Search committees have formed to find the next Annenberg and Dental Medicine deans

Search committees to select new deans of the Annenberg School for Communication and the School of Dental Medicine were formed this week, according to an announcement from Penn President Amy Gutmann and Provost Wendell Pritchett. 

This announcement comes after several recent changes in the University administration. Paul Sniegowski took over the role of Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences for this academic year after former Dean Dennis DeTurck completed a 12-year tenure. A new provost was also chosen, as Wendell Pritchett replaced Vincent Price, who is now the president of Duke University. 

The current Annenberg dean is Michael X. Delli Carpini, who has held the position since 2003. In 2014, Carpini agreed to extend his term as dean until June 30, 2018. 

The dean of the Dental School is Denis F. Kinane, who assumed the role in 2009. Like Carpini, Kinane’s term was also later extended. In 2015, Kinane was reappointed to serve as dean until June 30, 2021, but announced over the summer that he would be stepping down at the end of 2017, according to University spokesperson Stephen MacCarthy.

Gutmann and Pritchett will use the advice of current deans to aid the selection process. Ted Ruger, the dean of Penn Law School, is chair of the search committee for the next Annenberg dean and Antonia Villarruel, the dean of the School of Nursing, is chair of the committee to find the next Dental Medicine dean. 

Each committee “welcomes … nominations and input from all members of the University community,” according to the announcement. Although the deans will be stepping down from their positions on different dates, the committees request that “communications be received …no later than November 15, 2017.” 

If these searches follow the trend of past selection processes, the new deans may not be chosen for months. In August of 2014, the University announced that a search committee had been created for a new dean of School of Engineering and Applied Science. Vijay Kumar did not assume the position until June of 2015.