Dr Rita Bornstein

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, 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. In addition to teaching and administration in both high school and college, Bornstein’s career includes directing the U.S. Office of Education Technical Assistance Center at the University of Miami to assist schools and colleges to implement Title IX and gender equity. 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 fundraising campaigns in the history of American higher education. Bornstein is a member of the Board of Directors of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, 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 past director of Tupperware Brands Corporation; Barnett Banks, Inc.; and NationsBank Corporation. She has remained active in the Winter Park/Orlando community, serving on the Boards of Directors of United Arts of Central Florida and the Dr. P. Phillips Orlando Performing Arts Center. DR. RITA BORNSTEIN, Ph.D., President Emerita of Rollins College, an independent comprehensive liberal arts college, after retiring in 2005. Term expires 2010. Age 71. First elected: 1997.