Judith Rodin

 

Judith Rodin
Born	1944 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Occupation	President, Rockefeller Foundation; Former-President, University of Pennsylvania
Spouse	Paul R. Verkuil

Judith Rodin (born 1944) Ph.D., is the first female president of an Ivy League university. She served as the seventh president of the University of Pennsylvania from 1994-2004 and in 2005 was named president of the Rockefeller Foundation. A Penn alumna, she received her Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1970.

Rodin is credited with expanding and improving the University and significantly changing the character of much of the area surrounding campus. During her tenure at Penn, the University rose from 16th to 4th in the U.S. News & World Report college ranking and tripled its endowment.^[1] Rodin is credited as the critical figure in the revitalization of University City. ^[2] Capitalizing upon her influence, Rodin brought Bono, of the rock group U2, to address the University during the 2004 commencement ceremonies. ^[3] In her final year at Penn, Rodin's salary was $986,915.^[4] At one time, she was the highest paid university president in the country.^[5]

Professional Highlights

Rodin became president of the Rockefeller Foundation in March 2005.

She is currently on the the Board of Directors of Citigroup, AMR Corporation (the parent company of American Airlines), and Comcast Corporation where she served as the presiding director until 2006. ^[6] Rodin has also served on the Board of Directors for corporations such as Aetna, Electronic Data Systems (EDS) and BlackRock. ^[7] She continues to serve as a trustee of the Brookings Institution.

Academic

She was Provost of Yale University from 1992 to 1994, when she moved to Penn.^[8] She held various professorial and other positions at Yale from 1972 to 1994, including Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and Chair of the Department of Psychology. Rodin has published more than 200 articles and chapters in academic publications and authored or co-authored eleven books.^[9] Her most recent book is Public Discourse in America (2003).

Commencement Speeches & Honorary Degrees

2007

• Dartmouth College [1]

2006

• University of Pittsburgh [2]
• Franklin & Marshall [3]
• Yeshiva University [4]

2004

• New York University [5]
• University of Pennsylvania [6]
• Brown University [7]

Awards & Honors

In 2003, Rodin was presented with the Philadelphia Award, recognizing "citizen[s] of the region who [have] done the most to advance the best and largest interest of the community."^[10]

Political

In 2004 Rodin was touted as one of Pennsylvania’s best Democratic candidates for the United States Senate. ^[11] During the lead up to the 2006 United States Senate election, one which would eventually result in the ousting of incumbent Sen. Rick Santorum, Judith Rodin was again listed among the Democrats' short list favorites. ^[12]

Personal

Rodin is married to Paul R. Verkuil ^[13], a former President of the College of William and Mary and the American Automobile Association.^[14] Verkuil is a professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, where he served previously as dean.^[15] Judith Rodin has one child, Alex Niejelow,^[16] who is a student at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.^[17]

Outsourcing, Sweatshops and Graduate Student Unionization Efforts at Penn

While Rodin was president, the University of Pennsylvania outsourced a number of services previously run by the university. Building services were handed to Trammell Crow, an arrangement ended after four years.^[18] The move had resulted in layoffs that led to protests and a lawsuit by angered students and staff. ^{[citation needed]} Another set of protests stemmed from the layoff of Faculty Club employees when the Club was moved and the University contracted with DoubleTree to operate the Club.^{[19] [20]} In 2000, Penn Students Against Sweatshops protested outside Rodin's office after she refused to meet with the group to discuss university purchase of apparel made in sweatshops.^{[citation needed]} After a two week sit-in, Rodin agreed to withdraw from the Fair Labor Association. ^{[citation needed]}

During Rodin's presidency, the Penn administration resisted efforts by graduate students to form a labor union.^[21] The National Labor Relations Board initially ruled that graduate students were entitled to hold union elections, yet upon appeal, the NLRB reversed the earlier opinion and held that graduate students were not entitled organize a union.^{[22] [23]} In response, there was a protest by the graduate student group leading the unionization effort on campus when Rodin's 2003 book Public Discourse in America was released.^[24]

References

External links

Other Biographical Summaries

• Biography from the Rockefeller Foundation
• Profile at Sourcewatch.org

Reviews of Rodin's Tenure at Penn

• "Rodin legacy" at Penn
• Critical Review of Rodin's Tenure at Penn
• Daily Pennsylvanian editorial board Evaluation of Rodin's era

Academic offices
Preceded by Claire Fagin interim	President of the University of Pennsylvania 1994–2004	Succeeded by Amy Gutmann

Citigroup
Brands:	Banamex • Citibank • Citicapital • CitiFinancial • Citigold • Citi Private Bank • Citigroup Venture Capital • Diners Club • Egg • Primerica • Salomon Brothers • Smith Barney • Quilter
Key people:	Chuck Prince • Robert Rubin • Gary Crittenden • Sallie Krawcheck • William R. Rhodes • Lewis B. Kaden
Notable former executives:	Shaukat Aziz • Jamie Dimon • Ahmed Fahour • Stanley Fischer • Lewis Glucksman • Thomas W. Jones • Victor Menezes • Samuel Osgood • John Reed • James Stillman Rockefeller • William Rockefeller • Moses Taylor • Sandy Weill • Robert B. Willumstad • Walter B. Wriston
Corporate Directors:	Michael Armstrong • Alain Belda • George David • Kenneth T. Derr • John M. Deutch • Roberto Hernández Ramírez • Ann Jordan • Klaus Kleinfeld • Andrew N. Liveris • Dudley Mecum • Anne Mulcahy • Richard Parsons • Chuck Prince • Judith Rodin • Robert Rubin • Franklin A. Thomas • Sandy Weill
Local entities:	Canada • China • Hong Kong • Japan • Malaysia • Mexico • Singapore
Annual revenue: $146.7 billion USD · Employees: 332,000 · Stock Symbol: NYSE: C · Website: www.citigroup.com

Persondata
NAME	Rodin, Judith
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Rodin, Judy
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Former President, University of Pennsylvania
DATE OF BIRTH	1944
PLACE OF BIRTH	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH

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