Diane Hill, Ph.D.
Assistant Chancellor, University-Community Partnerships
Dr. Diane Hill is the Assistant Chancellor for University-Community Partnerships at Rutgers University-Newark, with over 30 years of leadership experience. For more than fifteen years Dr. Hill has led the Office of University-Community Partnerships (OUCP), which connects Rutgers University-Newark students, faculty and staff to expand, create, and promote reciprocal and mutually beneficial partnerships that align with the university’s strategic engagement priorities. Dr. Hill is also a faculty member in the School of Public Affairs and Administration (SPAA) and a core faculty member with the Rutgers Institute for Global Health. She founded the Center for Health Equity and Community Engagement (CHECE) in collaboration with the Rutgers University-Newark SPAA, addressing health inequities in underserved communities. Under her leadership, the center secured grant support for its initiatives.
Dr. Hill’s research focuses on community-engaged approaches that promote university-community partnerships. She pioneered the development of a transdisciplinary community engagement and Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) model applicable on local, state, regional, and national levels, especially with urban, underserved, and minority populations. She served as one of the Principal Investigators for the New Jersey Healthcare Essential WoRker Outreach and Education Study Testing Overlooked Occupations (NJ HEROES TOO) study, improving COVID-19 outreach and access in New Jersey’s most vulnerable communities. She also received a Rutgers Global Health Institute Global Health Seed Grant for the “Transdisciplinary Intergenerational Community Engagement Model for Senior Health Promotion in Greater Newark,” which launched a health promotion program for seniors, and a grant from ScreenNJ to support cancer screening initiatives through CHECE’s Advocates for Healthy Living Initiative.
Dr. Hill has forged sustainable partnerships with state and local officials including the Senior Advisor to the Governor for Faith, Diversity, Urban and Regional Growth; the New Jersey Department of Health, Office of Minority Health; and the New Jersey Department of Human Services. She served as co-principal investigator on an Evaluation and Quality Improvement Plan for the “Advancing Health Literacy to Enhance Equitable Community Responses to COVID-19” grant in collaboration with Newark’s Department of Health and Community Wellness (DHCW). In partnership with DHCW, she designed and led the Leadership and Professional Development Training Program for managers and supervisors as part of the initiative.
A lifelong educator, Dr. Hill began her career in the Newark school district and served as Director of the Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) at Caldwell College from 1980 to 1988. She later joined the Academic Foundations Center/Educational Opportunity Fund Program at Rutgers University-Newark, where she co-founded the Pre-College Education and Community Outreach program, helping to increase access to higher education for youth in Greater Newark. She remained at the forefront of developing academic enrichment “pipeline and community engagement” initiatives. Through her leadership, student enrollment in these initiatives grew by over 55%, serving more than 500 students.
Dr. Hill founded the NewArk Freedom School at Thirteenth Avenue School in partnership with Rutgers-Newark Graduate School and expanded the program in collaboration with Newark Public Schools and the City of Newark. Through her efforts the model has expanded to include a partnership with the Newark Public School Summer-Afterschool Office and the City of Newark One Stop Summer Employment Division. She has lent her expertise to expand the network of Freedom Schools in New Jersey and to develop and implement a research and evaluation component to support them.
Dr. Hill has held several leadership roles, including President of the New Jersey Educational Opportunity Fund Professional Association (NJEOFPA), Vice President of the Tri-State Institute for Educational Opportunity Programs in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, and Chairperson of the Education Cluster of the Global Women Leadership Collaborative of New Jersey, which developed a blueprint for integrating community engagement and education programs with international learning and exchange. She also serves on various boards, including the Parker Health Group, YMCA of Newark and Vicinity, Program for Parents, and Boys to Leaders Inc. Additionally, she is Vice-Chairperson of the NJ Legislative Black Caucus Foundation and serves on Governor Murphy’s NJ Wealth Disparity Task Force.
Dr. Hill demonstrates an unwavering commitment to positively impacting the community. Her scholarly work focuses on building healthy urban communities, advancing healthcare equity and social justice, promoting university-community partnerships, and improving urban education. She earned her Ph.D. in Urban Systems from a joint program between Rutgers University, the New Jersey Institute of Technology, and Rutgers Health (formerly UMDNJ).
