President Jennifer Raab was just listed in the 2018 “Women Power 100” by City & State magazine, coming in at number 54 alongside other women who are helping to make a change from their different platforms. Some of the women on the list were ones who rose to power in politics after the recent midterm elections, some are presidents of other colleges, and some are CEOs.
This is not the first time Raab has been on a list of influential people in New York City; in November of this year she was also named number 22 on the “The 2018 Manhattan Power 50” by City & State, a media site that covers local and state politics and policy, coming right above Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, who can be seen on the list tied for 23.
Crain’s New York Business also named her as one of New York’s “100 Most Influential Women in Business” in 2007 and one of the “50 Most Powerful Women in New York” in 2009 and 2011. Earlier this year, Raab was honored as a champion of educational opportunity by the Harlem Educational Activities Fund and inducted into the Manhattan Jewish Hall of Fame.
According to the City & State website, the company partnered with Jennifer Solomon, a communications professional, to help make the “Women Power 100” list. Solomon reached out to insiders and experts to help identify who is making the change and ranked each person based on accomplishments, their influence in politics, economy, philanthropic efforts, and ties to powerful politicians and supporters.
Other women listed are Tarana Burke, the founder of the #MeToo movement; Laura McQuade, president, and CEO of Planned Parenthood of New York City; and Melinda Katz, the Queen’s borough president.
“It’s a tremendous honor to be recognized by City & State alongside so many great New Yorkers, but it’s especially gratifying because the award recognizes the life-changing impact that Hunter College delivers by opening doors of opportunity for its students,” Raab said in an email.
She continued, “I am grateful every day that I am able to contribute to Hunter’s legacy as a place where the American Dream comes true, and look forward to continue exercising my ‘power’ on behalf of the College and its students.”
Raab became president in 2001 and since then has worked to raise the profile of the college. US News & World Report ranked Hunter number 25 of “Best Regional Universities, North” for 2019.
According to the Hunter College pressroom website, the president has also raised money to improve the school, including $30 million for a library renovation and expansion that includes a new student center, computer laboratory and film screening space. She also partnered with Memorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center to build a 336,000-square-foot science and nursing health center on 74th Street to help student and faculty research. According to the website, this project was just approved on Nov. 21 and will begin construction in the next few months.
Hunter expanded its campus to East Harlem, where Raab helped rebuild a $135 million school of social work and public health, which opened in Sept 2011. The school was renamed the Lois V. and Samuel J. Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College and is located between 118th and 119th streets on Third Avenue.
Raab began her education at Hunter College High School and received a BA with distinction in all subjects from Cornell University. She also holds a master’s in public administration from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton and a J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School. Before becoming the president of Hunter in 2001, she worked as a litigator for two law firms here: Cravath, Swaine & Moore and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. She was then appointed the chair of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.
