The June 10 stated meeting of the Board of Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania was held at the Inn at Penn and was open to the public via BlueJeans. University Chaplain and Vice President for Social Equity and Community Charles Howard gave the invocation. Chair of the Board of Trustees Scott Bok remarked on two successful Commencement ceremonies last month. He added that the University looked forward to welcoming M. Elizabeth Magill as Penn’s Ninth President on July 1, 2022.

Vice Chair Ann Reese presented a resolution to re-elect Scott Bok chair of the Board of Trustees for the period July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023. The motion passed unanimously.

Interim President Wendell Pritchett presented a resolution of appreciation for John Zeller upon his impending retirement as Senior Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations. Mr. Zeller led the University’s record-breaking Making History and Power of Penn campaigns. Interim President Pritchett also presented a resolution to appoint Kathleen Shields Anderson Vice President for Public Safety, effective July 1, 2022. Both resolutions passed unanimously.

Interim Provost Beth Winkelstein presented the academic report. She presented a resolution on faculty appointments and promotions which included the appointment of M. Elizabeth Magill as the Trustees University Professor in the Carey Law School. The resolution passed.

Senior Executive Vice President Craig Carnaroli presented the finan- cial report. He reported that Penn’s total net assets were $28.3 billion, an increase of $6.7 billion, largely due to the favorable performance of the financial markets. A change in net assets from operations reflected an increase of $944 million ($557 million above the prior year). Total revenue of $7.1 billion was $1 billion above the prior year, largely driven by the success of the mRNA vaccine, and expenses of $6.2 billion were $474 million above the prior year.

J. Larry Jameson, Dean of the Perelman School of Medicine and Executive Vice President for the Health System, presented the Penn Medicine report. He cited mRNA technology as one example of the innovations in immune health made by the Penn Medicine team. A strong fundraising year propelled Penn Medicine’s efforts to enhance its facilities and strengthen initiatives.

 Dean of Admissions Whitney Soule gave the admissions report. The undergraduate Class of 2026 was selected from nearly 55,000 applicants, with a 6.5 percent admit rate. The team was inspired by the prospect of the contributions the class will make and she thanked the admissions staff for their support during her first year at Penn.

The Trustees heard reports from committees and approved a number of resolutions, including to: dissolve the departments of romance languages and Germanic languages and literatures in the School of Arts and Sciences and create two new departments of Spanish and Portuguese and French and Francophone, Italian and Germanic Studies; establish a master of nutrition science in the School of Nursing; authorize the spending rule for fiscal year 2022-2023; authorize the operating budget and capital plan for the academic component for fiscal year 2022-2023; authorize the operating and capital budgets for the University of Pennsylvania Health System; and declare the University’s intent to reimburse capital costs with proceeds of borrowing. All of the resolutions were approved. Among the capital projects approved  were the  Ott Center for Track and Field, the restoration of the west wing of College Hall, and phase one of infrastructure projects at Pennovation Works. Mr. Bok presented resolutions for appointments to the Penn Medicine and other Boards. Several resolutions from the Nominations Committee resulted in the re-election of Ann Reese as Vice Chair of the Board, members of the Executive Committee, and members of the Investment Board. A resolution of appreciation was also passed for James C. Johnson upon the completion of his term as a Trustee.

Finally, Mr. Bok presented a resolution of appreciation for Penn President-emerita Amy Gutmann, Penn’s longest serving president, having led Penn from 2004 to 2022. After the resolution was unanimously approved, Dr. Gutmann, now U.S. Ambassador to Germany, thanked the Trustees for their support.