Michael Platt Appointed Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor
President Amy Gutmann and Provost Vincent Price announced Tuesday that Michael Platt has been selected as the sixteenth Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor, effective July 1.
The Penn Integrates Knowledge program, which Gutmann launched in 2005, seeks out faculty members with appointments in at least two schools whose research and teaching incorporate multiple disciplines. Platt, a neuroscientist whose work focuses on the brain’s decision-making processes, will have appointments in the Department of Neuroscience in the Perelman School of Medicine, the Department of Psychology in the School of Arts and Sciences, and the Department of Marketing in the Wharton School.
“His [Platt’s] presence at Penn will productively bridge our Perelman School of Medicine, School of Arts and Sciences, and Wharton School in path-breaking areas of neuroscience,” Gutmann said in a statement. “Best known for his studies of decision-making, social cognition and attention, Michael exemplifies Penn’s commitment to integrating knowledge in order to address both timely and timeless questions of great societal impact.”
Platt currently serves as Professor of Neurobiology, Director of the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences and Director of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at Duke University. Organizations such as the National Foundation, the Klingenstein Foundation, the McDonnell Foundation and the Department of Defense have supported his research, and he has been recognized in the New York Times, the Washington post, the Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio, A`BC, BBC and PBS.
Platt has also served as the President of the Society for Neuroeconomics. He holds a PhD in Biological Anthropology from Penn, and a BA in Biological Anthropology from Yale.
“Michael returns to campus as not only a brilliant, path-breaking researcher but also a formidable collaborator,” Price said in a statement. “I am confident that he will quickly galvanize alliances both across and beyond our campus, significantly advancing Penn’s global leadership in neuroscience —V as well as its connections to some of the most exciting and innovative work being done in psychology and economics.”
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