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ABOUT PRESIDENT RAAB
The 13th President of Hunter College
Hunter President Bio
Jennifer J. Raab is the 13th President of Hunter College, the largest college of the City University of New York.
Since her tenure began in 2001, President Raab has been responsible for raising more than $400 million in philanthropic support for Hunter College. Major accomplishments include the renovation and reopening of the historic Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt House, which is now the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College, and the construction of a $131 million home in East Harlem for Hunter's renowned School of Social Work.
The Princeton Review ranks Hunter College among the best in the nation and has hailed Hunter as the "crown jewel of the CUNY system." The College has also risen steadily in U.S. News & World Report's annual rankings, now standing at 6th among top public regional universities in the North.
As a leader in public higher education, President Raab continues her long career in public service, from lawyer to political campaign adviser to government official.
President Raab previously served as a litigator at two of the nation's most prestigious law firms—Cravath, Swaine & Moore and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison.
Quickly earning a reputation as a strong but fair advocate, she was appointed Chairman of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, where she was known for her effective and innovative leadership of the agency that protects and preserves the city's historic structures and architectural heritage.
Crain's New York Business named her 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. In 2018, President Raab was honored as a champion of educational opportunity by the Harlem Educational Activities Fund. That same year, she was inducted into the Manhattan Jewish Hall of Fame and named by City & State to its "Women Power 100" and "Manhattan Power 50" lists. In 2019, she joined the advisory board for Women.nyc, a mayoral initiative to make New York City "the best place in the world for women to succeed."
A graduate of Hunter College High School, President Raab received a BA with distinction in all subjects from Cornell University, an MPA from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton and a J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School.