Distinguished Alumni Award - Community & Humanitarian

Joseph J. Kaminski ’60

From South Africa to Hoboken and beyond, Joseph J. Kaminski ’60 has made a powerful, positive impact on the lives of many people — from helping them meet the basic needs of life to opening the door of opportunity, particularly for young people.

Kaminski and his wife Judith have established the Kaminski Family Scholarships for Stevens students. Since 2005, students have been benefitting from the scholarship, which is based on academic merit and need. For Kaminski – the first in his family to graduate from both high school and college – the scholarship that now bears his name is particularly meaningful.

Kaminski’s service to others extends beyond Stevens, as well. He and his family, through the Kaminski Foundation, have supported a number of programs in South Africa for schools, health and clean water facilities. At the Itlhokomeleng Home for the Aged & Disabled Persons, the Foundation funded facility improvements and musical recording equipment and, in appreciation, the home’s community center was named in the Kaminskis’ honor.

Closer to home, the Foundation supports diverse organizations from the Boys and Girls Club of Allentown, Pennsylvania, to the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, in New York City.

Kaminski enjoyed a long and prestigious career with Air Products & Chemicals, a manufacturer of industrial gases and chemicals. He joined the company in 1965, and held positions as vice president of international operations, vice president of strategic planning, and president of Air Products Europe. Kaminski retired in 2000 as executive vice president of the company and a member of its board of directors. He later served on the boards of companies based in Japan, South Africa and Mexico.

He received an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.