Provost Ron Daniels will leave Penn to become the next president of Johns Hopkins University, officials announced yesterday.
Daniels, who came to Penn just three and a half years ago after serving as the dean of the University of Toronto Law School, will assume his new post in early March. He will stay in his current position until then.
He is replacing Bill Brody, who has been the president at Hopkins for the past 12 years. After announcing that he would step down at the end of 2008, the school formed a search committee that eventually approached Daniels.
Daniels learned on Halloween that the Trustees would vote on his appointment, he said.
"It's very exciting to have our provost elevated to the presidency of Johns Hopkins. I give my kudos to Hopkins for an inspired choice," said Penn President Amy Gutmann.
Daniels' reputation of "coalescing people around a pursuit of excellence and encouraging collaboration" within an institution was one of many characteristics that made him an appealing choice, said Johns Hopkins Board of Trustees chairwoman Pamela Flaherty.
She added that his time at Penn - which, like Hopkins, has a major medical center and a focus on research and health sciences - was also an important consideration.
Daniels cited the values the two universities share as factors in his decision.
"It's just an institution that's so committed to the ideal of excellence that it permeates so many parts of the university's activities, and I found that very intoxicating and inspiring," he said.
While at Penn, Daniels has been an integral part of developing Gutmann's Penn Compact, which she laid out in her inauguration, just a few months before Daniels arrived at Penn.
The Compact's core components consist of engaging locally and globally, increasing access and integrating knowledge.
Daniels has helped create the Civic Scholars Program, which guides civic-minded students through a four-year program of mentorships and internships and the Distinguished International Scholars Program, which brings world-famous researchers and professors to Penn for a few weeks at a time.
He has also worked extensively with Penn's efforts to expand undergraduate financial aid, and is noted for exceptional fundraising abilities during Penn's capital campaign.
Daniels "has been a superb partner to me in advancing all of Penn's highest priorities," Gutmann said.
He will be replaced in the interim by Communications professor Vincent Price, who currently serves as the associate provost for faculty affairs.
Gutmann has begun the process of forming a consultative committee, chaired by Wharton Dean Tom Robertson, which will lead the search for a new provost.
Daniels is the second Penn administrator to ascend to a presidency in the last three years. Former Wharton Dean Patrick Harker is currently the president of the University of Delaware.
For Daniels, the appointment, while an exciting opportunity, is also a "bittersweet" occasion.
"It's just so hard for me on this day to think that saying hello to Hopkins means that I have to say goodbye to dear old Penn," he said.
