Penn has a new permanent provost

Vincent Price, interim provost at the University of Pennsylvania since March, received a permanent appointment to the school's top academic post yesterday, officials announced.

Price, 52, who arrived at Penn in 1998, has been a professor of communication and political science with expertise in public opinion, social influence, and political communication. He will replace Ronald J. Daniels, who left this year to become president of Johns Hopkins University.

Price's appointment will begin July 1, after the board of trustees votes on it in June, Penn said. His selection culminated a 51/2-month international search that included more than 180 prospects.

"Vince is an eminent scholar, a seasoned academic administrator, and an exceptionally judicious and effective academic leader," Penn president Amy Gutmann said in a statement. "He has a passion for academic excellence, access and diversity, interdisciplinary scholarship and teaching . . . and inclusive team building."

A former editor in chief of Public Opinion Quarterly, Price was a magna cum laude graduate in English from Santa Clara University in 1979. He earned a master's degree in 1985 and a doctorate in communication in 1987 from Stanford University.

He came to Penn from the University of Michigan, where he was chair and associate professor of communication studies.

At Penn, Price has served as associate provost for faculty affairs, chair of the faculty senate, and associate dean of the Annenberg School for Communication.

As interim provost, he oversaw faculty appointments, research, education, student life, athletics and other areas and worked closely with Gutmann on the budget and long-range financial plans.

"I look forward to collaborating very closely with President Gutmann to expand Penn's commitment to increasing access to higher education, integrating scholarship across disciplines, and reaching out to engage our surrounding community," he said.