Jennifer Turpin,
University of San Francisco provost and vice president for academic affairs, has
been named one of the Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business for a second straight
year by the San Francisco Business Times.
The 2012 list includes 150
women who have made outstanding leadership contributions to their businesses
and communities — among them Safra Catz, president and chief financial officer
for Oracle Corp., and Susan Koret, chairman of the board of directors for the
Koret Foundation. The honor recognizes female leaders working for nonprofits,
private corporations, and in the public sector. Turpin first made the list in
2011, along with USF Assistant Professor of information systems Moira Gunn,
host of the National Public Radio segment “Tech Nation.”
“It's a
bit unnatural to think about education — a nonprofit enterprise focused on the
common good — as a business in the traditional sense,” Turpin said of the
recognition. “Yet, it's essential to apply business skills and expertise to
this enterprise. In order to realize our values, we also have to focus on such
business concerns as demand, product, brand recognition, and, yes, revenues,
and expenses.”
As the
academic leader of San Francisco's first university, Turpin’s biggest influence
on business might well be in overseeing USF students’ education as the next generation
of innovators in disciplines such as health care, biotechnology, the arts, and entrepreneurship.
Turpin took the reins as USF provost and vice president
for academic affairs in June 2010, after serving seven years as dean of USF’s College
of Arts and Sciences.
