Through dramatic stories, penetrating insights, and research from around the world, Judith Rodin, the President of the Rockefeller Foundation, discusses how people, organisations, businesses, communities, and cities have developed resilience in the face of otherwise catastrophic challenges.

Judith Rodin has been President of The Rockefeller Foundation (@RockefellerFdn) since 2005. During her tenure she has recalibrated its focus to meet the challenges and disruptions of the twenty-first century, to support and shape innovations that strengthen resilience and build more inclusive economies. She was previously president of the University of Pennsylvania, and provost of Yale University.

A widely recognised international leader in academia, science and development issues, Dr Rodin has actively participated in influential global forums, including the World Economic Forum, the Council on Foreign Relations, Clinton Global Initiative and the United Nations General Assembly. Dr Rodin is also a member of the African Development Bank’s High Level Panel, a Board member of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (co-created by The Rockefeller Foundation). In November 2012 New York Governor Andrew Cuomo named Dr Rodin to co-chair the NYS 2100 Commission on long-term resilience following Superstorm Sandy.

A pioneer and innovator throughout her career, Dr Rodin was the first woman named to lead an Ivy League Institution and is the first woman to serve as The Rockefeller Foundation's president. A research psychologist by training, she was one of the pioneers of the behavioural medicine and health psychology movements. 

Dr Rodin is the author of more than 200 academic articles and has written or co-written 13 books. She has received 19 honorary doctorate degrees and has been named one of Crain's 50 Most Powerful Women in New York. She has also been recognised as one of Forbes Magazine's World's 100 Most Powerful Women three years in a row.

Dr Rodin serves as a member of the board for several leading corporations and non-profits including Citigroup, Laureate Education, Inc., Comcast, and the White House Council for Community Solutions. Dr Rodin is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and earned her Ph.D. in Psychology from Columbia University.

Dr Rodin's new book is The Resilience Dividend: Being Strong in a World Where Things Go Wrong.

Craig Calhoun (@craigjcalhoun) is Director of the London School of Economics and Political Science.

LSE Cities (@LSECities) is an international centre at the London School of Economics and Political Science that carries out research, education and outreach activities in London and abroad. Its mission is to study how people and cities interact in a rapidly urbanising world, focussing on how the design of cities impacts on society, culture and the environment. 

The Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment is a research centre at LSE (@GRI_LSE). The Institute’s research looks at the economics of climate change, and aims to inform policy and academic debate.

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Podcast

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