Robert Lawrence Barchi (born November 23, 1946) is an American

neurologist Neurology (from , "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the nervous system, which comprises the brain, the ...

, physician, and scientist. He was the 20th president of

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

, 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 university, private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Established in its earliest form in 1824, the university officially combined with Philadelphia University in 2017. ...

in Philadelphia, prior to which he was provost of the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

. 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 The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) was a state-run health sciences institution with six locations in New Jersey. It was founded as the Seton Hall College of Medicine and Dentistry in 1954, and by the 1980s was both a ...

following the approval of a merger proposal by the

New Jersey Legislature The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and ...

and the

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

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 (New Jersey), town in Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, located southwest of Manhattan. As of the 2020 United States census, the town's population was 31,032, an increase of 716 (+2.4% ...

. He earned a B.S. and a

M.S. A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medicine ...

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

and a Ph.D. and a

M.D. A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of physician. This ge ...

from the

. He trained in neurology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. 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, 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 (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

. 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 The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), known as the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineerin ...

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 p ...

, 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 Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

, 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 40,000 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 a ...

. 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 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, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

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 was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

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 RWJBarnabas Health is a hospital network, network of independent healthcare providers in New Jersey, based out of West Orange, New Jersey, West Orange. Members include academic centers, acute care facilities, and research hospitals. The goals of ...

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. Barchi is an authority on

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

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