Rita Bornstein

Rita Bornstein is president emerita and the George D. and Harriet W. Cornell Professor of Philanthropy and Leadership Development at Rollins College, where she served as president from 1990-2004.  She is widely acknowledged to have led a transformation of Rollins, significantly improving its selectivity, academic reputation, facilities, and financial condition.  The college’s endowment more than quintupled during her presidency, partly as a result of a fundraising campaign that secured $160.2 million on a $100 million goal. Before coming to Rollins, she was vice president for development at the University of Miami, where she led a campaign that generated $517.5 million.  

Bornstein is a member of the board of trustees of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB) and served on AGB’s Task Force on the State of the Presidency in American Higher Education.  She is past chair of the board of trustees of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and has served on numerous boards, including the American Council on Education and the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.  She is a director of Tupperware Corporation and a past director of NationsBank and Barnett Banks, Inc.  She is also active on the board of the Dr. P. Phillips Orlando Performing Arts Center.

Bornstein has received honorary doctorates from Rollins College, Florida Atlantic University, and the University of Central Florida.  She has received numerous honors and awards, including the University of Miami Faculty Senate’s James W. McLamore Outstanding Service Award, Institute for Charitable Giving’s Laureate for Lifetime Achievement in Fundraising, Indiana University Center on Philanthropy’s Henry A. Rosso Award for Lifetime Achievement in Ethical Fund Raising, the Council for Advancement and Support of Education District III Chief Executive Leadership Award, and the Mid-Florida Junior Achievement Hall of Fame Laureate Award.  On the conclusion of her 14-year presidency of Rollins College, the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce named her Citizen of the Decade.

Bornstein earned her BA and MA degrees in English literature from Florida Atlantic University and was awarded the PhD in educational leadership from the University of Miami.  She consults, speaks, and writes on issues related to leadership, governance, and fund raising.  Among her publications are numerous journal articles, book chapters, and three books, including Legitimacy in the Academic Presidency: From Entrance to Exit, published in 2003.  Her article, “Promoting Civil Discourse on Campus,” was published in the winter 2010 issue of The Presidency magazine and her book, Succession Planning for the Higher Education Presidency, was published in 2010 by AGB.