Faculty Profiles

Dr. Abdullah Al-hayajneh
Assistant Professor of Cybersecurity
201-200-2275
aalhayajneh@njcu.edu

Abdullah Al-hayajneh is an Assistant Professor of Cybersecurity in the Professional Security Studies Department. His research focuses on IoT privacy and security, wireless security, network security, WBAN security, and biometric authentication. Abdullah has published in several peer-reviewed journals and presented at several IEEE Conferences on Cybersecurity and Cloud Computing Technology. Abdullah has over ten years of experience in Security and Information Technology in both academia and industry. After several years of working for the United Nations, he became the Data Reporting and Information Technology supervisor for South Asian and lead the IT missions in the Middle East and North Asia for the United Nations.

Juste Codjo, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
201-200-2275
jcodjo@njcu.edu

Juste is an assistant professor of national and international security with a regional focus on Africa. He holds a Ph.D. in Security Studies from Kansas State University, an MA in International Relations from Webster University, and a Graduate Certificate in Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. He previously taught security studies and political science at the University of Kentucky, the American University, and Kansas State University. Prior to joining academia, Juste served as an army officer in the Benin Armed Forces for nearly 20 years. While on active duty, he attended military education at several institutions beyond Africa, including the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and the German Offizierschule des Heeres. He also participated in a U.N. peacekeeping operation in 2004 that helped restore peace in Liberia. His teaching and research interests revolve around national and international security, including U.S. national security policy toward Africa, political violence, peace operations, major powers’ security cooperation policy, as well as the link between political institutions and domestic peace in the developing world. For more information, please visit his personal website.

Richard J. Cosgrove, Ed.D.
Assistant Professor, Coordinator- Wall Campus
(201) 200-3217
rcosgrsove@njcu.edu

Rich is an assistant professor and coordinator of the National Security Studies Program at NJCU's Wall campus location. Rich is a retired lieutenant from the New Jersey State Police with over 25 years experience. He spent the final three years in the Homeland Security Branch, where he provided oversight to the following programs: Urban Area Security Initiative (U.A.S.I.), Target Hardening Response & Emergency Activation Teams (T.H.R.E.A.T.), vulnerability assessments, buffer zone security plans, school security initiative bench marks, and other collaborative efforts pursued with federal, state, county, local organizations and those private security agencies providing critical infrastructure protection.

Scott Fisher, Ph. D.
Assistant Professor
(201) 200-2148
sfisher2@njcu.edu

Scott is an assistant professor focusing on national and international security. Prior to his PhD studies at Rutgers University, he received an MA in Security Studies from Georgetown University and an MA in Korean and International Studies from Seoul National University in South Korea. His research focus is on information warfare, U.S. national security challenges in East Asia, and open source intelligence. Prior to joining NJCU, Scott worked as a crisis management analyst for the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon, deployed to Iraq as a Department of Defense civilian, and served tours in Afghanistan and East Africa as an Army Reserve officer.

Michael Krantz, Ph.D., CPP
Professor, Coordinator – Middlesex Campus
(732) 964-0911
mkrantz@njcu.edu

Michael is a full professor, the coordinator for the National Security Studies program at the NJCU at Middlesex campus, and co-founder of NJCU's National Security Studies Department. He has authored and facilitated programs in Law Enforcement, Security, Human Capital and Leadership in the public, private and education sectors, both as a law enforcement officer and private consultant. A retired police officer and detective assigned to bias incident investigations and former county undersheriff, Michael worked extensively with the Attorney General’s Office of Bias Crimes and Community Relations developing policy and curriculum and conducting in-service training statewide.

Laszlo Molnar, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Program Coordinator
(201) 200-3542
lmolnar@njcu.edu

Laszlo is an associate professor focusing on international security. He holds a Ph.D. in International Relations, studied at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and at the J.F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard. He was resident fellow of the Institute for East-West Security Studies, NYC. He served as a career diplomat with the Hungarian foreign service for two decades, e.g. as deputy state secretary for multilateral relations; deputy head of the State Secretariat for EU Integration; consul general and then ambassador of Hungary to the UN in NYC. His international diplomatic assignments related mainly to international security and nuclear nonproliferation. He was executive director of Cisco with responsibilities in government affairs, business development and cybersecurity. He is a consultant of the Paris-based Cybersecurity Advisors Network.

Jonathan D. Rosen, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
jrosen2@njcu.edu

Jonathan D. Rosen is Assistant Professor in the Professional Security Studies Department at New Jersey City University. Dr. Rosen earned his Master’s in political science from Columbia University and received his Ph.D. in international studies from the University of Miami in 2012. Dr. Rosen’s research focuses on drug trafficking, organized crime, and security. He has published 20 books with Routledge, Lexington Books, Palgrave Macmillan, the University of Florida, and the State University Press of New York. He has published journal articles in Trends in Organized Crime, the Journal of Criminal Justice, Deviant Behavior, International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, and Contexto Internacional, Revista CS, among other journals. He has participated in grant-funded research studies in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Colombia, and Mexico. In 2017, for example, Jonathan and his colleagues at Florida International University interviewed and surveyed nearly 1,200 active and former gang members in El Salvador. 

Kutub Thakur Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
(201) 200-3502
kthakur@njcu.edu

Kutub Thakur is an assistant professor of cyber security and leads NJCU's cyber security program. Kutub teaches Cyber Security and Forensics at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Kutub is certified in computer hacking and forensic investigation. He worked for various private and public entities such as Lehman Brothers, Barclays Capital, ConEdison, United Nations and Metropolitan Transport Authority. Kutub has various publications in IEEE, I-manager’s Journal, Application and Theory of Computer Technology, and the International Journal for Engineering and Technology. He has presented at the IEEE International Conference on High Performance and Smart Computing, IEEE 2nd International Conference on Cyber Security and Cloud Computing and IEEE International Conference on Big Data Security on Cloud. Kutub is an active member of infraGrad (FBI), Homeland Security Information Network, and Research Education Network Information Sharing Analysis Center and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Kutub research interests includes Cyber security, forensics and machine learning. Kutub holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Pace University.

Michael Wiltsey, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
201-200-2275
mwiltsey@njcu.edu

Michael is an associate professor whose area of academic focus is applied forensic science in national security, law enforcement, and related fields.  He holds a B.A. in Criminal Justice and Psychology, a M.A. in Forensic Psychology, and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology with a concentration in Forensic Psychology.  Michael has over 20 years of experience in law enforcement in New Jersey, most of which was spent as the supervisor of a county level crime scene and evidence management unit.  He has extensive training and experience in the areas of crime scene investigation and analysis, homicide and death scene investigation, fingerprint examination and comparisons, bloodstain pattern analysis, and shooting reconstruction.  He is a certified Senior Crime Scene Analyst by the International Association for Identification. In addition to this work, Michael is a licensed psychologist in New Jersey and has experience working as a clinical and forensic psychologist, where a main area of interest has been on the psychology of violent and criminal behavior as well as police and investigative psychology.