Ira Harkavy, Associate Vice President and founding director of the Barbara and Edward Netter Center for Community Partnerships, will receive an honorary degree from Augsburg University in Minneapolis, MN. He will receive the degree at a virtual commencement ceremony on May 3, 2021.

As director of the Netter Center since 1992, Dr. Harkavy has helped to develop academically based community service courses and participatory action research projects that involve creating University-community partnerships and University-assisted community schools with Penn’s local community of West Philadelphia. Dr. Harkavy teaches in history, urban studies, and Africana studies, as well as in the Graduate School of Education. Dr. Harkavy has written and lectured widely on the history and current practice of urban university-community-school partnerships and the democratic and civic missions of higher education. He is co-author or co-editor of eleven books.