Clyda S. Rent
Management consultant Nancy Austin ( Passion for Excellence with Tom Peters) is quoted as saying that “…she is probably the single most gifted marketing genius I’ve ever met.” A “Charlotte Observer” editorial said “…she must love challenges." Recognized as a successful leader, effective speaker, strategic planner and marketer, Clyda S. Rent has played strategic and primary roles in the successful turnaround efforts of two significant universities. She is recognized for her successes in detecting unrecognized value and opportunities in organizations and individuals and assisting them in realizing their potential. Dr. Rent has led and assisted several institutions in significantly increasing enrollment. Dr. Rent has a proven track record in organizational development.
Clyda S. Rent has served as a university president, vice-president, or dean for over two decades. She is President Emerita of Mississippi University for Women (MUW). MUW is the first public college for women in the nation (1884) and became co-educational (1982) seven years before her tenure from 1989 to 2001. Dr. Rent was the first woman named as president there and in the state of Mississippi. At Queens University of Charlotte North Carolina, she served as a vice-president and/or dean for ten of her seventeen years there. She was a tenured full professor at both institutions.
Dr. Rent served on two corporate boards of directors: Trustmark National Bank and the currently named Entergy/Mississippi (formerly MP&L.) She has served in leadership roles in civic, not-for-profit, and educational organizations. She was head of the board of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Arts and Science Council. She was a trustee of Charlotte Country Day School and the now named Blumenthal Performing Arts Center.
Dr. Rent twice served on the board of directors of the American Association for Colleges and Universities. She was elected President of the Southern University Conference. She served as a consultant/presenter/faculty for several of the NY based College Board initiatives for effective student recruiting programs and adult learning. Dr. Rent also served on the Commission on Colleges for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and on the Commission on Women of the American Council of Education. She was a gubernatorial appointee to the Southern Growth Policy Board. In Charlotte her board service included: Junior Achievement; Opera Carolina; and United Family Services of United Way. She served a four year term on the Mississippi Humanities Council and in 2002, the Honorary Chair of the Mississippi Women and Money Conference” developed and sponsored by of the Treasurer of the State of Mississippi. Dr. Rent has extensive service on advisory boards including: The First Amendment Center (located at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN and the advisory board was discontinued post 9/11) of the Freedom Forum (Washington DC); Johnson C. Smith University (NC); former Charlotte/Mecklenburg Hospital Authority (now Carolina Health Systems); Golden Triangle Baptist Hospital (MS); the Mary Baker Eddy Library for the Betterment of Humanity (Boston, MA); and the National Women’s Hall of Fame (Seneca, NY). Dr. Rent has served her communities in a variety of roles with organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce and various economic development groups.
Dr. Rent has important and successful experience in researching, proposing and working with a team and the greater community to implement new initiatives and events. She is the founding dean of the MBA program and graduate school at Queens University (QU now boasts the Hugh McColl School of Business) and the Hayworth College (previously, the New College.) Frequently invited as a speaker, she has given keynote addresses for major educational conferences such as The Freshman Year Experience. She is published in Vital Speeches, in scholarly journals, and has served on editorial/review boards including Planning for Higher Education.
In addition to fundraising successes as a college administrator, Dr. Rent has held leadership roles in community wide fundraising. She served as one of the vice-chairs for the Charlotte area United Way campaign and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Arts and Science Council fund drive (which was second in the nation in fundraising per capita at that time and is now first). She was also the Charlotte co-chair of the Children’s Miracle Network.
Dr. Rent was named by Working Woman magazine (1993) as “one of the nation’s ten most admired managers.” She and MUW were honored by the Newcomen Society in 1998. Dr. Rent was profiled along with Johnetta Cole, former president of Spelman College in an article entitled “Women of Substance” in the “Southerners” column of Southern Living in 1997. In 2000, she was honored by the International Women’s Forum as one of 11 “Women Who Make a Difference.”
Dr. Rent is a social scientist with a Ph.D. (and BA and MS) in sociology from Florida State University where she has been named a “Grad Made Good” by Omicron Delta Kappa. She attended graduate school as a National Institute of Mental Health Fellow.
Dr. Rent has participated in a variety of educational seminars and conferences including: the Management of Lifelong Learning program at Harvard University (attended on a Ford Foundation grant); and a CMG “Negotiation Workshop” at Babson College Executive Education Center in Wellesley, MA led by Roger Fisher, Professor Emeritus, Harvard Law School, Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen of Triad Consulting. Dr. Rent also completed a New England Educational Institute seminar led by the creator of Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Dr. Marsha Linehan of the University of Washington. She has also served on an advisory board with and participated in a conference led by Dr. Herbert Benson (known for the concept of the “Relaxation Response”) of the Harvard Medical School.
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