Newswise — As part of its 2007 Commencement ceremony, University of the Sciences in Philadelphia (USP) will bestow an honorary doctorate of science on Rockefeller Foundation President and past University of Pennsylvania President, Dr. Judith Rodin. Dr. Rodin will receive the degree and address USP's 186th graduating class on May 23, 2007, at 1 p.m., at The Mann Center for the Performing Arts.
Dr. Rodin has served as president of the Rockefeller Foundation since March 2005. Trained as a research psychologist, she was previously the president of Penn, and earlier, the provost of Yale University.
Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Dr. Rodin graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, and later received her PhD from Columbia University. A pioneer in the behavioral medicine movement, she taught at New York University before embarking on a 22-year career as a faculty member at Yale, where she ultimately held appointments in both the School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Medicine. Named Penn president in 1994, she was the first woman to serve as president of an Ivy League institution.
During her decade of leadership, Penn doubled its research funding, and tripled both its annual fundraising and the size of its endowment; attracted record numbers of undergraduate applicants; and launched a comprehensive, award-winning, and internationally acclaimed neighborhood revitalization program. As Penn's president, Dr. Rodin also helped found and lead many local and regional organizations that have worked to define innovation and collaboration—the Regional College & University Presidents Council, Innovation Philadelphia, and the Knowledge Industry Partnership.
Dr. Rodin serves on a number of leading non-profit boards, as well as on the boards of AMR Corporation, Citi, and Comcast Corporation. She is the author of more than 200 academic articles and chapters, and has written or co-written 11 books. She served on President Clinton's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology. A member of a number of leading academic societies, including the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, she has received 11 honorary doctorate degrees.
The Rockefeller Foundation, where Dr. Rodin is president, was established in 1913 by John D. Rockefeller, Sr., to "promote the well-being" of humanity by addressing the root causes of serious problems. The Foundation works around the world to expand opportunities for poor or vulnerable people and to help ensure that globalization's benefits are more widely shared. With assets of more than $3.5 billion, it is one of the few institutions to conduct such work both within the United States and internationally.
University of the Sciences in Philadelphia is a private, coeducational institution founded in 1821 as Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, the first college of pharmacy in North America. It is where the founders of six of the top pharmaceutical companies in the world launched their futures. Comprising four colleges across a broad range of majors, USP specializes in educating its 2,800 students for rewarding careers through its undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degree programs in pharmacy, science, and the health sciences.
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