Union County Review

Two faculty members from Kean University have been recognized among the top 2% of scientists worldwide, according to the Stanford/Elsevier 2023 ranking. This acknowledgment underscores Kean University's expanding influence in research.

The honored faculty are Professor Jennifer J. Chen, Ed.D., chair of the Department of Early Childhood Education, and Assistant Professor Supratik Kar, Ph.D., from the Department of Chemistry and Physics. They are among 223,152 researchers acknowledged globally.

"The well-deserved recognition of these two distinguished faculty members reflects Kean's growing impact in advancing research and reinforces our mission as New Jersey’s first urban research university," stated Susannah Porterfield, Ed.D., Vice President for Research at Kean. "I commend Dr. Chen and Dr. Kar for their scholarly achievement and impactful contributions to their fields and congratulate them on this well-earned achievement."

Stanford University collaborates with Elsevier annually to publish this list based on citations across 22 scientific fields and 174 sub-fields.

Professor Chen's work focuses on early childhood education topics such as teaching practices, language development, teacher training, and AI impacts on young learners. She expressed that this recognition validates her contributions to global scientific knowledge.

“I feel incredibly blessed, honored and humbled to be among this notable list of the world’s top 2% scientists,” Chen said. “Achieving scholarly excellence is a vital part of what I do every day. I also feel that this recognition has helped elevate the reputation of Kean as a soon-to-be R2 research university.”

Assistant Professor Kar specializes in medicinal and biomolecular chemistry with an emphasis on computer-aided drug design for diseases like Nipah and Zika viruses. He was previously named to the list in both 2021 and last year.

For the first time this year, Kar was also ranked among the top 2% in the career-long category. He noted that this honor aligns with Kean’s focus on urban research addressing critical challenges faced by humanity and the environment.

“I am deeply honored by this recognition, as it reflects not only my dedication to advancing scientific knowledge but also the productivity, quality and real-world impact of my work,” he stated. “My research is driven by the goal of creating solutions that benefit society, and this recognition motivates me to continue pushing boundaries and contributing to meaningful innovations.”