Karen Detlefsen Named Vice Provost for Education

Karen Detlefsen has been named Vice Provost for Education at the University of Pennsylvania, effective July 1. The announcement was made by Provost Wendell Pritchett and Deputy Provost Beth Winkelstein.

Detlefsen is a professor of philosophy and education. She is Chair of the Committee on Undergraduate Education in the College of Arts & Sciences, founding director of Penn’s Project for Philosophy for the Young, and an affiliated faculty member of the Alice Paul Center for Research on Gender, Sexuality, and Women. She is a leading global scholar of early modern philosophy who has taught at Penn since 2001 and has particular interests in women in the history of philosophy, the history and philosophy of education, and the history and philosophy of science. Detlefsen has been awarded the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching, the highest University-wide teaching honor, and the Kahn Award for Distinguished Teaching by an Assistant Professor in Penn Arts & Sciences.

“Karen Detlefsen is renowned for her strong commitments to teaching and education,” Pritchett says, “not only on our campus but also in our Philadelphia community. She will be an ideal partner to help us chart the course for graduate and undergraduate education at Penn as we emerge from the pandemic in the years ahead.”

“I greatly look forward to working with Karen Detlefsen in this new role,” says Winkelstein. “She is a highly experienced teacher and scholar who is well-known across campus as one of our great mentors and collaborative leaders. She will work closely with me, Provost Pritchett, and our many faculty, staff, and student partners to help shape and implement our core educational initiatives going forward.”

The Vice Provost for Education, reporting to the deputy provost, oversees undergraduate and graduate education at Penn, developing and implementing policies that promote academic excellence, innovative teaching and learning and interdisciplinary knowledge across the University. The vice provost chairs the Council of Undergraduate Deans, Council of Graduate Deans, Council of Professional Master’s Degree Deans, Graduate Council of the Faculties, and Faculty Advisory Council for Access and Academic Support Initiatives.

Read the full announcement here.