Jordan Hu ’89 understands the “ripple effect” of giving back. His most recent gift to NJIT is the single-largest alumni contribution in university history. His aim is to help more students build a foundation for success.

“My American dream started with NJIT,” said Hu, a Wall Street veteran and entrepreneur who started the firm RiskVal Financial Solutions in 2001. “I feel obligated to give. NJIT provided me with an opportunity that I can never pay back.”

Hu’s endowments invest in the academic foundation of NJIT by providing vital financial support to the College of Science and Liberal Arts. One of Hu’s endowments directly supports students while the other endowment funds scholarships, curricular development and research enhancements across the entire college. In honor of his gift, the college has been renamed the Jordan Hu College of Science and Liberal Arts.

President Teik C. Lim said, “Jordan’s historic gift is nothing short of transformational. It will help us maintain the affordability of a world-class NJIT education for all deserving students and their families. It will also ensure that the university’s third-oldest college remains a leader in delivering innovative curricula in math, the natural and physical sciences, the social sciences, and the humanities, in pushing the frontiers of knowledge and discovery, and in driving economic development in our region and beyond. By endowing CSLA — which delivers the vast majority of the university’s general education requirements — Jordan’s generosity will touch the lives of many NJIT students for generations to come.”

Welcome to Newark

Hu vividly recalls the day he left his home in Taiwan: August 8, 1987. In Taiwan, August 8 is Father’s Day, and when Hu boarded what was his first ever flight, he remembers his father was crying. Hu arrived in Newark with two suitcases, very little money and no contacts. What he did have was a spot in graduate school at NJIT and a lot of determination.

Like many at NJIT, Hu was the first in his family to attend college — graduating from National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan with a degree in applied mathematics. He was also the first to travel to the United States, where he’d chosen to pursue a master’s in computer science. 

“My grandparents were farmers without land who only received a small portion of the harvest,” Hu explained. He grew up knowing that his father, who was only able to attend elementary school for three years, had often been hungry as a child. When WWII broke out, his father was compelled to go into the army. He left when he was only 13 and returned, somewhat miraculously, six years later.

While Hu’s family struggled to make ends meet, he took to academics early. “I happened to like to study,” he said. That led him to a good public college. “I never imagined I would come to the U.S., but I fantasized about it.”

After graduation, further education seemed nearly impossible. Hu served two years in the army, got married and figured he would settle down. But he quickly felt underutilized at the jobs he was offered. Seeking more opportunity, and wanting to “see the world,” Hu began researching graduate schools in the U.S. Meanwhile, his mother set about borrowing money from family and friends.

After an exhaustive search, Hu realized that NJIT was his best, most affordable option. The tuition at the time matched nearly exactly what his mother had been able to gather. “NJIT tried hard to lower the tuition and help students from poorer families,” he said.

Before classes started, Hu found work at a warehouse. Eager to find something better, he explored the campus and met a professor willing to take him on as a research assistant because of his math skills. That enabled him to bring his wife to the U.S. and the two lived in Kearny, a few miles from campus. 

Hu enjoyed the camaraderie of the other students he met at NJIT, most of whom were also trying to save money. “We were happy just going to Wendy’s with a coupon of two-for-one,” he said laughing. Hu treated graduate school like a job, packing his food for the day and not coming home until 7 or 8 p.m. at night. Much of his work focused on Unix systems and distributed computing. “The professors, the students — everyone always was working hard and helping each other.” His most memorable moment, he said, was collaborating on a paper with then Professor Yi-Ling Chiang, which got published.

NJIT: A ‘Lighthouse’ For Students

Hu said his philanthropy is motivated by many things, including gratitude, wanting to help others in need, and being a good role model for his three children. “Money should be in the best place — with people who need it the most. I was blessed that I could get a [master’s] degree. There are a lot of people not as fortunate.” He said many students, especially those who are first generation, are looking for hope. “Any little help can make a difference.”

In addition to supporting NJIT for many years, Hu has served on the university’s Board of Trustees and the Foundation Board of Directors. He’s the kind of person who is constantly setting new goals for himself, whether it’s exploring how AI will impact the financial industry or learning to sail.

Giving Back, Looking Ahead

Hu said he’s focused his endowment on the College of Science and Liberal Arts, underscoring the importance of creativity and innovation in solving real-world problems. He expressed a desire to help students develop a strong sense of social responsibility and the ability to become key leaders in their communities. His gift will support need and merit-based scholarships and fellowships for both undergraduate and graduate students. It will also support research, internships, upgrading classrooms, improving technology and more.

“The Jordan Hu College of Science and Liberal Arts is unique among the colleges at NJIT as we have an awesome responsibility to provide foundational and general knowledge for all students at the institution,” said Dean Kevin Belfield. “In short, we provide the intellectual foundation to understand the complexities of science, technology, and human values, equipping students to play leading roles in their professions.
The endowment established by Jordan will reinforce this mission and have an impact on the entire NJIT community.”

Hu feels his gift means his future ancestors will see NJIT as “the starting point of our family in the U.S.” The endowment will also establish a scholarship for students — including those pursuing a Ph.D. — at NJIT. Hu sees it as creating a beacon for students. “If you are willing to cruise out and pursue your dream, there is a lighthouse here,” he said.

Hu has previously established merit-based scholarships for disadvantaged students at National Tsing Hua University and has continued to support his alma mater in Taiwan.

From Financial Engineer to Entrepreneur

Hu’s love of math and interest in programming made him very attractive to Wall Street when he graduated NJIT. 

“As soon as I graduated, I had an offer from Salomon Brothers … I was very lucky,” he noted. “I was an asset because NJIT gave me the knowledge.”

Plunged into a world where many of his colleagues came from wealthy, Ivy League backgrounds, Hu said he tended to be a bit shy. His English was still improving and he wanted to spend time with his wife and growing family. “We’d go to Dunkin’ Donuts, get a newspaper and look for a coupon so we could go somewhere,” he recalled. Hu said he figured out he was the lowest paid person in his department, but his hard work soon paid off.

Over the next decade, Hu — who worked at both Goldman Sachs and Salomon Brothers — eventually made it onto the trading floor. In 1998, “the disaster” hit, and Salomon Brothers shut down his department. Colleagues had encouraged him for years to consider consulting, and at the time he saw the need for companies to have real-time risk assessment of transactions.

Firms were spending billions on technology to build their own in-house solutions, and Hu took the leap, building a customized, next-generation fixed-income trading platform for Credit Suisse. That laid the foundation for RiskVal as a company, which Hu launched as a completely self-funded startup in 2001. It’s a pioneer in the Software as a Service (SaaS) model. By 2005, RiskVal had expanded to cover the credit market. It’s grown into a multimillion-dollar enterprise.

Today Hu said it’s the number one company in pre-trade analytics, employs about 60 people and operates in New York and Princeton.

When he first started giving to NJIT, it had been some time since Hu had been to campus. Coming back, he was impressed with the improvements he saw. “It’s very inspiring,” Hu said. “NJIT changed my life. It changed my family’s life.”

Awards

• The 11th Annual New Jersey Immigrant Entrepreneur Awards recognized Jordan Hu as the 2024 Immigrant Entrepreneur of the Year. 
• Hu was recognized as the “SmartCEO FUTURE 50” in New York for three consecutive years (2016–2018).
• RiskVal received the award for Best Risk Management System multiple times by Waters Technology, a well-known financial information technology magazine.