Bobbi Cordano, a vice president at the Wilder Foundation in St. Paul, is heading to Washington, D.C., in January to become president of Gallaudet University, the nation's premier university for the deaf and hearing-impaired.
Cordano will be the 11th president of the historic university located about a mile from the Capitol, known internationally as a model of education and research. Its federal charter was signed in 1864 by none other than President Abraham Lincoln.
It's a place near to Cordano's heart. Both of her parents graduated from Gallaudet and were lifelong supporters.
"This is a job I feel like I've been preparing for my whole career, " said Cordano, who also is hard of hearing.
Cordano will succeed T. Alan Hurwitz, who is retiring as Gallaudet's president at year's end. She will walk onto campus carrying a résumé that includes service as assistant dean at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, director of disability services at the U and assistant Minnesota attorney general.
She also is a founding member of Metro Deaf School, a pre-K through eighth-grade charter school for deaf and hard of hearing children in St. Paul, and a founding board member of Minnesota North Star Academy, a St. Paul charter high school for similar students.
Cordano and her family will move into the Gallaudet president's Victorian home next year, where she will oversee a university serving about 1,700 students.
She hasn't packed a personal agenda, but plans to consult with students, professors and staff on the future direction of the university.
