University appoints new vice provost for faculty

The University announced Wednesday that Anita Allen, a professor in the Law School, will succeed Lynn Hollen Lees as vice provost for faculty starting July 1.

Allen, who also holds an appointment in the Philosophy Department, previously served as the deputy dean for academic affairs at Penn Law and has taught at Penn since 1998.

In a statement, Penn President Amy Gutmann noted Allen’s interdisciplinary approach to her scholarship, “where she has linked the liberal arts and the law in areas as diverse as privacy, women’s rights and race relations.”

Gutmann also said Allen has been “a consummately insightful contributor to our work” on the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues, which Gutmann chairs.

Allen is currently teaching in Japan, and declined an interview until she returns.

“All I can say is that I’m thrilled to have been appointed and look forward to assuming my duties in July,” she said in an email.

The appointment of Allen, a black woman, comes nearly five months after several senior Africana studies faculty members criticized Gutmann in a Daily Pennsylvanian guest column, arguing that “her commitment to diversity does not include her own administration.”

The appointment of former Vice Provost for Research Steve Fluharty — who is white — as the new dean for the School of Arts and Sciences prompted the column and the ensuing discussion on the lack of minorities in senior roles in the University. The DP found in February that only two of Penn’s 31 senior administrators are minorities.

“Professor Allen is a brilliant scholar and a terrific person; she is highly qualified and will do an excellent job in this position,” Director of the Center of Africana Studies and sociology professor Camille Charles — who co-authored the guest column — said in an email. “I am thrilled!”

Legal studies professor Kenneth Shropshire, another co-author, was more reserved in his assessment. “That’s great news for the University,” he said in an email, but added that “it will be even greater news when when a dean of color is appointed.”

In overseeing faculty life broadly, Allen will be responsible for managing faculty recruitment, including the execution of the Action Plan for Faculty Diversity and Excellence, which is aimed at increasing the number of minority faculty members.

“In her new position, [Allen] will be an important partner in helping further strengthen and diversify Penn’s eminent faculty,” Gutmann said.

Lees, the current vice provost for faculty, has held the position since January 2010. A history professor, she has taught at Penn for nearly 40 years but will retire at the end of the month.

A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Camille Charles was the chair of the Sociology Department. The article has been updated to reflect these changes.

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