Mark Trodden Named Next Associate Dean for Natural Sciences

Mark Trodden

Steven J. Fluharty, Dean of the School of Arts & Sciences and Thomas S. Gates, Jr. Professor of Psychology, Pharmacology, and Neuroscience, has announced the appointment of Mark Trodden as Associate Dean for the Natural Sciences, effective July 1, 2023. Trodden, Fay R. and Eugene L. Langberg Professor of Physics, has been a member of the Penn faculty since 2009. In this role he will oversee the School’s natural sciences departments (Biology, Chemistry, Earth and Environmental Science, Linguistics, Mathematics, Physics and Astronomy, and Psychology) and research centers.

“Mark’s outstanding record as a scholar and an academic leader make him well-suited to this important role,” says Fluharty. “He is a distinguished theoretical cosmologist and particle physicist whose work explores the border between those subfields, focusing particularly on the early universe, dark energy, and tests of gravity. He is an Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Physical Society, and the U.K.’s Institute of Physics.”

Trodden served as Chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy from 2014 to 2022 and has served as Co-Director of the Center for Particle Cosmology since 2009. He is a former Chair of the School of Arts & Sciences’ Personnel Committee, has been a member of the School’s Planning and Priorities Committee, and in 2016 chaired a school-wide Task Force on Standing Faculty Assessment. He has also served as a member of the U.S. High Energy Physics Advisory Panel and is currently a member of the Committee on Science and the Arts of the Franklin Institute.

Trodden will succeed David Brainard, RRL Professor of Psychology, who will be completing four and one-half years as Associate Dean and will return to full-time research and teaching. “David has been a superb advocate for the School’s science programs, not simply within the School but across the University,” says Fluharty.

 

Arts & Sciences News

Julie Nelson Davis Named Paul F. Miller, Jr. and E. Warren Shafer Miller Professor of History of Art

Davis specializes in the arts and material cultures of 18th- and 19th-century Japan, with a focus on prints, paintings, and illustrated books.

View Article >
Justin Khoury Named Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Term Professor of Physics and Astronomy

Khoury’s research interests lie at the intersection of particle physics and cosmology.

View Article >
University of Pennsylvania, Neubauer Family Foundation, and Philadelphia Police Department Partner to Support Police Leadership Education

The first-of-its-kind graduate degree in the U.S. for police leaders launches this fall at the School of Arts & Sciences.

View Article >
Professor of Biology Philip Rea Wins Neal Award for Scientific Journalism

Rea won for the award for Best Technical/Scientific Content for his article “Gliflozins for Diabetes: From Bark to Bench to Bedside,” published in American Scientist.

View Article >
Marisa C. Kozlowski Named Next Associate Dean for the Natural Sciences

Kozlowski, who joined the Penn faculty in 1997, succeeds Mark Trodden, who transitions to the Dean of Penn Arts & Sciences on June 1.

View Article >
One Fourth Year, One Alum Receive 2025 Hertz Fellowship

Eric Tao, C’25, Gr’25 (left), and Suraj Chandran, C’23, were awarded the honor, part of a group of 19 fellows selected this year. Each one receives five years of funding toward a doctoral program.

View Article >