Amid a series of controversies and a leadership crisis in recent months, Penn's Board of Trustees has gained significant attention for how it operates as the University's highest governing body.

In light of the increased scrutiny of the Trustees — some of which has come from former board members, like Marc Rowan — The Daily Pennsylvanian analyzed the board's size, demographics, and attendance records. 

Using publicly available information, the analysis found that Penn has the second largest Board of Trustees in the Ivy League with 50 members — the majority of whom are white, male, and have backgrounds in financial services. Two experts told the DP that Penn's board size and culture have played a role in how the University has navigated the national spotlight — and how it makes important decisions, like the eventual selection of a successor to former Penn President Liz Magill.

Penn has the second-largest Board of Trustees in the Ivy League

The DP's analysis found that Penn's Board of Trustees, which has 50 members, exceeded both the Ivy League average of 37 members and the national private institution average of 28 members. Cornell University has the largest board in Ivy League with 64 trustees.

According to the Office of the University Secretary, Penn’s trustees are either “selected by the Nominating Committee of the Trustees and elected at a Stated Meeting,” elected by alumni, or appointed by specific representatives of the Pennsylvania General Assembly.

While Cornell designates specific seats for students, faculty and non-academic staff, Penn rejected proposals seeking student representation on the Board of Trustees last year.

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Penn's Board of Trustees has consistently exceeded 50 members in recent years

Penn had as many as 58 trustees sitting on its board in the last few years before a slight decrease in the past two years. A board of 50 people is "just unmanageable," Joni Finney, the former director of the Institute for Research on Higher Education and a professor of practice at Penn, said.

University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School lecturer Charles Elson echoed this sentiment. Elson said that although the role of a board is to monitor the university president, a larger board makes communication and maintaining a “candid relationship” more difficult.

Both experts said that the large size of the board is likely influenced by the number of donors who seek representation.

“You’ve given money, you may want a name, you may want a seat on the board … there are demands that people make,” Finney said. 

Elson added that board seats are also connected to the possibility of future donations being made to the university in question.

“If someone is on a board, they’re more likely to commit financially to the institution because they have a chance to oversee their money,” Elson said.

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60% of Penn's trustees have a background in financial services

The DP also found that a majority of the trustees serving on Penn's board have worked in leadership positions at large investment banks, private equity firms, and other companies in the financial services industry.

Finney said that a board composed of members who make significant donations to the University could lead to those members interfering in ways outside of their jurisdiction.  

“Rather than tapping people who are great business and civic leaders of the nation, we tap people who are from Wall Street, or who are investment bankers, or who give a lot of money,” Finney said. 

On the other hand, Elson said that it is important for trustees to be donors as well, because it gives them a stake in the success or failure of the institution. He added that people in the financial industry tend to have both the affluence to contribute funding and an understanding of business functioning that applies to universities with large endowments — which he described as “multibillion dollar businesses.”

Elson also pointed to several other areas of expertise that serve as useful representation on a board, including educational legal expertise and large scale nonprofit and public company management.

The board's race and gender demographics

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The DP found that Penn's Board of Trustees is approximately two-thirds white and two-thirds male. 

Finney said it is important for a board's composition to be diverse, adding that "different voices and different kinds of people" help to prevent the board from becoming an "echo chamber."

She said that the board plays a role in the composition of the student body due to its role in determining student financial factors such as tuition and financial aid. 

“They should want a student body that looks very much like America; that means you have to provide financial aid,” Finney said. “That means you have to take into consideration issues of affordability.”

Over the last four years, a quarter of trustees attended 50% or fewer full board meetings

While most of the trustees who served in 2023 and were the subjects of the DP's analysis had strong attendance records, 13 out of 51 attended 50% or fewer meetings in the past five years. The size of a board affects how individual trustees are involved and how much they attend, both Finney and Elson suggested.

“The more people there are there, the more your absence is not felt,” Elson said. “If you don't show up, generally, it won't be noticed. And that's a real problem, because you should be at every meeting.”

Wharton Board of Advisors Chair Marc Rowan led the push to oust University leadership last semester and has recently drawn headlines for calling for the trustees to potentially reconsider various academic policies. When he served on the Board of Trustees himself, Rowan attended one of 13 full board meetings between 2019 and 2023.

A spokesperson for Rowan said that he attended virtually all of the committee meetings and private sessions of the board meetings during his tenure.

Elson suggested that a bifurcated structure, like that used by Harvard University's governing board, could allow for a large board to exist in more of an advisory role. He described Penn leadership's reaction to the Palestine Writes Literature Festival and the Israel-Hamas war as "too little too late," adding that the board had a responsibility to "step in and correct or replace" in those situations. 

“You had a leadership issue, and you also had a board governance issue,” he added.

Finney worried that some members of the Board of Trustees have been “a lightning rod for political interference in a very visible way.” She said that a small but diverse board could be more effective.

“It doesn't mean we have to give up on gifts and asking people to give,” Finney said. “We need to find other ways for alumni to engage with the university, rather than just be on the board.”

The Office of the University Secretary — which supports University governing bodies including the board — did not respond to a request for comment.