U. of Penn makes provost position permanent

Vincent Price, who has been serving as interim provost at the University of Pennsylvania since March, received a permanent appointment to the school's top academic post today, officials announced.

Price, who has been at Penn since 1998, has been a professor of communication and political science with expertise in public opinion, social influence and political communication. He replaces Ronald J. Daniels, who left earlier in the year to become president of Johns Hopkins University.

Price's new appointment becomes effective July 1, after the Board of Trustees votes on it in June, Penn officials said. His selection culminates a five and a half month international search, yielding more than 180 prospects for the position.

"Vince is an eminent scholar, a seasoned academic administrator and an exceptionally judicious and effective academic leader," Penn President Amy Gutmann said in a prepared statement. "He has a passion for academic excellence, access and diversity, interdisciplinary scholarship and teaching...and inclusive team building."

A former editor in chief of Public Opinion Quarterly, Price was a magna cum laude graduate in English from Santa Clara University in 1979. He earned his master's in 1985 and doctorate in 1987 in communication from Stanford University.

He came to Penn from the University of Michigan, where he was chair and associate professor of communication studies.

In 11 years at Penn, Price has served as associate provost for faculty affairs, chair of the faculty senate and associate dean of the Annenberg School for Communication.

As interim provost, he has overseen faculty appointments, research, education, student life, athletics and other areas and collaborated closely with Gutmann and others on the budget and long-range financial plans.

Contact staff writer Susan Snyder at 215-854-4693 or ssnyder@phillynews.com