Former Penn President Amy Gutmann said she would step down from her ambassadorship to spend more time with her husband.
Credit: Anna VazhaeparambilFormer Penn President Amy Gutmann will step down from her position as the United States ambassador to Germany in mid-July, according to an internal memo sent to her colleagues.
In the May 13 memo posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, Gutmann announced that she would return to the United States as her husband’s “professional obligations” required their return from Berlin.
Her husband, Michael Doyle, is a professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.
“Over the past two and a half years, Michael has moved heaven and earth to live with me in Berlin,” Gutmann said in the memo. “It is now my turn to plan the move back home to be with him.
Gutmann departed Penn in February of 2022 after the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations confirmed her as the next U.S. ambassador to Germany. She was nominated for the position by President Joe Biden.
Her resignation set into motion a months-long presidential transition which ended in former president Liz Magill being named the University’s ninth president.
Gutmann’s 18-year presidency — the longest in Penn history — saw many changes to the University including reducing Penn’s carbon footprint by 44.3% and an increase of $16.5 billion in endowment funds, which was the most dramatic change in endowment of any other peer institution in recent history, Senior Executive Vice President Craig Carnaroli told The Daily Pennsylvanian in 2022.
“Please know that you can count on my all-out effort as we move forward together,” Gutmann said in the memo. “Suffice it to say now that I could not be prouder than to be your colleague and honored beyond words to be your ambassador.”
It remains unclear where Gutmann and her husband will live upon their return to the United States — or if Gutmann will return to the University in any capacity.
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