Members of the Penn community expressed support for Penn President Larry Jameson’s permanent appointment in interviews with The Daily Pennsylvanian.
On March 13, the Board of Trustees unanimously voted to appoint Jameson as Penn's 10th president. They cited a “pressing need for continuity” that made it “necessary and appropriate” to extend Jameson's term instead of forming a search committee for a new president.
Before Jameson assumed the role, he spent over a decade as executive vice president of the University of Pennsylvania Health System and dean of the Perelman School of Medicine. The medical system was highly successful under his leadership, prompting Arthur Rubenstein — Jameson’s predecessor as executive vice president and dean — to call him the “obvious choice” for the interim presidency.
Jameson began his interim term — which lasted 15 months — days after former Penn president Liz Magill resigned amid a national controversy surrounding antisemitism on college campuses. In June, he agreed to remain president through the 2025–26 academic year.
The DP spoke with over a dozen members of the Penn community about their reactions to Jameson's permanent appointment.
In a written statement to the DP, Board of Trustees Chair Ramanan Raghavendran echoed the confidence he expressed during the announcement of Jameson’s appointment. He stated that “the Board feels Larry has done a superb job in a challenging time” and reiterated his belief that Jameson “is the right person to continue leading Penn.”
Provost John Jackson characterized Jameson’s “expertise, wisdom, and wide knowledge of Penn” as “invaluable to our community as we navigate a challenging and unpredictable period” in a written statement to the DP.
Jackson also wrote that he was “deeply grateful to [Jameson]” for assuming the presidency and “helping [Penn] to sustain our historic mission and the values of our strategic framework.”
Katharine Strunk, who serves as the dean of Penn’s Graduate School of Education, said that she was “thrilled” to learn Jameson would assume the role of Penn’s 10th president. She described Jameson’s interim presidency as “one of the most challenging times in the history of higher education” carried through by his “steady leadership.”
“Calm under pressure, President Jameson leads with integrity, a deep commitment to Penn’s values, and a true belief in being a good neighbor to our city and state,” Strunk wrote. “His appointment ensures that Penn will continue to thrive under his thoughtful and principled leadership."
Wharton Dean Erika James also referenced a current crisis among higher education institutions during which Jameson’s tenure has taken place in a written statement to the DP.
“We are fortunate to have President Jameson at the helm during a profoundly challenging time for all of higher education,” James wrote. “His deep understanding of Penn’s values and strategic vision, coupled with his commitment to being a collaborative university leader focused on healing fissures in our community, make him the ideal leader for the remarkable institution that is Penn.”
School of Engineering and Applied Science Dean Vijay Kumar also noted an optimism for Jameson’s presidency — despite an uncertainty for the future of higher education as a whole.
"My colleagues and I have greatly appreciated President Jameson's steady leadership and decisiveness during this very challenging time for our community,” Kumar wrote. “I am personally excited to hear that he has been appointed president through June 2027."
Penn Carey Law School “looks forward to continuing its collaborative relationship with President Jameson," according to a statement by its dean, Sophia Lee.
Penn GSE professor Julie Wollman — who previously served as a university president herself — wrote to the DP that the Board “made a wise choice in signaling institutional stability and strong support for our president’s leadership by making his appointment permanent.”
Wollman said that Jameson has demonstrated a dedication to the Penn community and appears “genuinely excited about the work we all do and committed to supporting it.”
“I’m grateful that he is willing to serve despite the increasing challenges of the presidency in higher education,” Wollman added.
Liliane Weissberg, who currently teaches German and Comparative Literature in the College, wrote that the decision was “a good move.” She also pointed out that the appointment followed “Harvard’s lead.”
In August 2024, Alan Garber was announced as Harvard's 31st president after serving as the interim president. Similarly to Jameson, Garber took the helm of the university following former Harvard President Claudine Gay's resignation.
Eve Higginbotham, former vice dean for diversity, equity, and inclusion at the Perelman School of Medicine, called Jameson “the ideal choice to lead the University of Pennsylvania through these uncharted waters.”
Working under Jameson for a decade, Higginbotham says she has “first-hand knowledge of his capacity as an inclusive leader,” and that his time as interim president “brings a deeper understanding of what is needed to protect the institution and continue to secure our future based on our core values.”
“Leading within the context of academic medicine is relevant to what is needed during this period of change in academia, given the rapid multiple forces which impact the sustainability of academic medical centers,” Higginbotham said.
Former Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush told the DP that she was “delighted” to learn of Jameson’s appointment. She added that she “enjoyed working with Dr. Jameson and found him to be a deliberate, strong, and innovative leader.”
“I believe Dr. Jameson is the right person to steer Penn through the current challenges affecting higher education institutions,” Rush said.
Undergraduate Assembly Speaker Leo Solga told the DP that “listening to members of the Penn community is truly one of [Jameson’s] top priorities” and that he is “responsive and enthusiastic” when engaging with the UA.
Ph.D. candidate Drew Behrendt — who serves as the President of the School of Arts and Sciences’ Graduate Student Government — said that although he does not “directly interface with the Provost’s Office,” he had “nothing negative to say” about Jameson.
Behrendt said that it "was great" that Jameson "included students" in a leadership event regarding the search for a new SAS leadership. He added that his experience with administrators was "very transparent and open with that process.”
Violet Ullman, a representative of GET-UP — Penn’s largest student union — and third-year Ph.D. candidate at Penn, described an indifference to Jameson’s appointment.
“We have been organizing under multiple presidents now,” Ullman said. “Regardless of who's actually in the president's office, we know that grad workers are the ones doing the work to help make the University run … Whoever is sitting in the President's chair probably will not make a difference.”
Ullman also noted that while GET-UP is “certainly hoping that he's committed to fair contract negotiations … it doesn't seem to be the case.”
Philadelphia City Councilmember Jamie Gauthier wrote in a statement to the DP that she is looking forward to working with Jameson to “strengthen the relationship between the university and the community.”
Gauthier attended a meeting with Jameson and other Penn administrators last month to discuss the University’s rollback of diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.
After the meeting, Gauthier told the DP that the administrators did not “understand the gigantic signal that they’ve sent to students, to faculty, to the community, to the entire country about whether Black and brown students and historically underrepresented populations are going to be protected on this campus.”
Mary Hunzicker-Dunn — who served as a professor in the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology at Northwestern when Jameson served as Northwestern's chair of the Department of Medicine — praised Jameson as “kind, thoughtful, honest, fair, and brilliant … A good combination for a University President” in a written statement to the DP.
Hunzicker-Dunn previously spoke to the DP about Jameson’s interim appointment. She noted Jameson’s quiet confidence in his academic abilities and interpersonal skills.
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