A Message from the President

Penn’s future has never been brighter thanks to every member of our University community. We now have an historic opportunity to envision where Penn goes from here. I am writing to invite you to join as Penn plans for tomorrow, together. Led by a Red and Blue Advisory Committee, we are embarking on a University-wide effort to inform strategic next steps for Penn.

We undertake this work by building on centuries of Penn success, reaching back to our founding when Benjamin Franklin proposed a revolutionary institution of higher learning. Yet, one of our University’s hallmarks is that success has never slowed our pace. Among Penn’s defining traits is our forward-looking and inventive spirit—I have called it Penn’s virtuous impatience. We are impatient to create and convey knowledge and to share our ingenuity to help make life better.

Penn’s future is very bright. At the same time, our local community, nation, and world face many challenges. To help ensure a brighter future for all, we ask: What does the world need from Penn? How do we cultivate a community that will rise to that challenge?

The Red and Blue Advisory Committee, in close collaboration with the entire University community, will guide our efforts to answer these questions. The Committee comprises Penn faculty, students, and staff whose membership can be found here. They will engage broadly and make recommendations for potential areas of strategic priority for Penn. These recommendations will underpin the strategic framework for Penn’s future direction, which will be shared with the Penn community in Summer 2023.

I am deeply grateful to the Committee members. Special thanks to John L. Jackson, Jr., Walter H. Annenberg Dean of the Annenberg School of Communication and Richard Perry University Professor, for agreeing to chair the Red and Blue Committee. My thanks as well to the Vice Chairs: School of Arts & Sciences Dean Steven J. Fluharty, Senior Vice Provost for Research Dawn Bonnell, and Emilie R. Feldman, the Michael L. Tarnopol Professor and Professor of Management at the Wharton School.

Your participation in this effort will make an enormous difference. I encourage you to offer your ideas here. There will also be opportunities to engage directly with the Red and Blue Advisory Committee throughout this process, with further details about how you can participate shared on the Tomorrow, Together website.

In the months to come, I look forward to working with you as Penn plans for tomorrow, together.