Some of Penn's well-known professors include (top to bottom, from left to right) Angela Duckworth, Adam Grant, Amy Gutmann, Kristen R. Ghodsee, and Ed Rendell (Photos from Penn SAS, Annenberg, Wharton).
Penn employs talented professors who are experts in a variety of fields including psychology, business, and politics. Here are five of the most well-known Penn professors whose influence spans well beyond their classrooms.
Ed Rendell
1965 College graduate and former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell taught "Who Gets Elected and Why? The Science of Politics” during the fall 2024 semester. He served as the mayor of Philadelphia from 1992 to 2000 and was he was praised for making significant improvements to the city’s services and budget management during his tenure. Rendell also chaired the Democratic National Committee during the 2000 presidential election.
Rendell served as Pennsylvania's governor from 2003 to 2011, where his administration focused on education, infrastructure, and economic development. He remains active in political discourse and now shares his expertise with students as a lecturer at Penn.
Amy Gutmann
Amy Gutmann, the longest-serving University president, returned to Penn in 2024 as the Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Professor of Communication at the Annenberg School for Communication.
Gutmann served as the University’s president from 2004 to 2022. Her 18-year presidency is widely considered one of the most transformative in Penn’s history. After her tenure, she became the first woman to serve as the United States Ambassador to Germany.
Gutmann’s scholarship focuses on democracy and education, as well as the processes of discussion, negotiation, and diplomacy. She is currently on leave but will resume teaching next academic year.
Gutmann is an author and editor of 17 books, including "Why deliberative democracy?", "The Spirit of Compromise," and "Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven but Nobody Wants to Die: Bioethics and the Transformation of Health Care in America." In 2018, she was named one of the “World’s 50 Greatest Leaders” by Fortune for her work promoting affordable education and healthcare, life-saving innovations, global collaboration, and public-private partnerships.
Kristen R. Ghodsee
Kristen R. Ghodsee is a professor and chair of Russian and East European Studies at Penn. Her research focuses on the lived experiences of socialism and post-socialism and examines the gendered effects of the transition from communism to capitalism, post-communist nostalgia, and the human impact of the Soviet Union’s collapse.
She is the author of 12 books, including "Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism," which has been translated into over 10 languages. Her recent book, "Everyday Utopia: What 2,000 Years of Bold Experiments Can Teach Us About the Good Life," explores historical and cultural examples of community-building, offering practical insights for creating more equitable societies.
At Penn, Ghodsee teaches a class called "Sex and Socialism" and hosts a podcast where she reads and discusses the works of Alexandra Kollontai, a Ukrainian-Finnish socialist women's activist.
Angela Duckworth
Angela Duckworth is the Rosa Lee and Egbert Chang Professor and faculty co-director of the Penn-Wharton Behavior Change for Good Initiative. As a 2013 MacArthur Fellow, she has advised the World Bank, NBA and NFL teams, and Fortune 500 CEOs. Her 2016 novel, "Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance," is a New York Times bestseller.
At Penn, she teaches the popular SNF Paideia Designated course “PSYC 0405 Grit Lab: Fostering Passion and Perseverance in Ourselves and Others.” Duckworth is also a co-founder of Character Lab, a nonprofit that promotes scientific advances that help children thrive.
Adam Grant
Adam Grant, the Saul P. Steinberg Professor of Management and professor of Psychology, is the youngest and most highly rated professor at The Wharton School. As a leading expert in organizational psychology, his research focuses on motivation, meaning, generosity, and creativity.
Grant’s books, including “Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things,” “Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know,” and “Give and Take,” are New York Times bestsellers.
He hosts a TED original podcast WorkLife, and his TED talks have been viewed over 10 million times. Grant’s clients include Google, the NBA, and the Gates Foundation. He has been recognized as one of the world’s most influential management thinkers and named in Fortune’s 40 Under 40.
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