Spotlight On: Ronald E. Calissi, Esq.

Mr. Calissi is Executive Associate Dean for Off-Campus Credit Programs at Fairleigh Dickinson University, a position he assumed in 2001 after retiring from nearly 30 years of state and county government service. He oversees 55 strategically located off-campus sites from Cape May to Mahwah where graduate, undergraduate and certified public manager programs are conducted. He is the former Director of the Bergen County Department of Public Safety which includes the offices and divisions of Consumer Affairs, Weights and Measures, Medical Examiner, Highway Safety, County Police, Emergency Management, and Public Safety Education/Law & Public Safety Institute - Police, Fire & EMS Academies. For 22 years he was the Director of the Institute (formerly known as the Police & Fire Academy), which is regarded as New Jersey's premier training facility for the emergency services community. Mr Calissi is also Of Counsel to the law firm of DeCotiis, Fitzpatrick, Cole & Wisler, LLP in Teaneck, N.J.

A former Bergen County Sheriff's Officer, Prosecutor's Investigator and Special State Investigator with the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice, Mr. Calissi holds a Bachelor's degree in history and government and an Executive MBA in Management from Fairleigh Dickinson University. He earned his Juris Doctorate from Seton Hall Law School and has been a member of the New Jersey Bar for 25 years. He is also a Certified Financial Planner and a Certified Public Manager.

Mr. Calissi is an instructor/consultant for New Jersey's Human Resource Development Institute, The United Nations, American Red Cross, NJ Department of Human Services Police, Port Authority of NY & NJ, Bergen County Technical Schools and many other major public and non-profit organizations. He teaches numerous graduate and undergraduate leadership courses in the University's Certified Public Manager, Master of Administrative Science and Bachelor of Arts in Individualized Studies programs. He also teaches Social, Legal & Ethical Issues for FDU's College of Business Administration. In addition, Mr. Calissi is the author of the book Counterpoint: The Edgar Smith Case, a non-fiction account of a highly publicized 1957 New Jersey murder case, prosecuted by his late father, Guy W. Calissi, a former Bergen County Prosecutor and New Jersey Superior Court Judge.

In April 2001, Mr. Calissi was awarded The Pinnacle, Fairleigh Dickinson University's highest award for achievement bestowed on only 100 of the one hundred thousand graduates of the university.