 “Every student, a niche” is the motto of Penny Rue, Ph.D., the newly appointed V.C. for student affairs at UC San Diego.
That guiding principle might be an
outgrowth of her skill at gardening—she specializes in growing roses and annuals from seed—because, after all, strong
roots, proper feeding, and healthy doses
of illumination help both plants and
people to thrive and bloom.
A creative educator and champion of students, Rue comes from the University of Virginia, where she served as dean of students since 1999. Her career includes more than 30 years in some of the most prestigious institutions in the nation, including Georgetown, and the Universities of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Maryland.
“
The only Yankee in a long line of Southerners,” she says she spent most of her youth in the Manhattan suburb of Rye. As an undergraduate at Duke, she was“ a fairly serious student who nevertheless never missed a basketball game.”
She earned an M.A. at Ohio State, and her Ph.D. from the University of Maryland in counseling and personnel services.
Outside of schooling and work, she says, she found time to get married (to “quixotic attorney” Dan Welch), acquired four cats, and tutored at a facility for homeless women.
She ’s a daily swimmer, alternates “trashy novels” with serious literature, and has added La Jolla to her list of favorite places.
Rue will oversee a wide range of student services, and will pay particular attention, she says, to strengthening community,
enhancing diversity, and supporting
student mental health and well-being.
“
I look forward to working collaboratively with students to understand what makes UCSD unique for them,” she says, “and to enhance our shared sense of community.”
— Paul K. Mueller
|
