Kresti Pecani, Staten Island, NY, is Stevens 4.0 graduate

HOBOKEN , N.J. — Stevens Institute of Technology’s Class of 2008 is fortunate to haveKresti Pecani, Staten Island, N.Y., as one of three students graduating with perfect 4.0 Grade Point Averages.

The son of Vasil and Suzana Pecani of Staten Island, N.Y., brother of Edrin ’05, B.S., M.S., Kresti is graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree with High Honors from the Chemical Biology program in The Schaefer School of Engineering and Science.

Among the awards and honors bestowed on Kresti as an undergraduate are the Lawrence C.F. Horle Memorial Award, the Luigi Pollara Award, the Stevens Scholars Program Award, the Edwin A. Stevens Scholarship, the Stevens Scholar of Excellence Award, and the George and Louise Brickman Scholarship.

“I applied to a few colleges in Manhattan and Brooklyn, and applied to Stevens mostly because of the high recommendation from my brother, Edrin, who had been studying computer science there at the time,” said Pecani, speaking of his choice of Stevens for his undergrad studies. “I received a few offers from the other schools, with very tempting scholarship packages, but chose Stevens because of its impressive reputation, its track record for career placement – my brother had already secured an excellent position at Morgan Stanley by the beginning of his senior year; and, quite truthfully, because I liked the area. I enjoyed the atmosphere and excitement of Hoboken and liked the idea that the city was only a short train ride away.”

Pecani started as a Mechanical Engineering major but switched to Chemical Biology after rediscovering an early passion for Biology and Human Physiology. He particularly credits Professors Francis Jones, Nuran Kumbaraci, Jiahua Xu and John W. Frankenfeld as influential and inspirational teachers during his time at Stevens.
As a participant in the Stevens Scholars Program, Pecani spent three summers conducting research, first assisting in the Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology, and then working on independent research projects under the guidance of Dr. Jiahua Xu for two summers in the Cell Regulation Laboratory. Pecani also worked in the Academic Support Center as a tutor in Organic Chemistry and other science topics.

“My fondest memory of my time at Stevens will be the feeling of being in a small community where everyone knows one another,” said Pecani. “Almost every professor in your department knows you by name and is willing to sit down with you and talk to you about anything. Most classes had fewer than thirty students so it was easy to get to know everyone in the class. Another important thing I will remember about Stevens is the richness of the humanities program.

“Not only have we been able to receive a strong technical education at Stevens but we’ve also had the opportunity to take courses in humanities which were taught by professors who had a real passion for their subject,” he continued. “Most of us will be engineers and scientists for the rest of our lives, so for many of us the history, literature, philosophy, and fine arts classes we had at Stevens will be our last formal humanities classes. It is, therefore, very fulfilling to have been able to take such a great variety of challenging and mind-broadening humanities classes at Stevens.”

Pecani is currently applying to Dental School, and he plans to pursue a combined DDS/PhD degree.

Kresti Pecani was born in Tirana, Albania, and came to the United States with his parents and brother in 1994, at the age of seven. Pecani largely credits his academic success to the support and encouragement from his parents, brother and the rest of his family.

He is a graduate of New Dorp High School in Staten Island, N.Y., where he was Valedictorian of the Class of 2004.

About Stevens Institute of Technology

Founded in 1870, Stevens Institute of Technology is one of the leading technological universities in the world dedicated to learning and research. Through its broad-based curricula, nurturing of creative inventiveness, and cross disciplinary research, the Institute is at the forefront of global challenges in engineering, science, and technology management. Partnerships and collaboration between, and among, business, industry, government and other universities contribute to the enriched environment of the Institute. A new model for technology commercialization in academe, known as Technogenesis®, involves external partners in launching business enterprises to create broad opportunities and shared value.

Stevens offers baccalaureates, master’s and doctoral degrees in engineering, science, computer science and management, in addition to a baccalaureate degree in the humanities and liberal arts, and in business and technology. The university has a total enrollment of 2,040 undergraduate and 3,085 graduate students, and a worldwide online enrollment of 2,250, with a full-time tenured/tenure-track faculty of 140 and more than 200 full-time special faculty. Stevens’ graduate programs have attracted international participation from China, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America. Additional information may be obtained from its web page at www.stevens.edu.  

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