Rodin honored with '21st Century Award'

University president Judith Rodin received The International Alliance's 21st Century Award Saturday at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, as nearly 100 executive women attending the organization's annual conference rose for a standing ovation. The presentation of the award, which salutes a woman who provides leadership in her field, was the culmination of a four-day symposium entitled "Women Shaping the Future." Rodin was selected unanimously for the award by the Philadelphia-based Forum of Executive Women, which hosted the conference. "Today's honoree has dared and succeeded," said Forum representative Judith Williams, who presented the award. "[Rodin] is a woman of extraordinary talent, who sees with dramatic clarity the needs of the future. "For almost 30 years, she has paved the roads in academia for others to follow," Williams added. Rodin spoke of the progress made by women in education during those 30 years. "When I came to Penn as an undergraduate, it was still quite separatist," she explained. "There were buildings where women were not welcome and courses women could not take. Today, however, the opportunities are enormous." Highlighting some statistics showing evidence of progress, Rodin said that women represent 56 percent of the undergraduate program at the University, the majority of first-year medical students and 40 percent of those in law and business. But representation is still low in the areas of physical sciences and engineering, where women comprise 31 and 13 percent respectively of those receiving degrees. "What do we do then to support and encourage women in areas still dominated by men?" Rodin asked. She pointed to the need to start encouragement early, to create a critical mass so women do not feel isolated and to establish networking for career and mentoring guidance. "We need to increase support from below and above so that the numbers don't fall off as one moves toward higher degrees," she said. "We need more PhD candidates and more women making the decisions." Rodin said that as a result of the many issues currently pitting people against each other, "society is becoming more aware of the need of consensus-building skills which are among women's strengths." "We are still experiencing firsts," she said, in reference to her position as the first female president of an Ivy League institution. "It will really count when noteworthy becomes commonplace." Founded in 1980, the Alliance unites more than 7,000 executive and professional women with the aim of supporting them and promoting recognition their achievements.