DeTurck Named Stephen A. Levin Dean of the College

Dennis DeTurck has been named the first Stephen A. Levin Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. A $5 million gift from Stephen, C’67, and Petra Levin will support the work of the College dean, and may be used to support programs, departments, and new initiatives in the College.

“I am delighted to honor my family’s history with Penn and our support for the liberal arts with this gift,” said Stephen Levin. “It’s exciting to support the great work of Dennis DeTurck and the experience of all future College students.” Three generations of the Levin family have attended Penn: Stephen, his late father Leonard C. Levin, W’41; and his sons Eric, C’92, and Andrew, C’14.

DeTurck, who is also Robert A. Fox Leadership Professor and a professor of mathematics, has been dean of the College since 2005, with responsibility for all undergraduate curricula, programs, and students in the arts and sciences. He is a noted mathematician specializing in partial differential equations and differential geometry, as well as an award-winning teacher. He is also the Faculty Master of Riepe College House.

“With his extraordinary commitment to excellence in the student academic experience, Dennis has set a high bar in his leadership of our undergraduate programs to date,” said Steven Fluharty, Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences. “It is therefore especially fitting that he be the first College dean to hold this special designation.” 

DeTurck has been an advocate for curricular innovation and the use of technology to enhance instruction. He also established the NSF-funded Access Science program, now the Moelis Access Science Program, in which faculty, graduate students and undergraduates work with teachers and students to improve mathematics and science teaching in West Philadelphia schools. 

Stephen A. Levin is Chairman of Gold Coast Beverage Distributors in Doral, Florida, and he and Petra serve on the boards of numerous charities. A previous gift, in honor of his sons Eric and Andrew, endowed the Levin Family Dean’s Forum, an annual celebration of the liberal arts that brings leading intellectual figures to campus to speak to students and the community, and recognizes outstanding students as Dean’s Scholars. In addition, Levin has named the Leonard Levin Library in the Lauder Career Center in honor of his father, and a classroom in Fisher-Bennett Hall.