Provost Ron Daniels, who came to the University just over three years ago, will leave Penn this March to become the president of Johns Hopkins University.
JHU's Board of Trustees voted on the appointment this morning. It is effective March 1, 2009. Daniels is in Baltimore today meeting with Hopkins faculty, staff and students.
"Johns Hopkins has made a wise choice. Ron is a gifted academic leader, a noted scholar, and an energetic collaborator with a passion for excellence," Penn President Amy Gutmann said in a statement.
Daniels came to Penn in 2005 from the University of Toronto, where he served as the dean of the law school. At Johns Hopkins, he will oversee nine academic and research divisions.
His legacy at Penn includes the creation of the Civic Scholars program and undergraduate research mentors. He is a noted fundraiser and has been an integral fundraiser in the University's $3.5- billion "Making History" capital campaign.
Daniels has also helped expand undergraduate financial aid and strengthen recruitment of minority and female faculty.
"Ron has been a wonderful partner to me, an exceptional colleague to our faculty and staff, and a cherished friend to the Penn community, and we will miss him," Gutmann said.
Gutmann has announced the creation of an ad hoc consultative committee, which will advise her throughout the search for a provost. Wharton Dean Tom Robertson will head the committee.
Vincent Price, the associate provost for faculty affairs, will be the interim provost throughout the search period. Price is a faculty member in the Annenberg School for Communication and has been at Penn for more than a decade.
