Roberta "Bobbi" Cordano (born November 29, 1963)[1] is the 11th president of Gallaudet University, serving since 2016.[2][3] Cordano is the first deaf woman and the first LGBTQ person to become president of Gallaudet University; she is lesbian.[4]
Bobbi Cordano | |
|---|---|
 Cordano in 2016 | |
| President of Gallaudet University | |
| Assumed office January 1, 2016 | |
| Preceded by | T. Alan Hurwitz |
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 29, 1963 |
| Education | Beloit College (BA) University of Wisconsin, Madison (JD) |
Cordano obtained her Juris Doctor degree at the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1990. She was assistant attorney general for Minnesota.[5] She was assistant dean at the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota.[6][7]
Cordano was awarded the Hubert Humphrey award by the University of Wisconsin.[8] She is among the first ten deaf women in the United States to have earned a Juris Doctor (JD) degree and is among the first 50 deaf women to have earned a doctoral degree, overall.[9]
Cordano is the first deaf woman to become president of Gallaudet University. Elisabeth Zinser, a hearing woman, held the Gallaudet presidency for less than one week amidst the March 1988 Deaf President Now protests. Zinser was never officially installed as president before her resignation.[10]
References
edit- ↑ The Herald-Press (Saint Joseph, Michigan), December 13, 1963, p. 5.
- ↑ "News & Stories | Gallaudet University".
- ↑ "Gallaudet Announces Finalists For University President". www.gallaudet.edu. Archived from the original on October 13, 2015. Retrieved November 4, 2025.
- ↑ Staff, Queer Forty (March 22, 2023). "Top honor for first deaf, openly lesbian university president".
- ↑ "Her Own Way to the Top: AAUW". www.aauw.org. Archived from the original on May 30, 2016.
- ↑ "Faculty and Staff | Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs". Archived from the original on August 10, 2007.
- ↑ State of Minnesota proclamation of Roberta J. Cordano Day, Sept 30 2016
- ↑ "Roberta Cordano '90 Wins Humphrey Award | University of Wisconsin Law School". law.wisc.edu. Archived from the original on September 9, 2018. Retrieved November 4, 2025.
- ↑ Holcomb, Mabs and Sharon Wood. 1989. Deaf Women--A Parade through the Decades. Berkeley, CA: Dawn Sign Press, p. 87.
- ↑ "Finalist Candidate: Roberta (Bobbi) Cordano". www.gallaudet.edu. Archived from the original on October 8, 2015. Retrieved November 4, 2025.
External links
edit| External media | |
|---|---|
| Audio | |
 Gallaudet President Navigates From World Of Hearing To Sound Leadership Of The Deaf, NPR, January 21, 2017 | |
| WMAU Radio Interview of Gallaudet University's President Roberta Cordano, 11/21/2016 | |
| Video | |
 Gallaudet President Cordano lectures at UW Linguistics/ASL, University of Washington, Jan 12, 2018 |
- Common Past, Common Future: USDA & Gallaudet Create Opportunities for Students , USDA, Dec 09, 2016
Further reading
edit- "Deaf Person of the Year". Deaf People. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
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