Penn’s Vice Provost for Faculty and Graduate School of Education professor Laura Perna was recently named a member of the first class of Association for the Study of Higher Education fellows.
Perna, who previously served as ASHE's president from 2014 to 2015, is one of 24 scholars to be honored, all of whom were celebrated at the ASHE Annual Conference in Denver, Colorado. With over 2,000 members, around half of whom are full-time graduate students and another half being university faculty, ASHE supports “researchers by dispersing research in publications and finding scholars opportunities for ongoing learning.”
The association selected scholars based on a variety of factors, including “consistent advancement of knowledge through research,” “meaningful service to ASHE in different roles,” and “professional integrity.”
Jeremy Wright-Kim, a professor at the Marsal School of Education at the University of Michigan and former student of Perna’s, was one of her nominators.
“Few people are as deserving as Laura to be an inaugural ASHE Fellow,” he said. “She has made demonstrable advancements in our thinking of higher education equity, access, and policy through decades of rigorous empirical work, while generously uplifting the burgeoning researchers around her to establish their own scholarly identities.”
Perna has earned degrees in psychology and economics from Penn as well as a master’s in public policy and Ph.D. in education from the University of Michigan. Her areas of expertise include college accessibility and affordability for students from various backgrounds, including those who are low-income or first-generation college students.
“This recognition is deeply meaningful to me, as ASHE has been my scholarly home since my time as a doctoral student,” Perna said. “ASHE has provided invaluable opportunities to advance my research through presentations and rich discussions, and to build a network of colleagues, collaborators, and friends.”
Perna is also the co-founder of Penn GSE's Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy, an organization that draws on the University's resources to help colleges and universities “advance their public purposes and strengthen civil societies.”
Perna was re-appointed to her position as the University’s vice provost for faculty in February.
“[Perna] has been an invaluable partner in furthering the work of all twelve schools and the Faculty Senate, steering faculty hiring, promotion, and retention with great judgment and skill, including collaborating with schools to improve our procedures for external consultants,” Jackson wrote in the announcement.
