Incoming Annenberg School for Communication Dean Michael Delli Carpini is admired as a scholar, loved as a teacher and respected in his field.
He's got game, too.
"I was not only impressed with Michael as a teacher, colleague and scholar, but also as a basketball player," Barnard College Political Science Department Chairman Richard Pious said. "I don't know if he's still getting on the court, but he was good both offensively and defensively and could always be counted on when we got a fast break."
Receiving tenure less than 10 years after joining Barnard's Political Science Department in 1987, Delli Carpini "quickly established himself as one of the most popular teachers in the department," according to Pious, who is currently on sabbatical.
His wardrobe evidently made an impression in Morningside Heights as well.
"Has anybody mentioned his dressing style yet?" asked Kimberly Martin, acting chairwoman of Barnard's Political Science Department. "He's very stylish. He used to wear berets."
When Martin first joined Barnard's faculty, Delli Carpini was serving as her department chair. Praising his "enthusiasm and energy," Martin recalled how swiftly and well Delli Carpini integrated her into the academic community at Barnard.
"He's a terrific guy to work with," she said. "He's very well-loved here."
Happy as they are for him, former colleagues uniformly regret losing Carpini. At the Philadelphia-based Pew Charitable Trusts, where Delli Carpini serves as director of the Public Policy Program, President Rebecca Rimel said that he will be sorely missed as he moves on to Penn.
"He's a gentleman and a scholar," Rimel said. "You know how when you go to a dinner party, you try to plan who you'll sit next to? You want to sit next to Michael."
"He'll be enormously missed," she concluded. "We're so proud and pleased for him, but there'll be some teary eyes here."
Delli Carpini's start at Penn is eagerly anticipated on campus.
"I think it's a great appointment," Political Science Professor Henry Teune said. "Good for political science, good for Annenberg, good for the University."
With his strong background in public policy and political communications, Delli Carpini is as eagerly anticipated at Stiteler Hall as he is at Annenberg itself.
"I thank Judy Rodin for picking him," Teune continued, adding that he himself had suggested Delli Carpini be recruited to teach political science.
"He has a very positive impact on his students," Teune said, recalling a course Delli Carpini taught at the University. "With him and some others, we will have a very strong American politics group."
Delli Carpini's work in civic education -- fulfilling the Pew Public Policy Program's mission to "to strengthen democratic life in America... by supporting projects to restore public trust in elections, increase the civic engagement of young Americans" -- seems the perfect preparation for his new job.
"He has innovative ideas about the role of entertainment in promoting civic virtues," outgoing Annenberg Dean Kathleen Hall Jamieson said. "I don't think he'll fundamentally change the focus of the school. I think he'll strengthen what is already a strong program in political communication.
"I hope he has the same wonderful time that I have had in the last 14 years."
