The University of Pennsylvania has named Joann Mitchell, vice provost for administration at Princeton, as its next vice president and chief of staff, Penn announced Thursday, March 25. Mitchell's appointment will begin July 1, and she will report to Amy Gutmann, Penn's president-elect, according to Penn officials. Gutmann, Princeton provost and the Laurance S. Rockefeller University Professor of Politics and the University Center for Human Values, was elected Penn's president on Feb. 20.
"Joann Mitchell has contributed to Princeton in countless ways during her 10 years as a senior member of our administration," said Princeton President Shirley M. Tilghman. "She has served very ably as the executive secretary of the Priorities Committee, as a leader of many of our efforts to increase the diversity of our community and the quality of life for all who live and work here, and in a broad range of other responsibilities. We are, of course, very sorry to see her leave, but we wish her both success and satisfaction in the key role she will now play in Amy Gutmann's new administration at the University of Pennsylvania."
Mitchell came to Princeton in 1993 from Penn, where she served as director of affirmative action for seven years. At Princeton, she was associate provost and affirmative action officer from 1993 until 2001, when she was named vice provost for administration. She serves as president of the board for McCarter Theatre Center and on the boards of International Schools Services Inc., the Women's Law Project, New Jersey Supreme Court's Committee on Minority Concerns and the Association of Black Women in Higher Education, where she served one term as president. Mitchell earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Davidson College and law degree from Vanderbilt University.
For more information about Mitchell's appointment, please contact Lori Doyle , vice president, University Communications, University of Pennsylvania, (215) 898-8722.
Contact: Lauren Robinson-Brown (609) 258-3601
