At the close of another busy summer of campus construction and beautification, I want to offer a special call out and big thank you to everyone who works to keep our Penn projects on time, on track and on budget. Guided by Penn Connects and Penn Connects 2.0, they have helped Penn add a total of five million square feet of new and renovated space to our University campus. That’s just under two Empire State Buildings’ worth in only a decade!

I especially want to thank Penn’s dream team of distinguished faculty and clinicians and our dedicated staff. Your teaching, research, clinical care, and institutional support and leadership are what bring our campus to life and bring purpose to all these new and improved spaces—a number of which we’ve completed just in time for the start of the fall semester. 

To celebrate, I encourage you to save the date for two important campus-wide events this fall. On September 19th and 20th, we officially celebrate the opening of Penn’s new Perry World House, opposite 1920 Commons on Locust Walk. Featuring panel discussions with renowned experts and keynote lectures by distinguished global leaders, the festivities will also include tours of the new building and a grand ribbon-cutting ceremony on Locust Walk. You can learn more by visiting the Perry World House grand opening webpage, https://global.upenn.edu/pwh/opening

Among the exciting programs at Perry World House is the Global Innovation Institute, which recently welcomed its inaugural postdoctoral fellows and first visiting scholars. The Global Innovation Institute forms the research core at Perry World House, and the inaugural postdocs and visiting scholars will contribute to the intellectual life of the University through their own research as well as by maintaining an active presence at the House. The Global Innovation Institute is one of several new initiatives that are key to Perry World House’s mission of convening, connecting and catalyzing global engagement and interdisciplinary international policy research at Penn and beyond.

We celebrate another exciting Penn beginning with the dedication of the Pennovation Center on October 28th. The new home of Penn-fostered entrepreneurial ingenuity, the Center will showcase resident innovators, free food and entertainment, robotics demonstrations, tours and much more. Our festivities culminate in an insightful discussion with Wharton alums Neil Blumenthal and David Gilboa, co-founders of the smash business success, Warby Parker. You can learn more and watch a sneak peek video at the Pennovation Center dedication webpage, https://www.pennovation.upenn.edu/calendar/pennovation-center-dedication

Innovative thinking abounds west of the Schuylkill as well with the recent launch of the new Vagelos Institute for Energy Science and Technology in the School of Arts & Sciences. Thanks to the vision and wonderful generosity of Roy and Diana Vagelos, this new Institute will galvanize the research efforts of our stellar faculty in SAS, the School of Engineering & Applied Science and across the University to explore alternative energy sources, new technologies for energy use and storage and sustainability. In close proximity to other important centers working on energy, including Penn’s Kleinman Center for Energy Policy, the Vagelos Institute for Energy Science & Technology is a perfect complement to the important work Penn undertakes to address one of the world’s great challenges—that of alternative energy sources.

In addition to new global and innovation hubs, Penn this summer has completed the next great chapter in the college house experience. As students return to campus for the fall semester, some will be the very first to live in the stunning New College House at 34th and Chestnut Streets. The very first new Penn construction that’s designed from stem to stern to augment our transformative college house experience, I encourage everyone to stroll by this freshly completed and fabulous center for living and learning and see it in person. You will also see that a complete renovation of historic Hill House is well underway, updating and beautifying this iconic fixture of Penn student life.

Penn is home to the finest team working anywhere in higher education today. I am proud and grateful to have such extraordinary colleagues and friends. Together, through path-breaking academic initiatives, dynamic campus facilities and stunning new spaces for living and learning, we will continue to advance and beautify this wonderful university we love. Welcome to another year of high-flying academic pursuits and world-class achievement at Penn.