2023 Beverly Cobble Rodriguez Lecturer
Rangina Hamidi (pictured above)
Rangina Hamidi was born in Kandahar, Afghanistan. In 1981, she emigrated to Pakistan and then to the USA in 1988 with her family. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia in Religious Studies and Women & Gender. Ms. Hamidi returned to Afghanistan in 2003 and took up residence in Kandahar. For two decades, Ms. Hamidi worked tirelessly to better the lives of Afghan citizens through development projects, advocacy, and, most importantly, education. Examples of Ms. Hamidi's accomplishments include the establishment of a full value-chain model of an all-women’s social enterprise in Kandahar, Kandahar Treasure. She also successfully led the Mezan International School to integrate and implement a world-class and internationally accredited curriculum. Most recently, Ms. Hamidi was Minister of Education of Afghanistan, until August 15, 2021.
Past Lecturers for the Beverly Cobble Rodriguez Lectureship
2015 Jessica Posner Odede, Co-founder and COO of Shining Hope for Communities
2016 Gretchen Steidle, Founder and President of Global Grassroots
2017 Rachel Zaslow, Executive Director of Mother Health International
2018 Jensen Montambault (CLAS 1995), Executive Director, Science and Nature for People Partnership (SNAPP)
2019 Pamela Sutton Wallace, CEO, UVA Health System
2021 Melissa C. Thomas-Hunt, Head of Global Diversity and Belonging, Airbnb
2022 Lily Hakim, Director, Executive Operations, Pfizer
About the Beverly Cobble Rodriguez Lectureship
In 2014, Beverly Cobble Rodriguez and Joe V. Rodriguez, Jr. generously endowed the Beverly Cobble Rodriguez Lectureship Fund Supporting Women’s Education and Global Leadership to allow us to host an annual lecture on women’s education and global leadership with a special emphasis on healthcare, multi-national business, and the liberal arts.