Bioengineering professor Daniel Bogen will soon replace David Brownlee as the Harnwell College House faculty master.
Appointed by Interim Provost Peter Conn, Bogen will take his position on July 1 and move in following the completion of Harnwell's summer renovations.
"I'm very excited about becoming faculty master," Bogen said, noting that he was especially delighted that the open position was at Harnwell.
"I've been looking forward to the opportunity for about 10 years," he added, noting that he could not take it earlier due to his children's age.
Bogen served with Brownlee on the committee that recommended the creation of the College House system and has taught at Penn since 1982.
He noted his enthusiasm for the system, citing "the added dimensions of living with a group of people and really talking with them and getting to know them outside of the classroom."
Saying that his personality and interests differ from Brownlee's -- whom he described as "unmatchable" -- Bogen said that his "support for the residential program and arts and music" would continue "the overall flavor of Harnwell."
Brownlee -- who got to know Bogen as a neighbor "across the back fence" when the two lived in West Philadelphia -- called his successor a "charming and wonderful man."
This year's recipient of the Lindback Award -- Penn's highest recognition of great teaching -- Bogen has been a Harnwell faculty associate for seven years and has often attended the house's Thursday dinners.
His lab houses the PennToys project, which creates sophisticated electronic toys that diagnose and treat disabled children.
"There's a kind of creativity about him that is quite magical," Brownlee added, underlining Bogen's "powerful social conscience."
Brownlee cited Bogen's undergraduate education at Harvard -- which has a "strongly developed house system" -- as an added advantage.
Brownlee and his wife Ann will be moving to an apartment downtown, having decided that they like "living up high."
-- Cynthia Yeung
