Jersey City Developer Paul Silverman Establishes $50,000 Scholarship at NJCU

New Jersey City University announced that real estate developer and philanthropist Paul Silverman has established the Silverman Family Scholarship with an initial $50,000 endowed gift to support students on its Jersey City campus.

The need-based scholarship will be awarded by the NJCU Foundation to students who demonstrate financial need. It will begin in the upcoming academic year, with the endowment’s returns providing ongoing support in perpetuity.

Silverman, a former NJCU Foundation Board member who served from 2012 to 2022, said President Andres Acebo’s investiture ceremony in September 2025 prompted his return to involvement with the university.

“What inspired me was Andy’s investiture. He approached it not as a ceremony, but as a tribute to this community,” Silverman said. “Being there rekindled something in me: a belief in NJCU, in its purpose, and in the people it exists to uplift.”
Silverman also cited the university’s student population as a key factor. “NJCU serves a population where this scholarship is really going to make a difference in the life of a student,” he said.

President Acebo said the gift would support “hardworking individuals, predominantly first-generation working-class scholars, who are determined to succeed notwithstanding significant challenges and obstacles.”

Silverman’s gift serves as the lead donation for a planned centennial campaign tied to the university’s 100th anniversary in 2027. The NJCU Foundation will continue operating as an independent 501(c)(3) following the university’s planned merger with Kean University in Summer 2026.