Drexel Business Leader of the Year: Betsy Z. Cohen

Drexel Business Leader of the Year: Betsy Z. Cohen

Betsy Z. Cohen, founder, CEO and chair of RAIT Investment Trust and The Bancorp Bank, two major public companies, will receive Drexel’s 51st Business Leader of the Year award at a luncheon on December 9 at the Park Hyatt at the Bellevue.

Established in 1998, RAIT Investment Trust is the leading U.S. provider of real-estate mezzanine loans for the middle market, with a portfolio of almost $1 billion. Headquartered in Philadelphia, RAIT is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The Bancorp Bank, which was created in 2000, is a pioneer in electronic banking and has experienced unprecedented growth and success without a single physical branch. Headquartered in Wilmington, Del., Bancorp is traded on the Nasdaq National Market.

Cohen also founded Jefferson Bank in 1974. Under Cohen’s leadership as CEO and major shareholder, Jefferson was the largest bank headquartered in Philadelphia at the time of its sale in 1999.

Cohen’s international business ventures include founding a shipping business in Hong Kong, a leasing company in Brazil and a joint venture with a bank in Spain—all before the age of 30. She is a director of Aetna, Inc. and Maine Merchant Bank, LLC; a trustee of Corporate Office Properties Trust, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Farnsworth Art Museum and Jewish Theological Seminary; vice chair of the Bryn Mawr College Board of Trustees; and chair of the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s audit and executive committees.

The Business Leader of the Year luncheon benefits Drexel’s LeBow College of Business. The 2003 event, honoring Independence Blue Cross President and CEO G. Fred DiBona, raised $500,000 in scholarships and capital support for LeBow College in DiBona’s name. For more information on the Business Leader of the Year luncheon, contact Carol McCormick at 215-895-1526 or carol.mccormick@drexel.edu

Award Recipients 1954-2004