When University Provost Robert Barchi vacates his post this summer to become Thomas Jefferson University's next president, he will leave behind an era of academic growth and development for the University.
As provost, Barchi -- who spent the past 30 years at Penn, serving as provost for the last five of those years --was the chief academic officer at the University, and worked to better campus both economically and academically.
While serving as provost, Barchi created a long-term financial plan, developed new academic initiatives, recruited several new administrative leaders and penned a new strategic plan for the University -- in addition to overseeing the deans of each of Penn's 12 schools.
"Dr. Barchi has been an extraordinary provost," University President Judith Rodin said. "He's been a great partner to me in all of the strategic planning, and a great leader of the deans ... [who] have relied heavily on his advice and council.... We will miss him."
Before he was named provost in 1999, Barchi -- who received his Ph.D. and M.D. from Penn -- served as vice dean for research in the School of Medicine, established and chaired the Department of Neuroscience and served as chairman of the Department of Neurology.
School of Medicine Dean Arthur Rubenstein credited Barchi with "bringing together a large number of faculty members ... to work on a variety of neurological problems," calling Barchi's work within the School of Medicine "crucially important."
Rubenstein added that Barchi's biggest contribution to the School of Medicine was his changes within the school to the field of neurological sciences.
"He really revitalized it and made it great again," Rubenstein said of the department. "We now have one of the greatest institutes for neurological science in this country."
Barchi received wide recognition for his work in the sciences throughout his career. His achievements include the Distinguished Graduate Award and the Lindback Award for Excellence in teaching from Penn, and an appointment as director of Mahoney Institute of Neurological Sciences.
In addition to his numerous successes in the sciences, Barchi has also garnered much praise for his work as provost.
Over the past two years, Barchi has worked to develop a new strategic plan for the University -- a process which involved hundreds of faculty members, students and staff, and resulted in the publication of a new document entitled 'Building on Excellence.'
"It's an immensely ambitious, very sophisticated document," University Deputy Provost Peter Conn said. "It's a very collegial document, but the leadership came from the provost."
Rodin also noted Barchi's financial and budgetary contributions to the University during his time as provost, pointing to his work in the financial planning that underpinned his academic and administrative planning.
"We were evaluated for our bond upgrade ... [and] one of the comments that they made was that they had never seen -- in any review of any higher education institution and indeed, they said, in any other kind of institution -- something that so strategically linked the financial decision-making to the academic and intellectual decision-making," Rodin said. "That was really Bob's leadership achievement, I think."
Another of Barchi's duties as provost has been to meet with the deans of Penn's 12 schools every two weeks.
"At the end of the day, he always invariably has the wisest thing to say ... and to be the wisest person in that room is awesome," School of Engineering Dean Eduardo Glandt said. "It's really very humbling to see the intellect of the guy."
Rubenstein agreed, adding that Barchi "creates a climate of collegiality and interchange and thoughtful debates," in his meetings with the 12 deans.
"Bob has been a remarkable provost," Conn added. "He has brought the highest standards and the most unyielding commitment to our academic mission.... It has been a privilege to work with him for five years."
Staff reporter Jon Passaro contributed to this report.
