Who's Who On Campus: Rodin enters 6th year at U.'s helm

A quick guide to the names in the news And in the five years that have followed, Rodin -- the first female university president in Ivy League history -- has concentrated her administration on revitalizing the West Philadelphia area and improving undergraduate education at Penn. Soon after her tenure began, the administration released a broad 21st Century Report that gave a variety of recommendations for improving undergraduate education. Most of its recommendations were incorporated into 1995's Agenda for Excellence, Rodin's five-year strategic plan that has been invoked for initiatives such as the construction of Sansom Common and new hirings in the Political Science Department. Since coming to Penn, Rodin has also spent her time directing a revival of the surrounding neighborhood, anchored by the $120 million Sansom Common retail complex and the planned Robert Redford-run Sundance Cinemas complex, as well as several initiatives designed to make the neighborhood cleaner and encourage faculty home ownership and public education. Serving as the chief executive officer of the University --Ewhich includes both the academic side of the institution and the Penn Health System -- Rodin has spearheaded several large fundraising efforts geared toward both alumni funding and government grants. Her work has served to triple Penn's endowment to $3 billion, which is smaller per capita than the financial reserves found at peer institutions. But even she has faced some criticism at Penn for not consulting students enough on policy decisions. Just this year, students blasted Rodin for creating a new and more stringent alcohol policy without first consulting them. A psychologist by trade, Rodin is a specialist in the fields of eating disorders and aging. She has published more than 200 articles and authored or co-authored more than 10 books. And the president has achieved a high national profile as well. She serves on a number of corporate boards and presidential committees, and some rumors once had her pegged for a seat on President Clinton's second-term cabinet. In 1996, NBC Nightly News named her as one of its "Newsmakers of the Year." And earlier this year, Vanity Fair named her as one of the most powerful women in the country. ARodin attended the Philadelphia Girls High School and graduated from Penn's College of Women in 1966. While at Penn, Rodin presided over the Women's Student Government and forged a close friendship with her male student government counterpart, Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell. Before becoming Penn's president, Rodin, 54, served as the provost of Yale University. She is married to Paul Verkuil, dean of the Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University in New York City, and has a 17-year-old son, Alex Niejelow, from a previous marriage.