Penn President Amy Gutmann has signed on for an additional five years as the University’s top executive. The trustees ratified the contract extension on June 15, paving the way for Gutmann to continue in her position through June 30, 2019. The agreement sets the stage for her to be the second-longest serving president since the position was created in 1930, after Gaylord Harnwell Hon’53, who presided for 17 years between 1953 and 1970.
“I firmly believe that Dr. Gutmann is the best university president in the country,” wrote Trustee Chair David L. Cohen L’81, in a letter to the Penn community in May.
Cohen cited Gutmann’s role in adding more than 100 new named professorships, inaugurating Penn’s no-loan undergraduate financial-aid program, and overseeing an expansion of Penn’s campus by 47 acres, including Penn Park [“Penn Connected,” Nov|Dec 2011] and the 2010 purchase of the former DuPont Marshall Lab property on the east bank of the Schuylkill River. He also noted the substantial growth of sponsored research at the University and the Perelman School of Medicine during Gutmann’s tenure, as well as her leadership in Penn’s $3.5 billion “Making History” capital campaign.
“President Gutmann is already focused on new strategic priorities for the coming years, and how we can best position Penn in a rapidly changing higher education environment,” Cohen added.
“I am truly grateful to the trustees for their extraordinary support and for giving me the opportunity to work with so many talented individuals,” Gutmann said. “I am very proud of all that our fantastic faculty, staff, students, and alumni have together enabled us to accomplish these past eight years, and I am confident that we will continue to move forward with passion and purpose. The status quo will never suffice at this University.”
