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Credit: File Photo

In the latest in a string of personnel decisions, Penn has formally launched its search for the new Dean of the School of Social Policy & Practice, known as SP2. 

The University appointed the current dean of SP2, John L. Jackson, as the dean of the Annenberg School for Communication in early February. Jackson initially joined Penn in 2006 and will leave his current post of Dean at the School of Social Policy & Practice after four years to begin his new position on January 1, 2019. 

On April 10, Penn announced an ad hoc Consultative Committee to advise the University in selecting a new dean for SP2. As is typical for these committees, it consists of faculty, students, alumni, and relevant members of the administration. 

The University is also taking electronic nominations for the new dean of SP2 from all community members until May 15, the Almanac wrote.

Jackson is widely recognized as an author and film producer. He was also the school's first Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor, which was created for faculty who have appointments in at least two Penn schools.

President Amy Gutmann and Provost Wendell Pritchett said Jackson "has the experience, vision, and collaborative spirit to help ensure Annenberg’s continued place among the world’s preeminent research and teaching programs in communication.”     

Within the span of three months, Penn has seen a series of major announcements to do with high-level administrative personnel. Apart from Jackson's shift from SP2 to the Annenberg School, Penn's School of Veterinary Medicine and Penn's School of Dental Medicine have also announced new deans this semester. 

In early March, Gutmann and Pritchett named current Tufts University professor Andrew Hoffman as the new dean for Penn Vet. In the same month, the University announced that Mark Wolff, a professor and the chair of cariology and comprehensive care at the College of Dentistry at New York University, has been selected as the new dean of Penn Dental