Bridge Partners Taps Transformational Leader for Gallaudet University
October 22, 2015 – New York headquartered executive search firm Bridge Partners, LLC has placed Roberta Cordano as the 11th president of Gallaudet University. Gallaudet’s current president, T. Alan Hurwitz, is retiring at the end of this year. Tory Clarke, co-founder and partner of Bridge Partners, led the search.
Ms. Cordano, who is deaf, currently serves as the vice president of programs for the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation in Saint Paul, MN. In this role, she oversees direct community-based programs for nearly 9,500 people in the areas of early childhood, community mental health, family supportive housing, aging and caregiver services, school reform, and food access.
She is widely credited for managing and sustaining programs in a highly volatile revenue environment, providing community leadership, fostering innovation, strengthening and supporting diversity within the workforce, and structuring services for optimal alignment and collaboration. Ms. Cordano previously held several leadership roles including assistant dean for the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota, and assistant attorney general for the State of Minnesota.
“The goal for the presidential selection process was to select someone who would be described as a transformational leader; someone who will work to establish a vision that is shared by the entire campus community and inspire the community toward positive change,” said Heather Harker, Gallaudet University board chair. “Roberta brings to the position experiences and skills built in both traditional and non-traditional settings — skills that can be applied toward transformational change at Gallaudet so we can continue to successfully serve future generations of deaf, hard of hearing and hearing students.”
Gallaudet University, federally chartered in 1864, is a bilingual, diverse, multicultural institution of higher education that ensures the intellectual and professional advancement of deaf and hard of hearing individuals through American Sign Language and English.
Bridge Partners is an executive search firm focusing on senior level diversity recruiting. Its clients include major corporations, non-profits, public sector, and entrepreneurial organizations across the U.S. and globally. The firm’s search capabilities span a broad base of industries and functions, for organizations ranging from multinational corporations to the public sector and academia. Bridge Partners recently recruited the president for the Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga (CFGC).
Contributed by Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor, Hunt Scanlon Media