While many Penn students spent their summer days enjoying a respite from the stresses of school, University officials were hard at work appointing several new faces to Penn's administrative line-up.
Late June brought the selection of Kristin Gilbertson as chief investment officer for the University, and, in mid-July, Penn secured Carton Rogers as vice provost and director of libraries.
Peter Conn was also installed as interim provost in July, filling a vacancy created by former Provost Robert Barchi's departure to lead Thomas Jefferson University.
Though their responsibilities are scattered across various fields, all three of the newcomers shared a sense of calm about the transition.
"I participated extensively enough in the [former University President Judith] Rodin/Barchi administration ... that it's not abrupt for me to be here," Conn said.
As a five-year veteran of the deputy provost post, Conn said he could detect "no particular difference ... between this July and August and any other July and August."
Although Conn will be dealing with issues similar to the ones that Barchi tackled, he said that his personality will probably affect his work in the Provost's Office.
"Maybe my emphasis on some of these [projects] will be different, because I bring some different background and different experience" to the position, he said.
Rogers seemed to share Conn's sense of preparedness regarding his new title.
"It really hasn't been a huge adjustment," Rogers said, noting that he had "been doing the job for 15 months prior to being named." Rogers had been serving as interim director since Paul Mosher vacated the position in 2003.
One of Rogers' first initiatives as director has been to improve the library's online resources.
"We've changed the look and feel of Franklin, the library catalogue," he said.
Rogers has also revamped the borrowing section of the Web site, and created a separate, clearer database for videos.
"We've had a really productive summer," he said, adding that one of the big challenges remaining is to "fill the vacancies caused by" his promotion.
Fresh from a managing director job at Stanford Management Company, Gilbertson described the transition to her new job as "smooth sailing."
"The investment side is not difficult at all, this time of year," she said, observing that the markets are generally slow in late summer. I'm working on "getting familiar with the staff and the different investments that are on the front burner."
Though Penn's $3.9 billion endowment pales in comparison to Stanford's $9.8 billion, Gilbertson said that her responsibilities have not changed significantly.
"It's an extension of many of the same external relationships," she said.
Though Gilbertson, Conn and Rogers were all appointed by University President Amy Gutmann at the beginning of her tenure, holes still remain in her administrative team.
"All of the searches for open positions are underway," she said, referring to the currently unoccupied roles of vice president for development and alumni relations, School of Arts and Sciences dean, executive vice president and provost.
