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marissa-king-courtesy-of-the-wharton-school-of-business
Alice Yin Hung, C’90, W’90 (left) and Marissa King (right), the newly inaugurated Alice Y. Hung President’s Distinguished Professor (Photo courtesy of The Wharton School of Business).

The Wharton School announced the appointment of Marissa King as the inaugural Alice Y. Hung President’s Distinguished Professor on Tuesday. 

King will join Wharton as a professor in health care management from the Yale School of Management, where she was a professor of organizational behavior. Her research focuses on social networks, social influence, and team dynamics. She has also examined the role social networks play in treating opioid use disorders. 

“Marissa King is a nationally recognized leader who studies the influence of social networks on human behavior. Her work has implications for understanding individual and group behavior in many contexts,” Penn President Liz Magill said in Tuesday’s press release. 

King’s book, “Social Chemistry,” was included in Adam Grant’s 20 Leadership Books to Read in 2020 and Behavioral Scientist’s Notable Books of 2021. 

“Professor King’s research touches on some of the most pressing and salient issues facing not only the profession of healthcare, but of society at large,” Wharton Dean Erika James said.

The Alice Y. Hung President’s Distinguished Professorship was endowed by 1990 College and Wharton graduate Alice Hung in 2015 and is intended to help Penn recruit and retain faculty at Wharton.

James and Magill also expressed gratitude for Hung’s philanthropy in creating the endowed professorship. 

“I am filled with gratitude for Alice Hung’s longstanding dedication to Wharton, including her generosity in creating this faculty chair, which has allowed Penn to offer Professor King a place amongst the University’s exceptional faculty,” James said

Founder and CEO of Universal (Hong Kong) Technology Co. Ltd, Hung currently serves as Chair of Wharton’s Executive Board for Asia and has recently created a scholarship to support international undergraduate student financial aid at Penn.

“I believe that the path to success is through investing in people and I am honored to be able to support the research and career of Professor King,” Hung said.