Sarah Mangelsdorf

Sarah C. Mangelsdorf is an American educator, scholar, and the eleventh president of the University of Rochester.[3] She is the first woman to hold that post.[1] As a psychologist, the focus of her research has been on the social and emotional development of infants and toddlers.[3] In her first months at Rochester, she embarked on what she termed a "listening and learning tour" in which she explored the campus, including the Wilson Commons and the Q&I desk, and met with students and faculty and parents and staff members.[4] In her inaugural address in November 2019, Mangelsdorf said the main role of the university is the "creation, preservation, and advancement of knowledge and of culture.[5] She added:

It’s an excellent university in a beautiful part of the country, with a tremendous history, and the city itself has a tremendous place in American history.

— Sarah Mangelsdorf July 2019[6]

As president, her plans include strengthening relations with the city of Rochester,[5] raising more money for scholarships, and furthering the public perception that schools such as the Eastman School of Music are part of the overall university.[7]

Before Rochester, she was provost at the University of Wisconsin at Madison where she was credited with advancing fundraising, coping with budget cuts, improving the school's overall ranking, successfully retaining key faculty members, and improving relations with the state of Wisconsin.[8] Her responsibilities at Madison included oversight of all academic programs for its twelve colleges and schools, including budgeting.[9] Before Madison, she held leadership positions at Northwestern University and the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana.[6][2] Her father ,Paul Christoph Mangelsdorf Jr.[10] was a physics professor at Swarthmore College and her grandfather Paul Christoph Mangelsdorf was a professor of botany at Harvard University.