UPenn Anoints Interim President After Liz Magill’s Ouster
The University of Pennsylvania named an interim president on Tuesday, filling the seat vacated by Liz Magill, who stepped down Saturday amid widespread outrage over her recent congressional testimony on campus antisemitism.
“I write to share that J. Larry Jameson, MD, PhD, has graciously agreed to serve as interim president of the University of Pennsylvania, effective immediately,” Julie Beren Platt, the interim chair of Penn’s board of trustees, wrote in a Dec. 12 letter addressed to “members of the Penn community.”
Jameson, 69, has been the dean of Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine since 2011, as well as executive vice president of the University of Pennsylvania Health System. He is not only the longest serving current dean at Penn, but also a “consummate University citizen,” according to the letter. Jonathan A. Epstein, MD, executive vice dean and chief scientific officer of the Perelman School and senior vice president and chief scientific officer of the Penn Health System, will step into both roles on an interim basis, the letter said.