Conn to shift focus to academics

After serving the University for years as an administrator, Interim Provost Peter Conn said that his focus will shift to scholarship when University of Toronto Law School Dean Ronald Daniels assumes the position of provost this summer.

President Amy Gutmann announced Daniels' appointment on Monday, ending a seven-month search to fill the position vacated by former Provost Robert Barchi in September. Conn was a candidate for the position.

In a written statement, Conn discussed his experience as interim provost.

"It has been a privilege to lead the provost's office for the past year," he said.

"I look forward to doing whatever I can to help [Daniels] make a successful transition to this truly remarkable institution. For my own part, I look forward to returning to the teaching and learning that lie at the heart of the University's mission," the statement said.

Conn declined to comment further on his future plans.

During the past year, Conn held the titles of both interim provost and deputy provost -- the latter since 1999.

As the chief academic officer of the University, the provost works closely with Penn's 12 deans. School of Social Work Dean Richard Gelles said that Conn is unlikely to remain in the position of deputy provost.

"I think that's too difficult for him and for the new provost. I just don't know anybody in higher education who could find that a comfortable spot," he said.

"I think that [not receiving the position of permanent provost is] an invitation at that stage in your life to go back to your scholarship and your teaching ... and that's not a bad thing. That's what we all got our Ph.D.s for," Gelles added, saying that he believes Conn will continue his career at Penn.

Gelles also commended Conn for his professionalism during the provost search. Being in an interim post while the University is looking for a permanent official, Gelles said, is a difficult position.

Yet Conn is not the only administrator to have been in that tough spot. Michael Wachter, a Law School professor and co-director of the Institute for Law & Economics, was interim provost in 1998 before Barchi's appointment and did decide to remain at the University.

According to several deans, in addition to Conn's intellectual acumen and leadership skills, his sense of humor made him an effective administrator.

"He just makes the job fun," Gelles said. "I've been a dean at other schools, and those meetings can just be brutal. They can be like having root-canal work without an anesthetic."

School of Design Dean Gary Hack noted Conn's emphasis during the the past year on integrating the arts into the Penn experience.

"We have a very different attitude about the relationship of the arts and the University, and I think that's one of Peter's lasting legacies," Hack said.

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