On September 28, the University of Pennsylvania Board of Trustees held meetings at the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine. At the Executive Committee Meeting, seven Penn student protesters from Fossil Free Penn stood silently holding signs urging divestment.

Trustee Chair David L. Cohen noted that this is Penn’s 278th year and he welcomed Penn’s new Provost Wendell E. Pritchett to his first Trustees’ meetings. Mr. Cohen presented a resolution, which was passed, to amend the Bylaws of Penn Medicine to include Princeton HealthCare System and Princeton HealthCare System Holding, Inc. as clinical components in the Penn Medicine Governance.

President Amy Gutmann noted that the Abramson Cancer Center has a new director, Robert Vonderheide (Almanac July 11, 2017). President Gutmann also mentioned the latest PIK Professor, George Demiris (Almanac September 19, 2017). The president said that the revitalized Hill College House complements the New College House that opened last year.

Provost Pritchett announced that Mark Dingfield, the new associate provost for finance and planning (Almanac August 29, 2017) is in the position previously held by Trevor Lewis. Provost Pritchett also indicated how pleased he is that Vice Provost for Research Dawn Bonnell has agreed to be reappointed (Almanac September 12, 2017).

EVP Craig Carnaroli gave the financial report for the 12 months ending June 30, 2017. For the Consolidated University, the total net assets are $16.2 billion, an increase of $1.7 billion over the prior year and 6.9 percent above budget driven primarily by operating performance above budget and strong investment returns.

Dean Larry Jameson gave the Penn Medicine report noting the landmark approval of cell-based therapy by the FDA (Almanac September 12, 2017). He also mentioned that he is putting together a strategic plan, Shaping the Future of Medicine, 2.0. 

The Audit and Compliance Committee presented the annual resolution to approve the audited financial statements for FY17 from PricewaterhouseCoopers; the resolution was  approved.

The Budget and Finance Committee presented a resolution that was approved to authorize the acquisition of a controlling interest in the property at 3939 Chestnut Street, a mixed-use building with 65 residential units and 12,000 square feet of retail space, for a purchase price of $4.3 million.

Jonathan A. Brassington was appointed to the SEAS Board of Overseers; Eric G. Reiter was appointed to the Libraries’ Board and Margy Ellin Meyterson was appointed an emerita member of that board; Barry J. Gertz was appointed to the Penn Medicine Board as a Term Member and Philip R. Wenger was appointed an ex officio member of the Penn Medicine Executive Committee; C. Clair McCormick was appointed to the Penn Medicine Board as a Term Member.