J. Larry Jameson to remain interim Penn president through 2026 academic year

It looks like J. Larry Jameson, who stepped in as interim president of the University of Pennsylvania in December, could be around for quite a while.

He will remain in the role through the 2025-26 academic year or until the school has found a new president, the university announced Monday. That would mean he would serve as the school’s president for two more years.

Board chair Ramanan Raghavendran, who made the announcement, did not say when Penn would launch a search for a new president, but that “more information will be forthcoming as we get closer.” No timeline on a search was provided.

The announcement comes as the board of trustees prepares to hold its regular meetings on campus this week.

Raghavendran cited Jameson’s “steady, thoughtful leadership” during a challenging year that included the university’s decision to use police to disband a pro-Palestinian encampment on the College Green that had been up for more than two weeks.

» READ MORE: J. Larry Jameson is named Penn’s interim president

“We are extremely fortunate to have the benefit of his vast experience and talents as we sustain Penn’s important missions and focus on the future,” Raghavendran said in the announcement.

Jameson, 69, previously had served as executive vice president of Penn’s health system and its medical school dean for more than 12 years. He stepped into the interim role after Liz Magill resigned as president following a backlash to her congressional testimony on the university’s handling of antisemitism complaints on campus. Magill’s less-than-18-month tenure was the shortest of any Penn president and followed two presidents who served for 10 years and 18 years.

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Penn turned to Jameson, who earned a base salary of nearly $4.5 million in 2021 and additional compensation of $1.1 million, according to tax filings, to help the university through a tumultuous time.

Jameson, a molecular endocrinologist and native of Georgia, came to Penn from Northwestern University, where he had most recently served as dean of the medical school and vice president of medical affairs. He received his medical school degree at the University of North Carolina in 1981 and worked at Harvard Medical School earlier in his career.

The tri-chairs of Penn’s faculty senate said in a statement that they are grateful that Jameson has “taken on this crucial leadership role at an extraordinarily challenging and contentious time for the university.”

“In the spirit of Penn’s long history of shared governance, we look forward to working with him on a wide range of issues that will define the future” of Penn, wrote tri-chairs Eric A. Feldman, Vivian L. Gadsden and Kathleen M. Brown.