2022 Distinguished Citizens Honorees

John G. Brewster ’75
The Honorable Craig J. Coughlin, Esq.
Dr. Balpreet Grewal-Virk

Friday, April 22, 2022
Rockleigh Country Club
Rockleigh, NJ

John G. Brewster ’75

John G. Brewster ’75 is Managing Director of the Brewster Wealth Management Group at Ameriprise Financial Services.  He is one of our most longstanding alumni to serve on the Ramapo’s Foundation Board of Governors having been appointed in 2005.

During his tenure, Mr. Brewster has served in committee leadership positions for the Foundation’s largest yearly fundraiser, The Distinguished Citizens Dinner as well as co-chairing the Golf Committee for over eight years.  He continues to actively serve on both fundraising committees. In addition, he was instrumental in establishing the Ramapo Motorcycle Rally as well as providing the lead sponsorship gift for “An Evening at Darlington” fundraiser in 2018.

Mr. Brewster is a member of the Anisfield School of Business Alumni Advisory Board. He participated in schools’ recent AACSB accreditation process and earlier in 2002. He regularly attends ASB roundtable events and served in the Foundation’s Mentoring Program. Brewster Wealth Management continues to support the Ramapo College intern program and has been responsible for launching successful financial careers of many Ramapo students.

Mr. Brewster served in the United States Army from 1969-1971 as a medic. He graduated from Ramapo College in 1975 with a degree in Business Management and earned and his M.B.A from Fairleigh Dickinson University in 1978.

A lifelong Mahwah resident, Mr. Brewster and his late wife, Kathy raised their two sons, Randall and Darrell in Kathy’s childhood home.  Randall is a partner in Brewster Wealth Management and Darrell graduated from Ramapo College in 2007.  He has three grandchildren who currently attend the Mahwah schools; Kendall, Damon and McKenna.   Mr. Brewster enjoys playing golf, motorsports and spending time with this family at his home in the Adirondacks.

Mr. Brewster continues to actively set and achieve high goals in his career and philanthropic endeavors.

The Honorable Craig J. Coughlin, Esq.

Speaker Craig J. Coughlin, a Democrat from Middlesex County, is serving his fifth term in the New Jersey General Assembly representing the 19th Legislative District which is comprised of municipalities of Carteret, Perth Amboy, Sayreville, South Amboy, and Woodbridge Township.

Born and raised in South Amboy, Speaker Coughlin is a proud product of New Jersey’s public schools. He went on to complete his undergraduate degree in Communications at St. John’s University in Queens, NY where he also earned his Juris Doctorate three years later.

Speaker Coughlin began his career in public service on the South Amboy Board of Education. Soon thereafter, he was elected to the South Amboy City Council where he served until 1993.

Since, Speaker Coughlin has worked as a private practice attorney, municipal court judge, municipal prosecutor, and attorney for several municipal boards and agencies. Upon an unexpected vacancy in the 19th District, he entered and quickly secured the nomination and ultimately the election in November 2009.

In November 2017, Speaker Coughlin secured the support of the Democratic caucus to succeed Speaker Vincent Prieto to become the 171st Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly. Today, he leads the venerable 80-member body with 54 Democrats and 26 Republicans. In January 2018, Speaker Coughlin declared the Assembly would pursue an agenda focused on affordability for all New Jerseyans. He also is focused on improving the State’s economy, transportation infrastructure and the issue of food insecurity.

Speaker Coughlin vehemently believes that strong economic growth is achieved through job growth, government efficiency and rebuilding the State’s middle class.

Perhaps his most well-known legislative achievement was the passage of legislation revising the laws concerning the state’s microbrewing industry. With bi-partisan support, the new law allowed brewers to produce more beer and lower fees, expand the number of locations, sell to the distribution network and offer samples on and off site. The law has resulted in the number of craft breweries more than tripling and the creation of hundreds of new jobs.

Dr. Balpreet Grewal-Virk

Balpreet Grewal-Virk joined Hackensack Meridian Health in 2016 and serves as Vice President, Community Engagement, Northern Region. In that capacity, she provides leadership and oversight to system-wide community health initiatives and works to educate the local community on a variety of issues, ranging from disease prevention to COVID-19, and the harmful effects of vaping to informing the public on the opioid epidemic.

She earned her Ph.D. in Health and Medical Services from Seton Hall University, during which time she became involved in multiple political campaigns, including that of Senator Cory Booker, Senator Robert Menendez, Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Governor Phil Murphy, becoming co-chair of the governor’s healthcare transition team.

Dr. Grewak-Virk was appointed to co-chair the Bi-State Gateway Development Commission and was featured among the ROI-NJ Influencers: Women in Business 2021 – Economic Development list for her efforts to advance the Gateway Project. She also serves as the Vice Chair of the Bergen County Democratic Committee and is an Advisory Trustee for Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, New Jersey.

The daughter of parents who migrated from Punjab, India, Dr. Grewal-Virk grew up in Westwood, N.J. She earned a master’s degree in Corporate & Organizational Communications and an MBA in Marketing, both from Fairleigh Dickinson University, and a B.A. in Criminal Justice from Seton Hall University. Prior to joining Hackensack Meridian Health, Dr. Grewal-Virk was Marketing Director at her father’s oil company, headquartered in Mahwah, N.J.

She is an advocate for patients of spinal cord injury, having experienced her own father’s accident in 2012 and subsequent passing in 2020. Dr. Grewak-Virk has spoken at multiple forums about spinal cord injury, even addressing an audience at a Congressional Briefing, in Washington, D.C. She has shared the stage with Dr. Wise Young, the country’s leading researcher in spinal cord injury.

Dr. Grewal-Virk enjoys spending time with her husband, Yoginder, and their three children, Sifth 8, Mehma 4 and Fatehbir 1.