Penn announces faculty members named to new vice provost selection committees

Faculty members for the consultative committees for selection of the Vice Provost for the Arts and Vice Provost for Climate Science, Policy, and Action were recently announced by the University.

The committees will help select the best-suited standing faculty members for the two new positions which are part of Penn's current operating strategic framework “In Principle and Practice: Penn's Focus on Tomorrow,” which was announced by former Penn President Liz Magill in November 2023.

The Vice Provost for the Arts will be responsible for amplifying the work of Penn's arts leaders, practitioners, scholars, and students across the university and in Philadelphia. The broad charge of the Vice Provost for Climate Science, Policy, and Action position will be to support Penn's leadership in addressing the climate crisis. 

The committee to select a Vice Provost for Climate will be chaired by Beth Winkelstein, a deputy provost and Eduardo D. Glandt President’s distinguished professor of Bioengineering for the School of Engineering and Applied Science. The committee to select a Vice Provost for the Arts will be chaired by Laura Perna, a Vice Provost for Faculty and Centennial Presidential professor of Education for the Graduate School of Education.

Faculty members on the committee to select a Vice Provost for Climate include Michael Mann, Presidential Distinguished professor of Earth and Environmental Science and the director of Penn Center for Science, Sustainability, and the Media. Mann was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2020 and was recently selected for the Royal Society Fellowship.

Additional faculty on the committee include Assistant Professor of Architecture in the Weitzman School of Design Dorit Aviv, who is also the director of the Thermal Architecture Lab. Professor of Materials Science and Engineering in the School of Engineering and Applied Science Russell Composto and President’s Distinguished Professor of Chemistry for the College of Arts and Sciences Joseph Francisco also sit on the committee. Finally, Mark Whittier and Lila Griswold Allam associate professor of the School of Veterinary Medicine Dipti Pitta serve on the committee. 

The committee to select a Vice Provost for the Arts includes Associate Dean for Arts and Letters and William R. Kenan, Jr. professor of Music in the School of Arts and Sciences Jeffrey Kallber. Kallber has received several awards for his research on music from the 19th and 20th centuries.

Professor and Graduate Chair of East Asian Languages and Civilizations for the School of Arts and Sciences Ayako Kano and Associate Professor for the Annenberg School for Communication Jessa Lingel will sit on the committee. Director of Undergraduate Fine Arts and Design Matt Neff and Presidential Associate Professor in Historic Preservation Amber Wiley, both from the Weitzman School of Design, were selected for the committee. 

The faculty members will join two Penn undergraduate and graduate students on each committee and a committee chair to select the new Vice Provosts. 

College senior and President of the Undergraduate Assembly Ria Ellendula and fifth-year bioengineering doctoral student and chair of the Research Student Council in the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly Ludwig Zhao were selected for the committee to select a Vice Provost for Climate. For the committee to select a Vice Provost for the Arts, Wharton junior and Vice President of the Undergraduate Assembly Michelle Chen, and third-year MSW and NPL student at the School of Social Policy and Practice and President of the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly Joelle Lingat will sit on the committee.

Both committees will continue to accept nominations of faculty members via email until June 17.