Ronald Daniels -- named the new University provost on Monday -- comes to Penn armed with an impressive resume. He has taught at universities around the world, advised the Canadian government and started law classes at an inner-city Toronto high school. But everyone -- from University President Amy Gutmann to Daniels' wife, lawyer Joanne Rosen -- says his greatest strength is his enthusiasm.
"Above all, he is really enthusiastic about coming to Penn," said Penn Medical School Dean and Executive Vice President for the Health System Arthur Rubenstein, who chaired the provost search committee.
And Daniels himself, interviewed over the phone while in Toronto, seems just as passionate as his peers claim.
"When I was meeting with the search committee, there was a really poignant moment when one of the student members of the committee took me aside and said, 'You know how special this institution is,'" Daniels said. "It moved me very deeply and made me feel like this was an institution I really wanted to dedicate myself to."
Daniels, 45, will officially take over as provost -- the University's top academic administrator -- on July 1. He comes to Penn from the University of Toronto, where he has served as the dean of the law school since 1995.
Daniels is a Toronto native and attended the University of Toronto both as an undergraduate and for law school. He received his graduate degree in law from Yale University and has been on the University of Toronto Law School faculty since 1988. Though he eventually chose Penn, Daniels was entertaining offers from other institutions, though he would not specify which ones.
"I have just so enjoyed being within the academy and have felt very lucky to be able to be a professor at a research-intensive university," Daniels said. "I haven't looked back."
Daniels' interest in academia began early in life. He saw how important higher education was to his father -- who immigrated to Canada from Europe just before World War II broke out -- and decided to dedicate himself to what he calls "the world of ideas."
"I'm one generation removed from that experience of coming with nothing and being able to use the gift of higher learning to be able to catapult yourself into society," Daniels said. "I'm acutely aware of how fortunate I was to be able to grow up in a home where I had parents who were educated."
And Daniels has dedicated his career to making higher education more accessible. He has made improving financial aid a priority of his deanship and has also made sure that students themselves give back to their local communities. He was the architect of Pro Bono Students Canada, an organization that matches thousands of law students with volunteer legal work.
Daniels plans to move to Philadelphia this summer with his four children -- a 13-year-old girl, 12-year-old twin boys and another daughter, 10 -- and his wife, Rosen, who works with the Ontario Human Rights Commission.
Their family loves to travel and hopes to fit in a trip to the Italian countryside this summer.
"He loves to throw his heart and soul into something," Rosen said. "He loves new challenges and new things. That's why I think that is the right move for him and for us."
