The Board of Trustees voted unanimously to appoint J. Larry Jameson as Penn’s 10th president. His term will run through June 30, 2027. “I am confident that our University’s future is bright as we prioritize our core values of excellence, freedom of inquiry and expression, and respect,” says Penn President J. Larry Jameson. “I am deeply committed to this extraordinary institution, and it is an honor to serve as Penn’s President.”
Provost John L. Jackson Jr. and Senior Executive Vice President Craig R. Carnaroli updated the Penn community about measures implemented in response to potential funding cuts and legislation. “The scope and pace of the possible disruptions we face may make them more severe than those of previous challenges, such as the 2008 financial crisis or the COVID pandemic,” they wrote. “With careful financial management, however, Penn is well-positioned to navigate them.”
Elizabeth Banks, a 1996 Penn graduate who is an actor, director, and producer, will deliver the 2025 University of Pennsylvania Commencement address on Monday, May 19 at Franklin Field. “Since graduating from Penn’s School of Arts & Sciences in 1996, Ms. Banks has made her mark in film and television not only as a highly respected performer, but as a talented director and successful producer,” says Penn President J. Larry Jameson. “She has also been an outspoken advocate for important issues, such as gender equity and health care for veterans, and it will be an honor to welcome her back to campus in May.”
Advancing the inventive and engaged spirit of In Principle and Practice, the University announced the inaugural Draw Down the Lightning grants recipients. The recipients represent eight schools and 10 academic and administrative centers. “Penn’s greatest resource is its thinkers and doers,” says Provost John L. Jackson Jr. “These exciting projects speak to the strength and resilience of our academic community and the enthusiasm for collaboration and cross-disciplinary initiatives embodied in the strategic framework. Their passion and commitment to make progress on the world’s most important challenges are truly inspiring.”
The University released a new report showcasing its substantial economic impact for fiscal year 2024, with approximately $37 billion circulating annually through the economies of the City of Philadelphia, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and 14 surrounding counties in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland. The independent analysis identifies four key areas where Penn’s influence is most felt: as the City’s largest private employer, through its extensive campus and neighborhood development projects, as a leader in research and innovation, and through its substantial purchasing power with local vendors and suppliers.
Vice President for Finance and Treasurer Mark Dingfield explained the balance between short- and long-term needs when spending from investment assets, restrictions on what approximately 90 percent of the endowment’s 8,000 funds can be used for, and the wide-ranging impact the endowment has on everyone at Penn. “There’s a delicate tradeoff here: The more we spend today, the less we can spend in the future,” says Dingfield. “Penn’s approach is to seek a balance, so that both current and future faculty and students benefit from the endowment’s support.”
Kathryn Griffo, who has served at Penn for nearly two decades and was most recently chief advancement officer for Penn Medicine Development and Alumni Relations, was appointed Penn’s next Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations, effective April 1. “Kate Griffo is a highly respected leader whose strategic vision, dedication, and ability to build strong relationships have redounded to Penn Medicine’s and the University’s lasting benefit,” said Penn President J. Larry Jameson. “She is a trusted, tested partner whose leadership has strengthened donor engagement, mobilized key volunteer networks, and advanced critical priorities.”
The Robert K. Johnson Foundation contributed $8 million to name and endow The Robert K. Johnson Integrated Studies Program, the first-year curriculum for the approximately 80 Benjamin Franklin Scholars students pursuing degrees in the College of Arts and Sciences. “This generous gift ensures that we will be able to continue fostering intellectual agility in these bright minds for years to come,” says Peter Struck, Stephen A. Levin Family Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
Provost John L. Jackson Jr. and Vice Provost for Global Initiatives Ezekiel Emanuel issued guidance to members of the Penn community impacted by potential policy changes related to immigration, visas, and travel. “Global engagement is critical to our mission as a leading research university, bringing the world to Penn and Penn to the world,” they wrote. “Penn is committed to welcoming and supporting students, scholars, faculty, and staff from all over the world.”
Penn Today, which launched in 2018 and has tripled its pageviews since, relaunched with an updated design and the capability for more dynamic storytelling. Features include a new advanced search option, improved navigation, and content-driven layouts, just to name a few.
Five fourth-year students and two recent graduates received a 2025 Thouron Award to pursue graduate studies in the United Kingdom. The awards were created in 1960 as a graduate exchange program to improve understanding and relations between the U.S. and the UK.
Nearly a year after graduation, Penn Today caught up with the three winning teams of the 2024 President’s Engagement Prize and President’s Innovation Prize to learn about the status of their projects and to see how they have turned knowledge from their classrooms into real-world applications.
Five University of Pennsylvania professors from the School of Arts & Sciences, Perelman School of Medicine, and School of Engineering and Applied Science have been elected 2024 American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Fellows. AAAS is a society with a mission to “advance science, engineering, and innovation throughout the world for the benefit of all.”
As part of a spring profile series highlighting innovative students at Penn who are adopting AI in a variety of projects, Penn Today spoke with Eileen Feng, a graduate student in the Integrated Product Design program, who is working with a team of Penn researchers and a local youth-led collective to co-design an AI-supported platform that facilitates art making to tackle an epidemic of loneliness.
Researchers at Penn Dental Medicine and collaborators have built on previous work showing that a clinical-grade antiviral chewing gum could substantially reduce viral loads of SARS-CoV-2. New research suggests the approach is effective in neutralizing two herpes simplex viruses and two influenza A strains. (Image: Kevin Monko)
Annabelle Jin, a fourth-year in the College of Arts and Sciences, is one of 16 recipients selected by the Henry Luce Foundation to be a 2025-26 Luce Scholar. Jin is the 19th Penn affiliate to be named a Luce Scholar since the awards were established in 1974.
In a video, Penn Museum staff are shown restoring Buddhist murals crafted in a style prevalent between the 13th and 14th centuries. The murals will be made publicly accessible upon completion.
Penn Today highlighted the work of second-year School of Nursing Ph.D. student Oonjee Oh, who published a paper in Nursing Ethics about the ethical dimensions of utilizing artificial intelligence in palliative care—a paper that grew out of her work in a course she took in her first semester at Penn. The paper explored hypothetical use cases like machine learning algorithms that predict patient mortality and chatbots that provide informational and emotional support to caregivers.
