New Endowed Scholarship Honors Legacy of Kean University Associate Professor Joseph Amorino, Ed.D.

The legacy of Kean University Associate Professor Joseph Amorino, Ed.D., will live on through a newly established $100,000 endowed scholarship supporting students in Kean’s Department of Fine Arts.

Established by his longtime partner, Robert Calderone, the Dr. Joseph Amorino Endowed Scholarship honors Dr. Amorino’s life and more than two decades of service to Kean. The gift serves as both a personal tribute and a lasting investment in the students he dedicated his career to mentoring.

Throughout his tenure at Kean, Dr. Amorino played a central role in preparing future art teachers and studio artists, emphasizing thoughtful, student-centered learning and the transformative power of the arts. His commitment to mentorship helped shape students’ technical skills, as well as their confidence, creativity and sense of purpose.

The endowed scholarship will provide support in perpetuity, awarding annual financial assistance to one or more undergraduate or graduate students. By helping reduce financial barriers, the scholarship allows recipients to remain focused on their academic and creative development, providing assistance that can be pivotal in a student’s ability to continue and complete their studies.

Students supported by the Dr. Joseph Amorino Endowed Scholarship will carry forward his commitment to rigorous, psychology-based and transformational art instruction. The scholarship helps ensure that aspiring artists and future art educators can remain enrolled, complete their degrees and move forward with confidence in their creative and professional paths.

For Calderone, the scholarship stands as a meaningful tribute to his partner and a way to extend the care and mentorship Dr. Amorino offered his students throughout his career. Through this enduring gift, Dr. Amorino’s dedication to teaching, mentorship and the arts will continue to shape lives at Kean University for generations to come.