College of Arts and Sciences

Sister Rose Thering Fund Elects Robert D. Woog to Board  

Robert D. Woog

Robert Woog stands with fellow Trustee Marilyn Rosenbaum (left) and Chairman Deborah Lerner Duane (right)

The Sister Rose Thering Fund for Education in Jewish-Christian Studies (SRTF) has welcomed South Orange resident Robert D. Woog to its Board of Trustees.

Woog brings more than 45 years of business operating management experience to the SRTF Board. He is currently Managing Director of Transcom Int'l, which he founded in 2002.

"The Sister Rose Thering Fund is delighted to welcome Robert Woog to our Board of Trustees," says Deborah Lerner Duane, Chairman of the Sister Rose Thering Fund. "His professional experience, combined with his interest in and enthusiasm for the Fund's mission, will enable him to make important contributions to our work. We look forward to serving together with Bob."

Commenting on his new role as a SRTF trustee, Woog said, "My first effort will be to listen and gain insight into the present successes of the Fund. I can then offer suggestions and dialogue and work with the other members."

Woog graduated from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 1968 with a degree in Electrical Engineering.

Starting at AT&T in the late 1960's, Woog held a variety of management positions in engineering, operations, overseas traffic, data systems development, R&D, and military systems. From 1975 to 1978, he was a prime adviser to the Imperial Government of Iran, managing all long distance networks, both civilian and military. Upon his return to the US, Woog spearheaded AT&T's research into office automation, pioneering one of the first large scale email systems.

Woog left AT&T in 1983 to become vice-president of engineering and operations for a startup company focused on using microwave systems for local bypass. He subsequently joined another technology startup in 1995, where he was responsible for international operations and corporate engineering.

In his position with Transcom Int'l, Woog is engaged in the privatization of a European government owned telephone company and is involved with a variety of communication initiatives in the Middle East, Latin America and Asia.

Woog was introduced to the Sister Rose Thering Fund by its Executive Director and Seton Hall University Professor of Jewish-Christian Studies Dr. David Bossman. Dr. Bossman, who sponsored Woog as SRTF trustee, said, "One of Bob's great strengths as a business professional is his ability to identify and analyze opportunities. He also has personal involvement in interreligious understanding. Adding this expertise to our already strong Board enables us to continue moving forward in eliminating religious discrimination."

The Sister Rose Thering Fund for Education in Jewish-Christian Studies was created and named in honor of Sister Rose Thering, O.P., Ph.D., in recognition and appreciation of her exemplary dedication throughout her life and her continuing legacy to improve Jewish-Christian relations through teacher education, especially at the elementary and secondary school levels. The goals of the Fund's programs are to reduce prejudice born of ignorance and misperception, to promote means for conveying the richness of the Jewish and Christian traditions accurately and without bias and to foster cooperation among Jews and Christians in areas of common social welfare.

More than 350 teachers throughout New Jersey have benefited from Fund scholarships for their studies at Seton Hall University's Jewish-Christian Studies graduate program during the past two decades and have had an impact on more than 150,000 students in their classes.