Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce to Honor Penn President Judith Rodin With The William Penn Award Dr. Rodin Becomes The First Woman to Win The Region's Most Prestigious Award for Business Leaders PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Dr. Judith Rodin, the first woman to be named President of an Ivy League University, is now the first female to be named winner of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce's prestigious William Penn Award. Dr. Rodin will be honored at the William Penn Award Gala on Friday, April 23, 2004. William Penn Award recipients are chosen based on their personal, professional, and community contributions to the Greater Philadelphia region and their efforts to transform the region into a better place to live, work, and play. Under Dr. Rodin's leadership, the University of Pennsylvania has experienced tremendous growth, doubling its research funding and tripling its fundraising efforts as well as its endowment. A record number of undergraduates have applied for admission during her tenure, and Penn has risen from No. 16 to No. 5 in U.S. News and World Report's ranking of the top national research universities. Dr. Rodin has initiated over a dozen undergraduate and graduate degree programs; improved the excellence of Penn's faculty which has won 284 honors, including two Nobel prize winners in the last three years; and created Penn Medicine to integrate Penn's Medical School into its health system. Dr. Rodin has overseen Penn's $1 billion capital construction project - the largest construction period in Penn's history - which added new classrooms, administrative buildings, and recreational facilities. The project also has resulted in an enhanced quality of life for Penn students and the community at large. West Philadelphia, in which Penn lies, has seen a dramatic transformation and has become one of the most ethnically diverse, livable, and attractive neighborhoods in the region. Dr. Rodin serves on numerous boards in the region, including the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, Aetna, Inc., AMR Corporation, Electronic Data Systems and Comcast Corporation. She chairs Innovation Philadelphia, an organization dedicated to enhancing the region's economy through technology; and chairs the Knowledge Industry Partnership, which aims to keep college graduates living and working in the region. In addition, Dr. Rodin is a founding member of Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce's Regional College and University Presidents' Council, which for the first time brought together the heads of the area's higher education institutions to leverage the power of the region's academic community. "Judith Rodin's contributions to the Greater Philadelphia business community, academia, and West Philadelphia have been nothing short of historic," said Mark S. Schweiker, President & CEO, Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. "The William Penn Award is given to a business leader who devotes exemplary service to Greater Philadelphia and Dr. Rodin embodies the essence of this award. As President of Penn she has raised the University of Pennsylvania's academic status internationally, led the revitalization of University City, and expanded Penn's commitment to Philadelphia schools. Greater Philadelphia is much better off today than it was 10 years ago because of Judy Rodin." In June 2004, Dr. Rodin will step down as President of the University of Pennsylvania, but intends to remain active in the Greater Philadelphia region. "I am honored to be chosen as the 2004 William Penn Award winner," said Dr. Rodin. "Working with the Greater Philadelphia business community over the better part of the last 10 years has been an extremely rewarding experience and one that I believe has been of enormous benefit both to Penn and our great region. I hope we have demonstrated that urban universities can play a transformative role in helping to make their home cities grow and prosper, and the partnership between Penn and Greater Philadelphia is a strong example of a successful collaboration." As the recipient of the William Penn Award, Dr. Rodin joins an impressive list of past recipients including Ambassador Walter H. Annenberg; Willard G. Rouse, III; Rev. Leon Sullivan, Founder of OIC; Eugene Ormandy, former Director of the Philadelphia Orchestra; G. Fred DiBona, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer, Independence Blue Cross; Ronald Rubin, President, Pennsylvania Realty Investment Trust; and last year's winner John Binswanger, Co-Chairman of Binswanger-Chesterton Blumenauer. About the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce The Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce consists of 5,500 members serving approximately 175,000 Philadelphia area employees. In 2003, the Chamber merged with Greater Philadelphia First and united the Greater Philadelphia business community under one organization with a renewed purpose. The "new" Chamber has set forth an agenda that includes more aggressive economy-building measures, the attraction and retention of businesses, and repositioning the Greater Philadelphia region as an international center of commerce. In addition, the Chamber hosts more than 150 programs and seminars throughout the year, reaching out to small, large and mid-sized businesses, as well as initiatives targeting women and the international and educational communities. The Chamber is also an active advocate on behalf of its members for a variety of issues on the local, state and federal levels. More information about the Chamber can be found online at http://www.philachamber.com/. DATASOURCE: Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce CONTACT: Richard G. Barnes, Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, +1-215-790-3615, Web site: http://www.philachamber.com/

Copyright