Last fall the University moved to fill two newly created academic leadership positions outlined in Penn’s strategic framework, In Principle and Practice, with the appointments of climate scientist Michael Mann as the inaugural vice provost for climate science, policy, and action and of music scholar Timothy Rommen as vice provost for the arts.

Mann, whose appointment became effective November 1, is a Presidential Distinguished Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science and directs the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability, and the Media [“Mann in the Middle,” Jul|Aug 2023].
Provost John L. Jackson Jr. called Mann “one of the world’s leading experts in climate change and sustainability,” in a statement announcing the appointment. “As vice provost, he will continue his essential work while partnering across campus to bring together the wide range of work already being done at Penn, leading innovations and catalyzing new collaborations.”
“I couldn’t be more honored to help lead Penn forward in its mission to address the defining challenge of our time,” Mann said in a statement. “In doing so, we honor the legacy of our founder, Benjamin Franklin—a statesman, a scholar, a scientist, and an environmentalist—as we proudly seek to make a better world.”

Rommen, whose appointment as vice provost for the arts took effect on January 1, is the Davidson Kennedy Professor in the College of Arts and Sciences and professor of music and Africana studies in the School of Arts and Sciences. He has taught at Penn since 2002, winning SAS’s top teaching award, the Ira H. Abrams Award for Distinguished Teaching, in 2023. He’s also served as chair, director of graduate studies, and director of undergraduate studies in the Department of Music; as interim chair of the Department of Africana Studies; and on numerous boards and committees within SAS and across the University.
Jackson lauded Rommen as the “ideal colleague” to take on the role of vice provost for the arts, “widely respected as a collaborative and consultative leader who is strongly committed to scholarship and teaching, to our diverse arts communities on campus and in Philadelphia.”
Rommen said that he’s excited to partner with the local arts community “to maximize the impact of their innovative, cross-disciplinary, and experimental work and to imagine new possibilities for the arts here at Penn and beyond.”