Faculty, Staff, Students, Alumni, and Friends of Rutgers University:
It gives me great pleasure to announce that Rutgers’ Board of Governors, with the advice and consent of the Board of Trustees, has appointed Dr. Robert L. Barchi as the 20th president of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Dr. Barchi takes office on September 1, 2012, succeeding President Richard L. McCormick, who has provided exceptional leadership to Rutgers for nearly a decade.
A neuroscientist, medical neurologist, and seasoned academic administrator, Dr. Barchi comes to Rutgers from Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, one of the nation’s oldest and most respected health sciences universities, where he is currently president. At Jefferson, Dr. Barchi led an ambitious effort to secure the university’s place at the forefront of medical education, research, and clinical care. Dr. Barchi is also responsible for the transformation of Jefferson’s urban environment into a vibrant university campus that has encouraged interaction between the academic community and the surrounding neighborhood.
Prior to Jefferson, Dr. Barchi was at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a member of the faculty from 1972, and served most recently as Penn’s Provost and Chief Academic Officer. Throughout his career, Dr. Barchi has remained active as an award-winning teacher and as a researcher in the fields of neuroscience and neurology as well as a clinical neurologist. He was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences for his pioneering work in the neurosciences, and is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians, as well as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Neurological Association, and the American Academy of Neurology.
Dr. Barchi, who spent much of his childhood in New Jersey, received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Georgetown University, and his Ph.D. and M.D. degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. More information on Dr. Barchi is available at About Robert L. Barchi, M.D., Ph.D.
I also am delighted to welcome his wife, Dr. Francis Harper Barchi, to the Rutgers family. Francis Barchi is a senior fellow and director of Botswana programs at the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Bioethics, where she is responsible for the development and implementation of training programs in clinical and research ethics and for expanding the role that bioethics can play in the national research agendas of the developing world. Her personal research focuses on the social and behavioral factors that influence women’s health in southern Africa.
I extend my deepest thanks to the 24 members of the search committee, a diverse group of faculty, students, staff, board members, and alumni representing all three campuses of the university. I particularly would like to acknowledge Greg Brown, chair of the committee, and Linda Stamato, vice chair, for their outstanding work. I also thank the members of the Rutgers community who voiced their ideas at our three public forums or submitted nominations and suggestions to the committee. The search committee spent numerous hours considering these suggestions and vetting the pool of potential candidates.
This broadly representative and thoughtful process has given us a superb outcome—an outstanding individual who possesses the qualities, skills, and vision to extend and enhance Rutgers’ extraordinary legacy. Please join me in welcoming Dr. Barchi and his wife to Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.
Sincerely,
Dr. Ralph Izzo
Chair of the Board of Governors
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