Paul Sniegowski, the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, will leave his position to become the president of Earlham College.
The transition will become effective August 1, and was announced in a Wednesday morning email from Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences Steven Fluharty. Sniegowski — a professor of evolutionary biology — has served as dean of the College, Penn's largest undergraduate school, since 2017.
Sniegowski has been a member of the Penn faculty for 27 years, and oversaw the College’s transition to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. During his deanship, Sniegowski created the First-Generation, Low-Income Dean's Advisory Board and oversaw the creation of the environmental humanities and data science minors, according to the announcement.
Before his promotion to the deanship, Sniegowski served as the chair of the Committee on Undergraduate Education and the Faculty Senate Committee on Students and Educational Policy.
“Paul has promoted inclusion in the undergraduate learning experience through a number of means,” Fluharty wrote in the announcement. “Being named to a college presidency is a tremendous honor, and Paul’s appointment at Earlham is a well-deserved tribute to his devotion to student learning and to liberal arts education.”
Earlham College, a Quaker college, is located in Richmond, Ind. He will succeed Anne Houtman, who previously announced her planned retirement in July after a five-year term as president.
Sniegowski's son, Ben Kienitz Sniegowski, graduated from Earlham College in 2023, according to the Earlham announcement.
"We are coming to Earlham because we want to be a part of this community,” Sniegowski said in the Earlham announcement. “We want to help make this evermore a place where, once you’re here, you don’t want to leave.”
Earlham Board Chair Tom Thornburg wrote in the Earlham announcement that "Paul [Sniegowski] has been impressive and thoughtful in his excellent career as a faculty member specializing in evolutionary genetics and as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania.”
“He is a strong researcher, a frequently honored teacher, and much appreciated academic leader,” Thornburg added.
Fluharty wrote in the announcement that the process to search for Sneigowski’s successor will begin “immediately,” and said that he will reach out to the Arts and Sciences community to "seek nominations of faculty and input on future priorities."
Fluharty added that SAS will be planning events to thank and congratulate Sniegowski before the end of the semester.
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