Dean of the Annenberg School for Communication Michael Delli Carpini will remain as dean for four more years, the University announced on Wednesday.
Delli Carpini, who was appointed dean of Annenberg in 2003, has agreed to extending his deanship until June 30, 2018, Penn President Amy Gutmann and Provost Vincent Price announced in a press release. His term was originally set to end on June 30, 2015.
“Our recent consultations across the Annenberg School and the University have reaffirmed for us the high esteem in which [Delli Carpini] is universally held," Gutmann said. "We are confident that he will continue to strengthen Annenberg’s reputation as the nation’s preeminent school for the study of communication.”
In his time as dean, Delli Carpini has overseen Annenberg's partnership with the College of Arts and Sciences to create a new undergraduate communications curriculum that "revolutionized course offerings" and increased involvement of senior Annenberg faculty in undergraduate education, according to the press release.
“I am honored by the confidence in my leadership expressed by this extension of my term as dean,” Delli Carpini said. “Serving in this role has been one of the highlights of my academic career.”
The University's announcement that Delli Carpini will remain as Annenberg's dean for the next four years follows a historic turnover in deans this year, with five current deans not returning in their roles as administrators next semester.
Penn has selected successors for the outgoing deans in four of Penn's schools: the Nursing School, the Wharton School, the School of Social Policy & Practice and the Graduate School of Education.
Penn Law School, which was led by Dean Michael Fitts for the past 14 years, will be led by interim dean Wendell Pritchett while the University administration searches for Fitts' successor. Fitts will officially become president of Tulane University this summer.
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