MAYS LANDING – Throughout her 40 years in higher education, Atlantic Cape Community College’s outgoing President Dr. Barbara Gaba has always cherished the opportunity to help students achieve their goals and dreams, and to ultimately watch them walk across the stage and graduate with their degree or certificate.
This burning desire was born from a lifelong love of learning and service to others that was embedded within her at an early age by her mother and has been solidified from decades of working in higher education. Gaba’s unwavering commitment to student success has guided her over the years from her early days advising students to overseeing academic affairs and, lastly, an entire college operation.
Gaba became the first female and African American to lead Atlantic Cape in the College’s 60–year history in 2017. As she retires on June 30 after serving nine years as president, Gaba, who was bestowed the honor of President Emerita by the College’s Board of Trustees on June 23, is leaving behind a lasting legacy of leadership, service and dedication to the College, and the thousands of students, staff and faculty she has had the pleasure of guiding.
Early Days
Born and raised in New York City, Gaba is the oldest of three children. After her father passed away when she was 11 years old, Gaba became a role model and mentor to her younger brother and sister. Growing up, Gaba’s mother had always stressed the importance of receiving an education and those wise words of advice played a significant role in her life.
“My mother had a profound and lasting influence on my life. She is truly the foundation of everything I have learned about leadership and what I have achieved. She was a single parent who raised three children after my father passed, and she did so with incredible strength, resilience and determination,” Gaba said. “Despite the challenges she faced, she always emphasized the importance of education and hard work. She believed that education was the key to creating a better life, and she made sure we understood that early on.”
The invaluable life lessons that Gaba’s mother instilled to her children tremendously influenced Gaba’s personal life during her formative years and have remained imbued within her persona to this day.
“My mother was a role model for me and I learned many things from her. One of the most important lessons she taught me was to always do my best because you never know who is watching. She also taught me to face my challenges head–on and to never give up,” Gaba said. “She always said, when difficult decisions need to be made, ‘feel the fear and do it anyway.’ My mother also told me to treat everyone with respect; to ‘do unto others as you would have them do unto you.’”
After graduating from Seward Park High School in New York City, Gaba attended the State University of New York at Stony Brook where she earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology. Next, she earned her Master’s Degree in Educational Psychology from Rutgers University Graduate School of Education.
While at Rutgers, Gaba met her future husband, Peter. After a brief engagement, they have been married ever since. They have two adult daughters and two grandsons. Gaba resided in Nigeria for 12 years where she earned her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology. During that time, she was also a faculty member at two universities in Nigeria.
Upon her return to the United States, while working at Hunter College in New York City as an academic advisor, Gaba found her true calling in higher education. From inside the four walls of her tiny cubicle, Gaba began working hand–in–hand with students to help them design their academic programs and get them to the proverbial finish line.
“I found that, to work with students and to help them, was really my passion. I think that comes from my background because I was raised in the church and we were always taught about service,” Gaba said. “Helping other people is all that I've been doing throughout my career in higher education; to mentor them and to help them get to their next level.”
As her passion progressed and her experiences in higher education pushed her further up the leadership ladder, Gaba built an impressive resume at the New Jersey State Department of Higher Education as Associate Director of Chancellors Office & Government Relations; at Camden County College as Dean of Academic and Student Services; and at Union County College as Provost and Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs.
“As a first-generation college student, education truly transformed my life. It opened doors for me and gave me opportunities that I might not have otherwise had. Because of that, I knew early on that I wanted a career where I could help others achieve that same kind of transformation,” Gaba said.
Her next opportunity would test the influential words that her mother once spoke to her: “face challenges head–on and have the confidence to pursue your goals.”
Stepping Out of Her Comfort Zone
It all began with an unexpected telephone call. Comfortable and content with her career in higher education at Union County College, Gaba heard the voice on the other end of the line ask if she was interested in applying for an open president position at Atlantic Cape. Gaba politely declined. Then came the follow–up call, the voice once again asking if she was interested in applying. A hint of intrigue was lit within her, leading to a conversation with husband, Peter.
“When the search firm called me to apply for this position, I talked to my husband about it and he said ‘go ahead, you’ve got this. You’ve done accreditation, strategic planning and budgeting.’ He was really a cheerleader for me to decide to apply for the position,” Gaba said.
In January 2017, Gaba was officially hired as Atlantic Cape’s ninth College president and on October 27 was inaugurated during a ceremony where she stated that her mission was to “turn our challenges into opportunities, for our students and our community."
It was time to get to work when the reality of her new title and responsibilities became apparent.
“When I became president, I realized I had an impostor syndrome for a few minutes now that I have this job. I thought to myself ‘what am I going to do? how am I going to handle this?’ and one of the things my husband said to me was ‘God will give you what you need to get the job done,’” Gaba recalled. “My husband and I lived up in North Jersey, so it meant we had to relocate. If he had said he didn't want to relocate, I would not have come, but he said ‘we're going do this, we're going to put the house up for sale and we're going to move.’ He's been very supportive and I'm grateful for that because you can't do it without your family's support, particularly when you have to spend time away from your family.”
Over the past nine years, Gaba and the College have endured numerous challenges from having to make difficult financial decisions at the outset of her tenure to the global pandemic of 2019 that brought the day–to–day functionality of the entire global way of life to an abrupt halt. Through it all, Gaba has repeatedly harkened back to her mother’s sage words of advice to ‘feel the fear and do it anyway’ to overcome the toughest of moments in her professional life.
“My mother’s influence is present in how I lead, how I approach challenges and how I view my responsibility to others. I carry her lessons with me every day and they have shaped not only my career, but who I am as a person,” Gaba said. “She would have been very proud of me becoming the first woman and the first African American president in the College’s history. That was significant not only for me personally, but also for what it represented to our students. It demonstrated that leadership is possible for anyone.”
Pride in the Accomplishments
During her nine years of leadership as president, Gaba’s decision process followed one simple mandate: to create greater access, opportunity and success for students. Every day, whether at home in the early hours of the morning or as she passed through the double glass doors to her office, Gaba’s daily focus was centered on removing barriers to help every student achieve their educational goals.
Thousands of goals dreamed of have come to fruition during Gaba’s tenure, yet a handful of them stand out above the rest and hold a special place in her heart thanks to the enduring role they play in advancing the College’s mission, thus benefiting the community and making higher education available to all students.
- One–Stop Welcome Center: The $1.5 million, 7,270-square-foot One–Stop Welcome Center, which opened on September 12, 2023 at the Mays Landing campus, stands as Gaba’s largest and most proud achievement. This grand vision stemmed from the desire to have a single point of entry for all prospective, new and current students when they visited the College. Gaba had seem other One–Stop models successfully transform the higher education student experience.
“When I first came here the registration process was very complicated and disjointed. Students would come in and they would have to stand in lines that would be down the hall. I wanted a process where everything was integrated together and I said we needed a hub, a place where students could come, do their registration, financial aid, loans, and everything else all in one place,” Gaba said.
The project was seven years in the making, and required plenty of perseverance and patience. Finding the funding to back such a build took time and Gaba refused to give up on her One–Stop dream.
“I kept telling people about the vision I had, but I kept hearing that we didn't have the money. So, I said to just keep it on the list because one of these days the money will come. It took seven years, but we finally got the money and we were able to build a beautiful welcome center,” Gaba said.
- New Academic Programs: Upgrading and expanding the number of academic programs that are relevant to today’s evolving and growing job market. Atlantic Cape has added programs, such as Cybersecurity, Data Science & Analytics, Small Animal Science, Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, Drones and more, to its associate degree program offerings. These new academic majors complement the College’s highly–popular Academy of Culinary Arts, Nursing, Aviation and Air Traffic Control programs.
“We have introduced new academic programs that are very important to give students the opportunity to transfer to a four-year college or university, or to go right into the workforce. We created Early College Program partnerships with local high schools so students can do concurrent or dual enrollment to get a head start on their college education and reduce the cost of their education. We also graduated almost 50 students this year who earned their high school diploma and their Atlantic Cape associate degree at the same time,” Gaba said.
- Fostering Partnerships: The College has partnered with numerous institutions in higher education from Stockton University and Rutgers University to Thomas Jefferson University and Arcadia University to create articulation program agreements that provide Atlantic Cape students with a seamless pathway towards completing their bachelor’s degree. These agreements save students significant time while more importantly reducing their overall tuition costs.
“We have 3+1 program transfer agreements with, for example, Stockton and Rutgers, which is right here on our campus, where students can do three years of their education here (earn their associate degree and start their bachelor’s degree). They do their third year here at our community college tuition rate before transferring to a Stockton or Rutgers and only paying that rate for one year,” Gaba said.
Recently, Atlantic Cape joined with Stockton University, Brookdale Community College, Camden County College and Ocean County College to launch the South Jersey Higher Education Alliance, creating smoother, more affordable pathways from associate degrees to bachelor’s and graduate programs. The partnership will expand transfer agreements, dual admissions, cross-registration opportunities, scholarships and coordinated advising, helping students graduate faster with fewer barriers.
- Funding Scholarships: Since Gaba began her presidency in 2017, the Atlantic Cape Foundation has raised more than $11 million to support scholarships, student success initiative, academic programs and institutional priorities. The Foundation’s annual scholarship fundraising events, such as the Scramble FORE Scholarships Golf Tournament at Cape May National Golf Club and the Restaurant Gala, garner tremendous support from donors, supporters and alumni year–in and year–out.
“I am deeply grateful to the Foundation President Jim Rutala, the Foundation Board, and the Board of Trustees for their hard work, dedication and unwavering commitment to our students. Their leadership and partnership have created life–changing opportunities for countless students and have strengthened the College’s ability to fulfill its mission,” Gaba said.
In 2017, through the Foundation, the Gaba’s created the Johnnie Mae Ekpo Scholarship in Gaba’s mother’s memory to honor the legacy and the values she instilled in her. The endowment provides scholarship support for students, helping to expand access to higher education and create opportunities for those who might otherwise face financial barriers.
“This endowment is a tribute to my mother’s unwavering belief in the transformative power of education and a way to ensure that her impact continues to be felt for generations to come,” Gaba said.
- Facilities Investment: Over the past nine years, the College has secured more than $44 million in Chapter 12 funding through the State of New Jersey for critical investments across the College’s three campuses. These funds helped pave the way for the creation of the One–Stop Welcome Center, Innovation Center and Mays Landing campus baseball field. Classrooms have been upgraded with the latest technologies, such as overhead projectors, smartboards and LED lighting while new underground wiring and cables for the telephone and computers systems have been installed.
- Grants: The College has also received numerous grants, such as the recently–awarded National Science Foundation grant for AI and Machine Learning, which allocated nearly $500,000 to develop this new academic program to help create new academic programs. Some of the most prominent grants recently received include:
Nearly $200,000 in student support grants from the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education (OSHE) to support Atlantic Cape's three campus food pantries and Hunger–Free Campus programming.
$175,000 from OSHE for “Some College, No Degree” program to re-engage non-traditional adult students (age 25+) who had stopped out of their degree programs with 45+ credits earned.
$4 million, with an additional match of $1.3 million from Atlantic County, for the Securing Our Children’s Future Bond Act to complete renovations of the three B buildings on the Mays Landing campus, including Boyer Hall (B-2 Building), which was converted into the Innovation Center for cybersecurity and Esports programs.
$1 million in FY23 from U.S. Small Business Administration (five-year grant) to create the Cape May County bizHub, a business support and entrepreneurial resource center, which provides technical assistance and helps spur new economic development in Cape May County. Additional grants totaling more than $350,000 helped create the bizHub.
More than $1.8 million over four years through the CRDA’s Atlantic City Works program to provide career training to Atlantic City residents who are unemployed and underemployed, and incumbent worker training for employees of Atlantic City businesses. The program has become a proven educational pathway for Atlantic City residents and employees of Atlantic City businesses to improve their economic futures.
- Advocacy: Along with faculty, staff and students, the College successfully advocated for the continued allocation of $20 million to support the State’s 18 community colleges before State government officials in Trenton.
“Over the last two cycles of the budget, I've been very active in advocacy by going to Trenton, giving testimony, and meeting our legislators to ask them to help us support and to increase the budget for community colleges. Through this advocacy, we've been able to increase, for the community college sector, our budget by $20 million,” Gaba said.
- Community Outreach: Gaba is particularly proud of the College’s efforts and commitment towards positively impacting our surrounding local communities through targeted outreach. Nowhere is this more evident than in Atlantic Cape’s leadership role in the revitalization of Atlantic City’s Inlet neighborhood with the establishment of the Atlantic Cape Inlet Community Development Corporation (Inlet CDC).
Since 2023, the Inlet CDC has secured more than $3.4 million in funding, including most recently an $800,000 Neighborhood Revitalization Tax Credit grant from the State of New Jersey. These investments support initiatives focused on neighborhood safety, housing, economic development, sustainability and opportunities for residents to reach their full potential.
“I am very proud of our active commitment to working in the community and the Inlet project has been very successful. We have secured nearly $4 million to work with the citizens and the residents in that community to upgrade business facades, to upgrade facilities, and to discuss the advantages of home ownership with the people through workshops,” Gaba said.
- A Culture of Trust: Fostering a culture that is conducive to productivity, positivity and professional growth is the foundation that all successful organizations are built upon. Gaba is proud of where the College stands today as she prepares to embark on a well–deserved retirement.
“From the beginning, I made it a priority to listen and to foster an environment of trust, transparency and open communication. Whether through campus visits, listening sessions, or informal gatherings with faculty, staff and students, I wanted everyone to feel heard and valued,” Gaba said. “I am most proud that these accomplishments are all connected by a common purpose. I am leaving a legacy of transformation, which has been demonstrated by improving access, opportunity, and success for our students and making a meaningful difference in their lives.”
Looking Ahead
After a career in higher education that has spanned more than 40 years, Gaba is ready to spend more time with her family, her grandchildren, slow down a bit and read some books she already has lined up and waiting to be read, some for the second time.
“This job is high–paced and it takes up a lot of time. You have to have a lot of energy to do this work, and I have no problem with that, but at this point in my life I want to spend more time with my husband, travel a bit, take it easy, be off of a schedule and just take things at my own pace,” Gaba admitted.
Though her time at Atlantic Cape is coming to end it does not mean that Gaba’s commitment and passion for higher education will end too.
“I will continue, however, with my commitment and my passion for higher education. I will probably serve on boards, continue to coach and mentor the next generation of aspiring higher education leaders, and also do volunteer work in the community that involves higher education,” Gaba said. “I will miss the day–to–day work, but this has been a very warm and welcoming environment. From the first day, my husband and I were embraced by the College community. It has been a very good experience and a great place to work.”
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About Atlantic Cape Community College
Established in 1964, Atlantic Cape Community College is a Middle States-accredited, Hispanic-serving institution proudly serving the residents of Atlantic and Cape May counties. As a comprehensive, two-year community college, Atlantic Cape offers more than 50 undergraduate degree programs and 34 certificate and workforce development professional series programs at its Mays Landing, Atlantic City, and Cape May campuses. Atlantic Cape is home to the renowned Academy of Culinary Arts, rated the top culinary school in New Jersey, and to its highly acclaimed Nursing program for more than 60 years. Atlantic Cape also partners with more than 30 colleges and four-year universities to offer students the opportunity to seamlessly earn a bachelor’s degree upon graduation.
