SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — Timothy Purnell, an alumnus of the College of Education and Human Services Executive Ed.D. K-12 School Administration program at Seton Hall, has been named 2016 Superintendent of the Year by the National Association of School Superintendents. He has served as the superintendent of Somerville Public Schools since 2011.
The National Association of School Superintendents is a professional organization of school superintendents dedicated to advancing members’ success and promoting their profession.
“I am extremely humbled and honored to be selected as Superintendent of the Year,” Harding resident Purnell said in a press release. “This award is a result of the hard work and efforts of the Somerville community.”
Purnell also credits the university’s Department of Education Leadership, Management and Policy for providing him with the skills needed to receive such an honor.
“The Executive Ed.D. program is an outstanding program that I highly recommended to educators,” Purnell said. “When I look back at my educational experiences, my best courses were at Seton Hall University. I learned how to be a visionary leader through a systems thinking approach.”
The honoree serves on the New Jersey State Board of Examiners and as an adjunct professor. Prior to his post as superintendent of Somerville Public Schools, he worked as the superintendent in Harding Township. He also served as a middle school principal, elementary vice principal and science teacher in Harding Township and Montclair. He was selected as the 2015 New Jersey State Superintendent of the Year and the 2015 top-rated professor in the nation by Rate My Professors.
“I knew Dr. Purnell as a student in our doctoral program and I worked with him when he became a superintendent as his mentor,” Michael Osnato, chairman of the Department of Education Leadership, Management and Policy and director of the Institute for Education Leadership, Research and Renewal at Seton Hall, said in the release. “As a previous honoree of the New Jersey award, I was delighted to see him named Superintendent of the Year.”
Purnell stays connected to Seton Hall by mentoring the next generation of educators. He recently hired former Somerville student and Seton Hall alumnus Joseph Martinelli Jr. to serve as a middle school teacher.
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