Biography
Dr. Rodney Ridley serves Alvernia as the vice president of Research, Economic Development and Innovation and the Chief Operating Officer of the university’s O’Pake Institute for Economic Development and Entrepreneurship. Ridley has more than 30 years of higher education experience and has held myriad positions from research assistant and engineering professor to his former role as executive director of The Allan P. Kirby Center for Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship at Wilkes University. He also has served in numerous private sector engineering capacities, earned numerous awards, including the 2017 Pennsylvania Acceleration Educator of the Year and holds 27 U.S. patents. Ridley earned a doctorate in engineering science and mechanics and a master's degree in electrical engineering from Penn State University and a bachelor's degree in physics from Lincoln University.