Newest SRC member Wendell Pritchett vows to focus on finances, superintendent

When university chancellor Wendell E. Pritchett Jr. takes his seat on the Philadelphia School Reform Commission, his priorities will be two areas: The district's "fiduciary responsibilities" and the supervision of the superintendent.

"I really think that's what we should be focused on," said Pritchett, 47, a West Philadelphia resident, former aide to Mayor Nutter, and chancellor of Rutgers-Camden.

Nutter on Tuesday appointed Pritchett - a scholar in urban history and the son of two retired career Philadelphia School District educators - to the commission. The announcement came just one day after Commission Chairman Robert L. Archie Jr. and member Johnny Irizarry resigned.

There was no word Tuesday on whom Nutter would appoint to the other vacancy, but spokesman Mark McDonald said an announcement would come shortly.

The two remaining members of the five-seat SRC postponed a meeting scheduled for Wednesday. Three members must be present for the SRC to conduct business.

McDonald said the meeting was canceled without informing the mayor's office or Pritchett. McDonald said Pritchett was ready to serve and had planned to attend.

The mayor's office did not say when Pritchett would be sworn in, but McDonald said it was a formality that could be easily handled.

A gubernatorial seat vacated by David F. Girard-diCarlo in February remains unfilled. Gov. Corbett named lawyer and former School Board President Pedro A. Ramos to the seat in June, but his appointment requires confirmation by the state Senate.

Denise McGregor Armbrister's term expires in January, and she will be replaced at that time, said Tim Eller, a spokesman for state Education Secretary Ronald Tomalis. He declined to comment on who would replace Armbrister, senior vice president and executive director of Wells Fargo Regional Foundation, who was appointed by Gov. Ed Rendell.

Feather O. Houstoun, former president of the William Penn Foundation, who was state welfare secretary under Gov. Tom Ridge, has emerged as a candidate, sources said. Houstoun has not returned calls for comment.

It appears the only commissioner who will survive the changeover on the all-volunteer board is Joseph Dworetzky, a shareholder at the Hangley, Aronchick, Segal & Pudlin law firm. He plans to stay on the commission until his term expires in 2014, and there are no plans to ask him to leave, a source said. Dworetzky, who was appointed by Rendell in 2009, has been commuting from San Francisco at his own expense to attend twice-monthly meetings. His wife, an executive at Comcast Corp., was temporarily transferred to California.

Pritchett, a former University of Pennsylvania law professor, said that Nutter contacted him over the weekend about the commission seat and that he was "honored and humbled" by the offer.

"There's nothing more important to the city of Philadelphia than the success of its schools," he said in a telephone interview.

Nutter was attending the U.S. Conference of Mayors Leadership Meeting in Washington and was not available for comment. In a statement, he lauded Pritchett's "qualifications, the imagination, and the commitment to public education."

Nutter's education adviser, Lori Shorr, said she was pleased that Pritchett was willing to take on the work.

"He really understands the importance of education to the city," she said. "We've always thought highly of him, and he's great at his job."

Raised in Center City, Pritchett attended Friends Select School. He has credited the Quaker school and his family with instilling a desire to serve the public.

His mother, Carolyn, was a high school English teacher in the district, and his father, Wendell, a musician, was a teacher and then administrator overseeing music programs. Both retired in 1994 after long careers.

Pritchett graduated from Brown University, Yale Law School, and the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned a doctorate in history.

Pritchett sends his two children, a sixth grader and a ninth grader, to Masterman, a district magnet school.

He taught law at Penn from 2001 to 2009 and was the associate dean of the law school between 2006 and 2008.

In 2008, as the Nutter administration began, he was deputy chief of staff and director of policy.

Since June 2009, he has been the chief executive officer at Rutgers-Camden, where he has nurtured a working relationship with Camden public schools.

Pritchett, the first African American chancellor at Rutgers, said at the time he was appointed that he believed that race was relevant in Camden, a city where many people of color feel they have been discriminated against.

At Rutgers-Camden, Pritchett quickly made his mark. At the school's first Civic Engagement Symposium in January 2010, he promised to turn the school into a "national model for a civically engaged university."

He opened an office of civic engagement and created the Center for Urban Research.

Determined to increase the number of students who live on campus, Pritchett has championed the construction of two dormitories. Construction began in April for one, a 12-story building for graduate students - the first new student housing in Camden in more than two decades.

Pritchett also has opened a nursing school and expanded the number of doctoral programs.

He served as cochair of Camden Mayor Dana L. Redd's transition team and the two speak regularly.

"He has revitalized the Rutgers-Camden campus, and he's really raised [the school's] profile," Redd told The Inquirer in May 2010.

Pritchett's extensive resumé includes a stint directing the district offices of Thomas M. Foglietta when the late South Philadelphia Democrat was a member of the U.S. House. Pritchett also chaired President Obama's Urban Policy Task Force during the presidential campaign.

He has been chair of the Redevelopment Authority of Philadelphia board, but said he would step down.

Age: 47

Position: Chancellor, Rutgers-Camden

Education: B.A., Brown University; J.D., Yale University; Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania

Background: Philadelphia native; former professor and associate dean, Penn Law; former deputy chief of staff and director of policy for Mayor Nutter.

Residence: University City

Family: wife, Anne Kringel, senior lecturer and legal writing director at Penn Law; two children, sixth and ninth graders at Masterman School.EndText