Claire Gaudiani, a former director of the Joseph H. Lauder Institute for Management and International Studies, died on October 16 after a battle with leukemia. She was 79.

Born in 1944, Dr. Gaudiani graduated from Connecticut College in 1966 with a bachelor’s degree in French literature. She then pursued her master’s and PhD in French literature from Indiana University, focusing on 17^th-century French literature and foreign language pedagogy.

Dr. Gaudiani’s career at Penn began in 1981 as a senior fellow in the department of romance languages, where she directed the language and cultural perspectives program. Later, from 1984 to 1988, she led the Joseph H. Lauder Institute for Management and International Studies. During her tenure at the Lauder Institute, she played a pivotal role in preparing the next generation of global leaders and helped cement Penn’s reputation as a launching pad for academic presidents.

In 1988, Dr. Gaudiani was named president of Connecticut College, becoming the first woman president of her alma mater. Her 13-year presidency coincided with a transformative era for the institution as she significantly enhanced the college’s national and international standing, quintupling its endowment and propelling it to a spot among the top 25 liberal arts colleges in the U.S. News & World Report rankings. She spearheaded initiatives to increase access to higher education and emphasized the college’s commitment to community engagement. She stepped down in 2001, partly due to controversy stemming from her role as president of the New London Development Corporation (NLDC), which sought to revitalize the Fort Trumbull neighborhood of New London, Connecticut, but led to the displacement of residents and culminated in the landmark Supreme Court eminent domain case Kelo v. City of New London.

Following her departure from Connecticut College, Dr. Gaudiani turned her focus to philanthropy and education. She published The Greater Good: How Philanthropy Drives the American Economy and Can Save Capitalism in 2003, co-authored with her husband, David Bennett. A longtime board member of the Henry Luce Foundation, Dr. Gaudiani also taught at New York University’s George H. Heyman Jr. Program for Philanthropy and Fundraising beginning in 2007.

Dr. Gaudiani was a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, held ten honorary doctorates, earned fellowships from the National Humanities Center and the American Council of Learned Societies, and served on many corporate boards.

Dr. Gaudiani is survived by her husband, David Burnett; her daughter, Maria Burnett; her son, Graham Burnett; and five grandchildren.

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