Matthew DeNafo, ’06, M’07

Civil & Environmental Engineering

Matthew DeNafo is president of the Atlantic County Utilities Authority (ACUA).

DeNafo leads a team of more than 300 employees in providing environmentally and economically responsible waste management services across ACUA’s Wastewater and Solid Waste Divisions. This includes a 40 million-gallon-per-day wastewater treatment facility and regional sewage collection system serving 14 municipalities as well as a state-of-the-art solid waste and recycling environmental park that serves all 23 municipalities in Atlantic County and regional collection fleet.

DeNafo oversees an annual operating budget exceeding $60 million and an annual capital budget exceeding $20 million.

DeNafo most recently served as vice president of centralized maintenance and asset management at ACUA where he was responsible for overseeing all centralized maintenance and asset management activities throughout the authority. This included a staff of more than 60 employees across the fleet, facilities, electrical and instrumentation, mechanical services, IT and research and development departments. In this position, DeNafo provided strategic and tactical leadership, in addition to assisting with project development and management. He oversaw asset selection and procurement, repairs, maintenance, research and development, management information systems and external shared services.

DeNafo joined the organization in 2007 as an associate engineer and was promoted to senior engineer in 2011. Throughout his career, he has contributed to many of ACUA’s integral infrastructure and engineering projects, including the construction of its compressed natural gas station, wastewater facility protective seawall, green vehicle wash, pump station improvements, emergency power upgrades, and landfill cell construction.

DeNafo graduated from Rowan University with a Bachelor of Science in civil and environmental engineering in 2006 and earned a Master of Science in environmental engineering from Rowan in 2007. He also holds a master’s degree in business administration from Rutgers University, which he completed in 2018. 

DeNafo is a New Jersey Licensed Professional Engineer and a Certified Municipal Engineer. He is a board member of the Solid Waste Association of North America’s New Jersey Chapter (SWANA NJ), president of the Waterford Township Board of Education and sits on the Advisory Board for the Atlantic County Institute of Technology (ACIT). DeNafo is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), the New Jersey Water Environmental Association (NJWEA) and the American Public Works Association.