Gov. Phil Murphy spoke to members of the STEM Innovation Fellowship program at Montclair State University on Thursday.
The governor said he wants to encourage more women and minorities to enter the fields of science, technology, engineering and math.
The 30 fellowship teachers are the first group to take a teacher-leadership program developed by Math for America. The teachers will learn new, innovative techniques for teaching science, technology, engineering and math.
Montclair President Susan Cole commented that she had been discouraged from studying mathematics by a professor decades ago.