WASHINGTON, D.C., Jan. 28—Thomas H. Kean, president of Drew University and former governor of New Jersey, has been selected by the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU) to receive its 2005 Award for Advocacy of Independent Higher Education. The award will be presented at 2:30 p.m. on Monday, January 31, at the NAICU annual meeting. The meeting will be held at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill.

The NAICU Advocacy Award was established in 1993 to recognize individuals who have championed the cause of independent nonprofit higher education. Whether in government, business, or philanthropy, the recipient of this award has provided leadership, established resources, or enacted policy at the national or state level to significantly assist private colleges and universities in serving their students and communities.

Kean is the first person to have received both the Advocacy Award and NAICU’s other major recognition, the Paley Award. He was selected as the Paley Award recipient in 1989, in recognition of his achievements as New Jersey’s governor.

"The influence of Tom Kean on higher education, the nation, and the world has been multi-faceted and far-reaching," said NAICU President David L. Warren. "As president of Drew University since 1990, he has—with a deft personal touch, astute political skills, and visionary leadership—shaped the university into one of the nation’s leading small liberal arts universities by stressing the primacy of teaching, the creative use of technology in the liberal arts, and the importance of international education."

Kean’s commitment to issues beyond campus and around the world is reflected in his activities while serving as president of Drew. Most notably, he served as chairman of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (the "9/11 Commission"). He also headed the American delegation to the U.N. Conference on Youth in Thailand, and served as vice chairman of the American delegation to the World Conference on Women in Beijing. Within the U.S., he served as a member of the President’s Initiative on Race, and on the National Endowment for Democracy.

Kean served two terms as governor of New Jersey from 1982 to 1990, winning his second term by the largest margin in state history. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and a master’s degree from Columbia University Teachers College.

He and his wife, the former Deborah Bye, have twin sons, Tom and Reed, and a daughter, Alexandra. The Keans live in Bedminster, N.J.

NAICU serves as the unified national voice of independent higher education. With nearly 1,000 member institutions and associations nationwide, NAICU reflects the diversity of private, nonprofit higher education in the United States. NAICU members enroll 85 percent of all students attending private institutions. They include traditional liberal arts colleges, major research universities, church- and faith-related institutions, historically black colleges, Hispanic-serving institutions, single-sex colleges, arts institutions, two-year colleges, and schools of law, medicine, engineering, business, and other professions.