Steven J. Fluharty, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences and the Thomas S. Gates, Jr. Professor of Psychology, Pharmacology, and Neuroscience, has announced the appointment of Mark Trodden as associate dean for the natural sciences, effective July 1, 2023. Dr. Trodden, the Fay R. and Eugene L. Langberg Professor of Physics, has been a member of the Penn faculty since 2009. In his new role, he will oversee the school’s natural sciences departments (biology, chemistry, Earth and environmental science, linguistics, mathematics, physics and astronomy, and psychology) and research centers.

“Mark’s outstanding record as a scholar and an academic leader make him well-suited to this important role,” said Dean Fluharty. “He is a distinguished theoretical cosmologist and particle physicist whose work explores the border between those subfields, focusing particularly on the early universe, dark energy, and tests of gravity. He is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Physical Society, and the U.K.’s Institute of Physics.”

Dr. Trodden served as chair of the department of physics and astronomy from 2014 to 2022 and has served as co-director of the Center for Particle Cosmology since 2009. He is a former chair of the School of Arts and Sciences’ Personnel Committee, has been a member of the school’s Planning and Priorities Committee, and in 2016 chaired the school-wide Task Force on Standing Faculty Assessment. He has also served as a member of the U.S. High Energy Physics Advisory Panel and as a member of the Committee on Science and the Arts of the Franklin Institute.

Dr. Trodden will succeed David Brainard, the RRL Professor of Psychology, who will complete his four and a half years as associate dean and return to full-time research and teaching. “David has been a superb advocate for the school’s science programs, not simply within the school but across the University,” said Dean Fluharty.