Dr. Rita Bornstein to keynote 5th annual Stryker Lecture.

The Hardee Center is pleased to announce that Dr. Rita Bornstein will keynote the 5th annual Stryker Lecture to be held on Thursday, October 23, 2008 from 5:30-8:30p.m. The annual lecture series is made possible by the generous gift of Laurey (Ed.D., 1992) and Charlie Stryker.

 

Dr. Rita Bornstein served as 13th president of Rollins College from 1990 to 2004, the first woman to hold that office. In 2001, she was named to the George D. and Harriet W. Cornell Chair of Distinguished Presidential Leadership when Rollins received a $10-million gift for the first endowment of a college presidency in the nation. At the conclusion of her 14-year presidency, she was named President Emerita and appointed to the George D. and Harriet W. Cornell Chair of Philanthropy and Leadership Development.

A native of New York City and a long-time Florida resident, Rita Bornstein earned her B.A. and M.A. degrees in English literature from Florida Atlantic University and was awarded the Ph.D. in educational leadership from the University of Miami. 

Before assuming the presidency of Rollins College in 1990, she was vice president at the University of Miami, where she led what was then one of the largest and most successful campaigns in the history of American higher education.

She has addressed a variety of audiences throughout the country and her numerous publications reflect her wide range of interests. They include such topics as "An Interdisciplinary Approach to War-Peace Studies," "Fund Raising in Transition: The Professionalization of an Administrative Occupation," "The College President as Public Intellectual," and "Redefining Presidential Leadership in the 21st Century."

Dr. Bornstein is past-chair of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) Board of Trustees, past president of the Southern University Conference, and past chair of the Associated Colleges of the South and the Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida. She also served on the Executive Council of the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and the boards of the American Council on Education and the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, chairing its Government Relations Committee. She is a director of Tupperware Corporation and a past director of Barnett Banks, Inc., and NationsBank Corporation.

The recipient of honorary doctorates from Florida Atlantic University and Rollins College, she has received the Laureate for Lifetime Achievement in Fundraising from the Institute for Charitable Giving, the Henry A. Rosso Award for Lifetime Achievement in Ethical Fund Raising from The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Central Florida Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

Dr. Bornstein has also been recognized with the University of Miami Faculty Senate's James W. McLamore Outstanding Service Award, the Jewish National Fund's Tree of Life Award, the Central Florida Women's Resource Center's Summit Award, the Girl Scouts of Citrus Council Women of Distinction Award for Education, the Florida Atlantic University Alumni Association Hall of Fame Award, and the first CASE District III Chief Executive Leadership Award. On the conclusion of her 14-year presidency of Rollins College, the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce named her Citizen of the Decade.

Under President Bornstein's leadership, Rollins focused on strengthening its commitment to excellence, innovation, and community. Standards were raised for faculty evaluation, student selectivity, and all aspects of administration. Average SAT scores for entering Arts & Sciences students rose more than 65 points and Rollins' place in U.S. News & World Report's annual rankings of "America's Best Colleges" climbed from #6 regional university in the South to No. 2, and No. 1 in Florida.

Innovation was encouraged and rewarded, and programs were added in film studies, international business, and sustainable development, as well as the signature Rollins College Conference for first-year students. The College's commitment to building strong communities was enhanced through programs of intellectual discourse, civic engagement, international study, and service learning.

For more information about the Stryker Lecture, or any of the Hardee Center events, please call us at (850) 644-5867 or email hardeec@coe.fsu.edu.

Profile Information Courtesy of Rollins College.