Robert Lawrence Barchi (born November 23, 1946) is an American academic, physician, and scientist. He was the 20th president of

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

, holding the position from September 1, 2012, to June 30, 2020. Barchi was appointed to the position on April 11, 2012, to succeed Richard L. McCormick. Previously, Barchi was president of

Thomas Jefferson University Thomas Jefferson University is a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Established in its earliest form in 1824, the university officially combined with Philadelphia University in 2017. To signify its heritage, the univer ...

in Philadelphia, prior to which he was provost of the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

. Barchi is a board-certified neurologist.Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey - Office of Media Relations
"Robert L. Barchi Named 20th President of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey: Barchi to take helm of Rutgers on Sept. 1, after successful tenures as Thomas Jefferson University president, University of Pennsylvania provost"
(news release) in ''Rutgers Today'' (April 11, 2012). Retrieved August 26, 2013. He earned his BSc degree from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

in 1968, a PhD in

biochemistry Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and ...

from the University of Pennsylvania in 1972, and an MD from the University of Pennsylvania in 1973. Born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, Barchi grew up in

Westfield, New Jersey Westfield is a town in Union County, New Jersey, United States, located southwest of Manhattan. As of the 2010 United States census, the town's population was 30,316,Yardley, Pennsylvania during his freshman year of high school, attending St. Joseph's Preparatory School in Philadelphia. Barchi's appointment came as Rutgers was preparing to absorb most of the schools, programs and facilities of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey following the approval of a merger proposal by the New Jersey Legislature and the

Governor of New Jersey The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The official r ...

during the summer of 2012.

Early life and education

Robert Lawrence Barchi was born on November 23, 1946, in Philadelphia. He was raised in

Westfield, New Jersey Westfield is a town in Union County, New Jersey, United States, located southwest of Manhattan. As of the 2010 United States census, the town's population was 30,316,BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

and a MS at

and a PhD and an MD from the

. He trained in neurology at the

Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) is the flagship hospital of Penn Medicine and is located in the University City section of West Philadelphia. It is consistently ranked as one of the top hospitals in the United States. Histor ...

. He was part of the

Medical Scientist Training Program The Medical Scientist Training Programs (MSTPs) are dual-degree training programs that streamline the education towards both clinical (typically MD) and research doctoral degrees. MSTPs are offered by some United States medical schools, who are aw ...

Career

Barchi began as his career an assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of Pennsylvania. By 1985, he was the David Mahoney Professor of Neurological Sciences. He served as director of the Mahoney Institute of Neurological Sciences from 1983 to 1996. In 1992, Barchi became the chairman of the Department of Neuroscience at the

Perelman School of Medicine The Perelman School of Medicine, commonly known as Penn Med, is the medical school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1765, the Perelman School of Medicine is the oldest medi ...

, a department that he had founded. He led the Department of Neurology from 1995 to 1999. Barchi's research in neuroscience and neurology has been supported by the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...

. His most extensive research focus has been on voltage-gated ion channels in nerve and muscle and the role these molecules can play in human disease. He was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, the

American Society for Clinical Investigation The American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), established in 1908, is one of the oldest and most respected medical honor societies in the United States. Organization and purpose The ASCI is an honorary society to which more than 2,800 ph ...

, and the

Association of American Physicians The Association of American Physicians (AAP) is an honorary medical society founded in 1885 by the Canadian physician Sir William Osler and six other distinguished physicians of his era for "the advancement of scientific and practical medicine." ...

. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the

American Neurological Association The American Neurological Association (ANA) is a professional society of academic neurologists and neuroscientists devoted to advancing the goals of academic neurology; to training and educating neurologists and other physicians in the neurologic ...

, and the

American Academy of Neurology The American Academy of Neurology (AAN) is a professional society representing over 38,000 neurologists and neuroscientists. As a medical specialty society it was established in 1948 by A.B. Baker of the University of Minnesota to advance the ...

. He has won the Jacob K. Javits Award from the

. He was provost of the

from 1999 to 2004. Barchi served as president of

from 2004 to 2012 and president of

from 2012 to 2020. At Thomas Jefferson University, Barchi oversaw establishment of the College of Pharmacy and College of Population Health, expanded oncology programs, and increased student enrollment by 51 percent. He also doubled the level of annual fundraising. Barchi oversaw the formation of

Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences (RBHS) is the umbrella organization for the schools and assets acquired by Rutgers University after the July 1, 2013 breakup of the former University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. While its variou ...

in 2013 and the entrance of Rutgers University-New Brunswick into the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

a year later. He led the establishment and construction of an honors college at New Brunswick that contributed to a 50-point rise in average SAT scores of incoming students over four years. Barchi welcomed President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

to speak at the 2016 commencement ceremony celebrating Rutgers' 250th anniversary year. He directed $2.5 billion in new construction at Rutgers and an increase in annual fundraising from $95 million in 2012 to $251 million in 2019. Barchi helped negotiate an agreement between Rutgers and RWJBarnabas Health in 2018 to jointly operate New Jersey's largest academic health system. In July 2019, he announced that he would retire at the end of the 2019–2020 school year.

Personal life

Barchi is married to Francis Harper Barchi, an academic on faculty at Rutgers'

Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy The Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy of Rutgers University (The Bloustein School) serves as a center for the theory and practice of urban planning, public policy and public health/health administration scholarship. The sc ...

. Barchi is an authority on

timepiece A clock or a timepiece is a device used to measure and indicate time. The clock is one of the oldest human inventions, meeting the need to measure intervals of time shorter than the natural units such as the day, the lunar month and the ...

s, with a special interest in their history and mechanical development. He has two adult children, Jonathan and Jennifer, and two adult step-children, Faris and Millan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barchi, Robert L. Living people St. Joseph's Preparatory School alumni Georgetown University alumni Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania alumni University of Pennsylvania staff Thomas Jefferson University American neuroscientists People from Westfield, New Jersey Presidents of Rutgers University 1946 births Scientists from Philadelphia Members of the National Academy of Medicine