The Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia (the Chamber) is pleased to announce that Dr. Amy Gutmann, President of the University of Pennsylvania, will receive the 2018 William Penn Award, the highest honor bestowed upon a business or civic leader in Greater Philadelphia.
The award, which has been given annually since 1949, recognizes an individual for their outstanding contributions toward the betterment of the region, professional accomplishments, and commitment to charity as well as to the community. Dr. Gutmann will be honored on Friday, April 26, 2019, from 6:30 – 11:00 pm during a gala hosted at The Bellevue Hotel.
The 8th President of the University of Pennsylvania, serving since 2004, Dr. Gutmann is an internationally renowned leader in higher education who has increased access to higher education, advanced interdisciplinary collaborations, and demonstrated the transformative impact of universities, locally, nationally and globally. Her most recent contract extension, which runs to 2022, will make Dr. Gutmann the longest-serving president in Penn’s history.
In her 2004 inaugural address, Dr. Gutmann outlined a bold and ambitious vision for the University, the Penn Compact: executing on its core values— Inclusion, Innovation, and Impact — has propelled Penn forward during an era of dramatic change.
Dr. Gutmann has led the University, the largest private employer in Philadelphia, to create an innovation ecosystem on Penn’s vibrantly expanded campus, which includes the 23-acre Pennovation Works, a former heavy industrial site that the University purchased and transformed into an innovation campus close to its academic core, bringing together researchers, innovators, and entrepreneurs to move research discoveries into the marketplace. Groundbreaking health care innovations and world class patient care—including what’s been widely recognized as the “world’s greatest cancer breakthrough”—is saving and improving countless lives of both humans and animals.
“Amy Gutmann’s outstanding leadership extends far beyond the Greater Philadelphia region to points throughout our nation and around the world”, said Rob Wonderling, President & CEO of the Chamber. “Her efforts to truly transform and innovate all aspects of higher education at the University of Pennsylvania serve as a model for all to emulate.”
Transformative initiatives also underscore Penn’s impact on its community, society and the world. These include the expansion of civic-minded partnerships with Philadelphia public schools such as the model, University-assisted Penn Alexander School, which won coveted National Blue Ribbon status in 2016, and strong programmatic support for hundreds of other local public schools. On the global front, the fall 2016 opening of the Perry World House on campus and the spring 2015 opening of the Penn Wharton China Center in Beijing mark the launching of major new sites for university-wide initiatives that promote global solutions to challenging problems, and bring the world to Penn and Penn to the world. Most recently, in 2017, Penn announced that Vice President Joseph R. Biden would lead the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in Washington.
To ensure the future of these and many other major initiatives, Dr. Gutmann has overseen more than $7 billion in philanthropic support for the University and led the largest, most successful fundraising effort in the University’s history, a $4.3 billion Making History campaign that concluded in 2012, exceeding its ambitious goal by almost a billion dollars. Over the course of Dr. Gutmann’s presidency, Penn’s endowment has more than tripled financial aid and the number of first-generation, low-income students have more than doubled, and the University has added more than 200 endowed faculty professorships while greatly increasing the diversity of the Penn faculty and student body.
“Dr. Gutmann is the embodiment of the William Penn Award,” said Daniel J. Hilferty, President and CEO of Independence Health Group and Chairman of the Board of the Chamber. “Her efforts to expand access to and be more inclusive in higher education, and her extraordinary commitment to Penn’s health care innovation work, are just some of the reasons that President Gutmann is a superb award recipient.”
“I am truly honored to be recognized by The Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia with the William Penn Award,” said Dr. Gutmann. “Penn values its many strong partnerships in Philadelphia. Our city’s history, its talent, its vibrant civic life, and the region’s innovation and growth are just part of what makes it the best place in the world to live, learn, and create.”
Dr. Gutmann has pushed Penn to the forefront in civic engagement by converting an abandoned parking lot into Penn Park, a 24-acre urban oasis opened in 2011 that connects Penn’s campus to the center of Philadelphia. Design Philadelphia called Penn Park an “urban sanctuary” in the city. Under her leadership, Penn produces $1 billion annually in sponsored research, and Penn Medicine, which has recently acquired Lancaster General Hospital, Chester County Hospital and Princeton Health System, continues to expand its regional impact.
While leading Penn, Dr. Gutmann has continued her impressive academic work. In 2019 she will publish her 17th book. Co-authored with Penn Professor Jonathan Moreno, Everyone Wants to Go To Heaven, But No One Wants to Die draws on lessons learned when she co-chaired President Obama’s Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues.
In addition to serving as Penn’s President, Dr. Gutmann is the Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Professor of Communication in the Annenberg School for Communication, with secondary faculty appointments in Philosophy in the School of Arts and Sciences and the Graduate School of Education.
Past William Penn Award recipients include Daniel J. Hilferty, President and CEO of Independence Health Group, parent of Independence Blue Cross, C.R. “Chuck” Pennoni, PE, Founder and Chairman of Pennoni Associates Inc., Diversified Search Founder and Chairman, Judith M. von Seldeneck, William P. Hankowsky, Chairman, President and CEO of Liberty Property Trust, Joseph Neubauer, former Chairman of the Board of ARAMARK, J. William Mills, III, former Regional President for Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey, PNC Bank, David L. Cohen, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer, Comcast Corporation, Joseph A. Frick, former Independence Blue Cross President and CEO, Charles Pizzi, former Tasty Baking Company President and CEO, the late H.F. “Gerry” Lenfest, cable TV pioneer and philanthropist, the late Constantine Papadakis, Ph.D., President, Drexel University, William R. Sasso, Esq., Chairman of Stradley Ronon LLP, Nick DeBenedictis, Chairman Emeritus of Aqua America Inc., the late Ed Snider, Chairman of Comcast-Spectacor, Judith Rodin, former President, University of Pennsylvania, the late Ralph J. Roberts, Founder and Chairman Emeritus, Comcast Corporation, the late G. Fred DiBona, Jr., President and CEO, Independence Blue Cross, and Ronald Rubin, President, Pennsylvania Realty Investment Trust.
