The Search for Penn’s 11th President

Please share your thoughts on the qualities needed in a president
 as well as any recommendations for candidates.

Responses prior to August 18 would be most useful for the Consultative Committee deliberations.

Take the survey

Consultative Committee for the Selection of a President

TO:                Members, The Penn Community
FROM:          Ramanan Raghavendran

August 11, 2026 - Appointing the University President is chief among the duties of Penn’s Board of Trustees. Following President Larry Jameson’s recent announcement of his leadership transition, the Trustees have begun the process of identifying his successor. The first step, as set forth in our Statutes, is the convening of a Consultative Committee.

The Consultative Committee consists of a cross-section of the Penn community, including Trustees, Deans, undergraduate and graduate students, staff, and faculty. The Committee identifies the priorities, challenges, and qualifications most important to Penn, and delivers a summary of its findings to the Chair, who carries them into the search process, which is led by the Search Committee.

The Consultative Committee has now been duly constituted and will begin its work later this month. Committee members are listed below. I encourage members of the Penn community to respond to the survey for the presidential search, or to provide input directly to a member of the Committee. 

Universities such as Penn have the opportunity and the responsibility to think in terms of decades and centuries. Penn is at an inflection point with great promise, and the choice of the next President is highly consequential. I am grateful to all members of our community for your support and encouragement as we find our next leader.

Ramanan Raghavendran, Chair of the Board of Trustees and Chair 
of the Presidential Search Consultative Committee

Consultative Committee Members

Please note that survey submissions are anonymous and will be consolidated and shared with the Consultative Committee.


Kathleen M. Brown, David Boies Professor of History, School of Arts & Sciences

Musab Chummun, C'27, President, Undergraduate Assembly

Jonathan A. Epstein, Robert G. Dunlop Professor and Dean of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine and Executive Vice President of the University of Pennsylvania for the Health System

Eric A. Feldman, Heimbold Chair in International Law, Professor of Law, Professor of Medical Ethics & Health Policy, Penn Carey Law

Cait Lamberton, Alberto I. Duran President's Distinguished Professor, Professor of Marketing, Vice Dean and Director of Wharton Undergraduate Division, Wharton School

Yphtach Lelkes, Michael X. Delli Carpini Professor of Communication, Annenberg School for Communication

Ryan D. Limaye, ENG'93, W'93, WG'93, Trustee; Chair, Penn Engineering Board of Advisors

Judith A. Long, Sol Katz Professor of Medicine and Chief, Division of General Internal Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine

Catherine M. O'Hern Lyons, C'86, Trustee; Chair Trustee Education Committee

Marc F. McMorris, C'90, WG'94, Trustee; Chair, Investment Board


Colleen O'Neill, C'98, GSE'99, GFA'16, WG'18, Vice President for Finance and Treasurer

Dhananjay M. Pai, W'83, Trustee; Chair, Penn Medicine Board

Julie Beren Platt, C'79, Trustee Emerita; Chair, Penn Live Arts Board of Advisors

Ramanan Raghavendran, ENG'89, W'89, LPS'15, Chair, Board of Trustees; Chair, Consultative Committee

Theodore E. Schlein, C'86, Trustee

Whitney Soule, Vice Provost and Dean of Admissions

Mark Trodden, Dean and Thomas S. Gates, Jr. Professor of Physics & Astronomy, School of Arts & Sciences

Duncan J. Watts, Stevens University Professor and Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor, Annenberg School for Communication, Penn Engineering, and Wharton School

Adam Ziada, GR'27, Perelman School of Medicine; President, GAPSA

News & Announcements


The search for Penn’s 11th president: Community survey

June 13, 2026 - As Penn begins the search for its next president, every member of our community has a part to play. This survey is your opportunity to shape the search. Your responses will inform the Consultative Committee convened by the Board of Trustees, whose work will help define the type of leader the University seeks.

A message from President J. Larry Jameson on his leadership transition 

June 12, 2026 - President J. Larry Jameson will conclude his service as president of the University of Pennsylvania as planned on June 30, 2027. In a message to the Penn community, President Jameson highlights his experiences leading Penn and his commitment to achieving important goals in the coming year, including advancing the work of Penn Forward. 

A message from University of Pennsylvania Board of Trustees Chair Ramanan Raghavendran 

June 12, 2026 - Ramanan Raghavendran, Chair, Board of Trustees, thanked President Jameson for his extraordinary accomplishments over the past two-and-a-half years, and announced that in the fall, Penn will begin the comprehensive process laid out in Penn’s Statutes to identify the University’s next president, who will take office on July 1, 2027. 

FAQ

The process for electing a president of the University is set out in Article 3.2(b) of the Statutes of the Trustees and in a Standing Resolution adopted by the Trustees on June 19, 2009. Together, these provide for two bodies: a Consultative Committee, which gathers the perspectives of the University community, and a Search Committee, which conducts the search itself. This structure is designed to combine broad community input with a focused, confidential recruitment process that attracts the strongest candidates.

The Consultative Committee is convened and chaired by the Chair of the Board of Trustees and includes trustees, faculty, deans, undergraduate and graduate/professional students, and staff. Faculty members are selected by the Faculty Senate Executive Committee; all other members are appointed by the Board Chair. The Committee's charge is to gather the views of the University's constituencies on the priorities, challenges, and qualifications most important in the next president, and to deliver a summary of its findings to the Chair. The Consultative Committee is advisory: it does not screen, interview, or recommend candidates.

The Search Committee is appointed by the Chair of the Board of Trustees, with members drawn primarily from the Consultative Committee. It includes at least two trustees and two faculty members. Informed by the Consultative Committee's guidance, the Search Committee is responsible for identifying, recruiting, and interviewing candidates, and will recommend finalists to the Executive Committee of the Trustees. The Consultative Committee helps define what Penn seeks; the Search Committee finds the person.

The search begins in summer 2026 with the community survey and the formation of the Consultative Committee, which executes its charge through the end of September. The Search Committee begins its work in October 2026. The goal is to have the University’s 11th president approved by the Board of Trustees for a term starting on July 1, 2027. Finding the best candidate is paramount and the timeline could shift to accommodate that individual or the University’s needs. Updates will be posted on this site as the search reaches key milestones.

Every member of the Penn community — students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents — is invited to complete the community survey, which asks about the priorities and qualities that should guide the search. In addition, members of the Consultative Committee are charged with engaging their respective constituencies directly, so you may also share your perspective with the Committee member(s) who represents your constituency.

The survey is administered by Spencer Stuart, the executive search firm supporting the process. Individual responses are anonymous. Results are reported to the Consultative Committee in aggregate and broken out by respondents' primary affiliation (for example, faculty, students, staff, alumni), so the Committee can understand both shared themes and the distinct perspectives of each constituency.

Yes. The survey provides an opportunity to suggest individuals you believe should be considered. Recommendations are received in confidence by Spencer Stuart and conveyed into the search process for the Search Committee's consideration. Because the search is confidential, the University will not comment on whether any individual is or is not a candidate.

Spencer Stuart serves as staff and advisor to the search. The firm administers the community survey, conducts research and outreach to potential candidates, performs due diligence, and supports the work of the committees. Spencer Stuart does not decide which candidates advance; those judgments rest with the Search Committee, the Executive Committee, and ultimately the Board of Trustees.

The Search Committee recommends candidates to the Executive Committee of the Trustees. The Executive Committee presents a final nomination to the full Board of Trustees. Election requires the affirmative votes of at least two-thirds of all trustees then in office.

No. Under the Standing Resolution, all proceedings of the search are confidential, and the University will not publicly identify candidates or finalists. This confidentiality is essential to attracting the strongest possible pool: the most compelling candidates are typically sitting leaders who cannot participate in a public process. The community's voice enters the search through the survey and the Consultative Committee, where it shapes the profile against which every candidate is evaluated.

This website is the official source of information about the search. Updates will be posted at key milestones.