Interim Provost Beth A. Winkelstein and Vice Provost for Faculty Laura Perna have announced the appointment of Jamila Michener as the Provost’s Distinguished Visiting Faculty Fellow for the 2023-2024 academic year.

Dr. Michener is an associate professor of government at Cornell University, where is also the senior associate dean of public engagement of the Brooks School of Public Policy and co-director of the Cornell Center for Health Equity. Her research investigates the ways in which public policy and political institutions shape the material and political lives of people who are economically and racially marginalized—and the ways in which members of such groups gain power to affect policy. Her recent book Fragmented Democracy: Medicaid, Federalism, and Unequal Politics (Cambridge University Press, 2018) examines how Medicaid affects democratic citizenship. Unpacking how federalism transforms Medicaid beneficiaries’ interpretations of government and structures their participation in politics, the book—which received the 2019 Virginia Gray Book Award from the American Political Science Association—assesses American political life from the vantage points of populations that are living in or near poverty, disproportionately Black or Latino, and/or reliant on a federated government for vital resources.  

The Provost’s Distinguished Visiting Faculty Fellowship is awarded annually to a senior scholar of national or international prominence whose work promotes civic engagement, scholarly innovation, and inclusive communities, with the aim of enriching the intellectual and cultural life of the Penn community. Fellows can be from any academic discipline, with preference for those whose work is interdisciplinary in nature, promotes the growth of academic fields, and involves innovative research, methods, or scholarly themes. Fellows mentor Penn students, participate in panels and public discussions, collaborate on research projects, and provide at least one public presentation to the Penn community.