Ex-Penn president Claire Fagin, 1st woman to lead an Ivy League school, dies at 97
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Dr. Claire Fagin, the first woman to lead any Ivy League institution and a former president and dean of the University of Pennsylvania, has died at age 97, Penn announced Tuesday.
Fagin took over as interim president at Penn in 1993 after the departure of the late Sheldon Hackney, who had been appointed by President Bill Clinton to head the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Hackney's tenure ended with multiple controversies related to free speech on campus - the university's interim president, J. Larry Jameson, acknowledged in a letter that Fagin led "during a challenging time."
Fagin also "very much served the role of healer, seeking broad community input, and implementing many of the recommendations that inform our policies of open expression, respect, and civil discourse today," Jameson wrote.
She led Penn's nursing school from 1977 to 1992 and after her stint as president, continued teaching nursing until retiring in 1996.
Fagin earned several honorary degrees over her career, served as an expert panelist for the World Health Organization and was named to the American Nursing Association's Hall of Fame. Her doctoral dissertation focused on children recovering in hospitals when their parents stay over - which the ANA says helped change rules about when parents can visit pediatric facilities.
"Dr. Fagin's impact is both her individual accomplishment and the achievement of the thousands of nurses she has advanced by setting high standards, breaking barriers, eloquently speaking for nursing, and promoting the careers of nurse leaders," the ANA said, noting the nursing school rose to No. 1 on the U.S. News and World Report rankings by the end of her tenure as dean.
The school is still in the top 3 today.
"Perhaps most importantly, Dr. Fagin will be remembered for her impact on the people of Penn—her mentorship, role-modeling, and her ability to bridge divides. She was admired, respected, and revered by all who knew her," Jameson said.
Fagin is memorialized at Penn with a chair in the nursing department, an award for research, a scholarship and the building Claire M. Fagin Hall, used by the nursing school on the University City campus.
Penn is planning a celebration of Fagin's life in the spring.