Rider University has renamed a residence hall for an alumnus who has given $1 million toward the building’s renovation and maintenance, the Lawrenceville school announced this week.
Dennis Longstreet, a member of the Class of 1969, committed the money to support the recently completed renovation and future upkeep of Ridge House, which was renamed Longstreet House at a ceremony last week.
The residence hall project cost $1.4 million and included new flooring, lighting and paint, as well as infrastructure and other improvements.
“Residence halls are a huge part of the student life on campus,” President Gregory Dell’Omo said in a prepared statement. “We are incredibly grateful to Dennis for his support in improving the residential life experience for our students. We know that they appreciate and enjoy the results of these efforts.”
Longstreet is a retired Johnson & Johnson executive and former Rider trustee who served 14 years on the board. He spent 36 years at J&J, starting immediately after his graduation from Rider and finishing as worldwide chairman of the company’s medical devices division, overseeing 16,000 employees and $4 billion in sales.
“I really appreciated Rider,” he said in a statement. “An education helps round you out, it matures people. Rider pointed me in the right direction. I had a very successful career, and I want others to have a similar experience.”
The project was part of a comprehensive plan to renovate all of the school’s dormitories that began in 2017.
Longstreet House represents the eighth residence renovated under the plan.
