A Message from the Hunter President
Jennifer J. Raab, President of Hunter College, is a lifelong New Yorker whose career has included high-profile positions in government, public service, civic affairs and the law. Since taking the helm as Hunter College's 13th president, she has built upon the College's strong foundation, refined its mission, overseen its academic programs and spearheaded its growth and development as one of the world's leading urban centers of higher education. With a highly diverse student population of more than 20,000 in the Schools of Arts & Sciences, Education, Health Professions and Social Work, Hunter is the largest college in the City University of New York (CUNY) system. The College also oversees the Hunter College Campus Schools, which serve gifted and talented students, K through grade 12. Hunter College, in partnership with the New York City Department of Education, recently opened the Manhattan Hunter Science High School for students in grades 9 through 12 with a strong interest in the sciences.
Prior to her appointment at Hunter in June 2001, President Raab served for seven years as Chairman of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, the New York City agency that protects and preserves the city's historic structures and architectural heritage. Named to the post by Mayor Rudolph Giuliani in 1994, she won praise from many quarters for her ability to achieve consensus among the diverse constituencies affected by the Commission's regulatory activities.
A cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School, President Raab also had a successful career in the law, including several years as a litigator at two of the nation's most prestigious law firms, Cravath, Swaine & Moore and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison.
President Raab graduated Phi Beta Kappa and earned her B.A. with distinction in all subjects from the College of Arts and Sciences at Cornell University. She went on to earn a Master's in Public Affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, where she currently serves as a member of the Dean's Advisory Council. She is a graduate of Hunter College High School.
President Raab's involvement in government and the public sector began in 1979 when she became special projects manager for the South Bronx Development Organization, an agency that played a pivotal role in the revival of one of the city's most economically distressed areas. She was later named director of public affairs for the New York City Planning Commission.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg appointed President Raab to the Charter Revision Commission where she and 12 other Commission members reviewed the entire New York City Charter, held hearings in all five New York City boroughs to solicit public input, and issued a report outlining findings and recommendations to amend or revise the Charter.
She has a long-standing commitment to community service and is on the Board of Directors of Humanity In Action and The After School Corporation and is a member of the Steering Committee of the Association for a Better New York and a member of The Council on Foreign Relations. President Raab is the 2006 recipient of the Benjamin E. Mays Award from A Better Chance, awarded to "an educator whose principles of personal commitment, integrity, achievement and concern for others reflect those of Dr. Mays, the late President of Morehouse College."
President Raab, who lives in the Bronx with her family, is active in her neighborhood public schools and served on the Middle School 141/Riverdale-Kingsbridge Academy task force of Bronx School Board 10.
