Dr. Rume Joy Azikiwe has worked for the Division of Human Resources at the University of Pennsylvania since 2014. Joy is Executive Director & Chief of Staff, working closely with the VP on strategic initiatives and institutional wide opportunities and objectives. Under her portfolio, she directs HRIM, Employee Records, Penn Employee Solution Center, Penn New Employee Onboarding Center, HR Communication, and Global HR. Joy also works closely with the Staff and Labor team, supporting, developing, and maintaining comprehensive staff and labor relation plans and serves as one of two chief labor negotiators at Penn. Before her university appointment, she was Assistant Director of HR and Labor Relations at Genesis Healthcare. Joy was recently named the 2019 Delaware Valley HR Person of the Year-Mega Category.

Joy currently holds an Adjunct Faculty appointment teaching Human Resource Management in the School of Business of Rowan University, as well as Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management in the School of Business at Wilmington University.

Joy holds certifications as Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) and SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP). She holds a Doctor of Management degree in Strategic Leadership from Thomas Jefferson University.