Penn Board of Trustees Chair Ramanan Raghavendran sent an email Monday afternoon requesting community feedback on the search for the University’s next president.
In the July 13 message, Raghavendran wrote that members of the Penn community will have the opportunity to “shape the search” for Penn President Larry Jameson’s successor by participating in a 10-15 minute survey. According to Raghavendran, the feedback will “inform the Consultative Committee convened by the Board of Trustees, whose work will help define the type of leader the University seeks.”
“This is a consequential time to lead Penn and recruiting the right leader for Penn’s next chapter is the Board’s most important task,” Raghavendran wrote. “We want a president who sees that potential as clearly as we do, and who has the skill and the will to pursue it alongside the Penn community.”
The survey responses will be compiled by executive search firm Spencer Stuart, a leadership consulting company based out of Chicago. The firm has previously supported searches at Princeton University, Duke University, and the University of Michigan.
Raghavendran highlighted that “the landscape is shifting” within higher education, including “the role of universities in public life, the economics of research, the arrival of AI, and the expectations placed on institutional leaders.”
In a statement to The Daily Pennsylvanian on behalf of the Faculty Senate tri-chairs, neurology professor and Faculty Senate Chair Roy Hamilton wrote that the body is “currently in the process of identifying” four faculty members who will serve on the Consultative Committee. The committee provides advice on “the qualities, challenges, and opportunities facing Penn and the presidency” but does not “identify or recruit candidates.”
“In selecting these individuals, our goal is to ensure broad representation across Penn’s schools and to select persons with a strong understanding of Penn’s complex, multifaceted environment,” Hamilton wrote.
Jameson announced that he would step down in June 2027 as planned in an email to the Penn community last month. During his term, the former executive vice president of the University of Pennsylvania Health System was seen as a stabilizing force by many in the campus community.
In a community message at the time, Raghavendran wrote that the Board “respects his decision” and will “begin the comprehensive process” to identify Penn’s next president, who will assume office on July 1, 2027.
He added that the Board would “share additional information about the search process in the months ahead.”
Jameson was named as Penn’s interim president in December 2023 following former Penn President Liz Magill’s resignation, which came amid national criticism of the University’s response to antisemitism on campus and her remarks at a congressional hearing. He assumed the role of permanent president in March 2025.
Staff reporter Lavanya Mani covers legal affairs and can be reached at mani@thedp.com. At Penn, she studies English. Follow her on X @lavanyamani_.
