The Ramapo College community mourns the passing of beloved management professor Dr. Milton M. Gittens. A respected member of the Ramapo College faculty in the Anisfield School of Business, Dr. Gittens has created a legacy.

Dr. Gittens joined the faculty in 1973 and taught management courses until his death in 2010. Unanimously elected by the Management Convening Group, he served as convener of the business administration/management major for several years.

He was well known for being a co-host and assistant producer of Issues and Education, a weekly cable TV program on the Manhattan Neighborhood Network, produced through Ramapo College. Among his publications was his 1977 paper, "The Black Perspective in Public Administration: The Development and Application of a Research Model for Minority Administrators in the Public Sector."

His Love for Family, Love for Students
"Dr. Gittens loved two things," says accounting professor Constance Crawford. "He loved teaching and he loved his son, Granville H. Gittens. He was a kind and supportive colleague and a tremendous role model to minority students and all who knew him. Dr. Gittens was an amazing example of what a teacher is...someone who imparts knowledge and helps others."

Management professor Susan Eisner
says: "Dr. Gittens had the expertise, experience and commitment that is central to impactful teaching. He was truly present to his students inside and outside the classroom."

A Strong, Quiet Force
Marketing professor Kathy Zeno described him as supportive and encouraging. "Personally and professionally," she says, "he was a strong, quiet force who supported the mission and vision of the Anisfield School of Business."

A Champion for Equality
An advocate for minorities, Dr. Gittens was twice appointed by the College President to monitor the College's Affirmative Action Performance and received the Friends of EOF Award in 2004.
He was also recognized for his teaching in 2003 by selection for induction to honorary membership in the Ramapo College chapter of Delta Mu Delta National Honor Society for Business Administration.

His Legacy of Giving
Dr. Gittens' legacy will continue to support minority students. In his will, Dr. Gittens made a bequest to the The Ramapo College Foundation, which creates two endowed scholarship funds named the Milton Mack Gittens, Ph.D., and Granville Caldecott Gittens Anisfield School of Business Scholarship Fund and the Milton Mack Gittens, Ph.D., and Granville Caldecott Gittens Educational Opportunity Fund Scholarship.

The scholarships are named in honor of Dr. Gittens and his father, Granville Caldecott Gittens. They will be designated to minority students with preference given to descendants of American slavery and Barbados, West Indies slavery.

Professor Anita Stellenwerf reflected on this gift from Dr. Gittens: "I was not surprised by this gift. Ramapo College meant so much to him. He valued education and wanted to make it available to other minority students."