Judith Rodin

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

Judith Rodin (born 1944) Ph.D., was the first female president of an Ivy League university. She served as president of University of Pennsylvania from 1994-2004, replacing Sheldon Hackney. A Penn alumna, she received her Ph.D. from Columbia University.

Rodin was 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 one of the critical figures in the revitalization of University City ^[2]. Capitalizing upon her influence, Rodin brought Bono to address the 2004 graduating class ^[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]

Contents 1 Other Professional Highlights 1.1 Private Sector 1.2 Academic 1.2.1 Honorary Degrees & Commencement Speeches 1.3 Awards & Honors 1.4 Political 2 Personal 3 Controversy over Outsourcing, Sweatshops and Unionization at Penn 4 External links 4.1 Other Biographical Summaries 4.2 Reviews of Rodin's Tenure at Penn 5 References

[edit] Other Professional Highlights

[edit] Private Sector

Rodin became president of the Rockefeller Foundation in March 2005 and is also a current honorary trustee of the Brookings Institution.

She is currently on the the board of directors of Citigroup and has sat on the boards of Comcast, AMR, Aetna and BlackRock. ^[6].

[edit] Academic

She was Provost of Yale University from 1992 to 1994, when she moved to Penn.^[7] 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.^[8] Her most recent book is Public Discourse in America (2003) which sparked a protest on campus when it was released.^[9]

[edit] Honorary Degrees & Commencement Speeches

• Pitt-2006[1]
• Franklin & Marshall-2006[2]
• New York University (NYU)-2004[3]

[edit] 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]

[edit] Political

In 2004, Rodin was touted as one of Pennsylvania’s best Democratic candidates for the United States Senate ^[11].

[edit] Personal

Rodin is married to Paul R. Verkuil ^[12], a former President of the College of William and Mary and the American Automobile Association.^[13] Verkuil is a professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, where he served previously as dean.^[14]. Judith Rodin has one child, Alex Niejelow^[15], who is a student at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.^[16]

[edit] Controversy over Outsourcing, Sweatshops and Unionization 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.^{[17] [18]} The move had resulted in layoffs that led to protests and a lawsuit by angered students and staff. 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] [21]} 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.^[22] The National Labor Relations Board initially ruled that graduate students were entitled to hold a union election. The union, Graduate Employees Together - University of Pennsylvania, won the election, but the University appealed the decision. The NLRB later ruled against graduate students' right to organize in a decision concerning Brown University.^[23] .^{[24] [25]}

[edit] External links

[edit] Other Biographical Summaries

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

[edit] Reviews of Rodin's Tenure at Penn

• "Rodin legacy" at Penn
• Critical Review of Rodin's Tenure at Penn
• U-Penn Student Newspaper Evaluation of Rodin's era

Preceded by: Sheldon Hackney

President, University of Pennsylvania 1994-2004

Succeeded by: Amy Gutmann

[edit] References

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