Judith Rodin (CW’66) will step down as president of the University next June 30.
Rodin announced her decision at the Stated Meeting of the University Trustees on June 20.
The first woman to run an Ivy League university returned to her alma mater in 1994 from Yale, where she had served as provost for two years. She set the tone for her presidency in her first year, laying out an ambitious “Agenda for Excellence” that aimed to strengthen Penn’s status as one of the nation’s top research universities and its ties to the community and the city.
She leaves the presidency with that agenda accomplished. Penn now ranks solidly among the top five national universities. Its investments in University City have created new jobs and improved neighborhood safety and attractiveness.
Trustees Chair James Riepe said, “Through her vision, creativity and boundless energy, Judy has provided extraordinary leadership to Penn over these past nine years.”
More information about Penn’s achievements during Rodin’s tenure as president can be found at www.upenn.edu/pennnews/rodin_legacy on the web.
Novel plant-based approach to a better, cheaper GLP-1 delivery system
Research led by Penn Dental’s Henry Daniell investigates the use of a lettuce-based, plant-encapsulated delivery platform as a new oral delivery of two GLP-1 drugs previously approved by the FDA in injectable form.
No brain, no gain: Neuronal activity enhances benefits of exercise
Research led by Penn neuroscientist J. Nicholas Betley and collaborators finds that hypothalamic neurons are essential for translating physical exertion into endurance, potentially opening the door to exercise-mimicking therapies.
In honor of Valentine's Day, and as a way of fostering community in her Shakespeare in Love course, Becky Friedman took her students to the University Club for lunch one class period. They talked about the movie "Shakespeare in Love," as part of a broader conversation on how Shakespeare's works are adapted.
In Becky Friedman’s English course Shakespeare in Love, undergraduate students analyze language, genre, and adaptation in the Bard’s plays through the lens of love.
Beating the heat: Designing cooling for bodies in motion
Dorit Aviv, director of Weitzman’s Thermal Architecture Lab, studies how humans, technology, and design intersect, paving the way for the development of novel approaches to cooling people efficiently.
