PHILADELPHIA University names provost as president

The current president is stepping down in June.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- The University of Pennsylvania has named Princeton University's provost as its new president, the first time an Ivy league school will have two consecutive female presidents, school officials announced Wednesday.
Amy Gutmann, 54, who joined Princeton's faculty in 1976 and has been provost there since September 2001, will replace Judith Rodin on July 1.
"Amy is a brilliant scholar with a demonstrated commitment to undergraduate and graduate education, a proven and skilled administrator who understands the challenges of running a major research university and an articulate spokesperson about the essential role of higher education in our lives and in the future of our society," said James S. Riepe, the chair of Penn's board of trustees.
Her background
Gutmann has taught political philosophy, democratic theory, the history of political thought and practical ethics at Princeton. She received a B.A. from Radcliffe College, an M.Sc. from the London School of Economics and a Ph.D. from Harvard University.
Rodin announced her plans to step down in June. She has served as Penn's president since 1994.
Gutmann said she was "tremendously excited" to lead one of the nation's oldest research universities.
"Penn has enormous energy and a dynamic spirit," she said. "I look forward with great enthusiasm to working with faculty, students, staff, alumni and other members of the Penn family to help the University build upon its tradition of excellence in teaching, research and public service."
Gutmann's appointment makes it the first time an Ivy league school has had two consecutive female presidents, said Ron Ozio, a Penn spokesman.
Brown and Princeton are the only other two Ivy schools that have had female presidents, he said.
Gutmann served as Princeton's dean of the faculty from 1995-97 and as academic adviser to the president from 1997-98. She was the founding director of the University Center for Human Values, a multi-disciplinary center that supports undergraduate and graduate teaching, a visiting fellows program and other programs related to the issues of ethics and human values.