the years ahead,” Sweeney added.