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Dr. Amy Gutmann became the eighth president of the University of Pennsylvania on July 1, 2004. In her inaugural address, Gutmann launched the Penn Compact, her vision for making Penn[…]

Applying the precepts of good governance to running a university.

Amy Gutmann: So I’m President of the University of Pennsylvania. And I run a university that I’m very proud of that is not only on the forefront of research and teaching, and has 12 professional schools in arts and sciences all on one beautiful campus; but I’m also the head of a university that’s the largest private employer in Philadelphia. Second only to the government, we’re the largest employer. And I do it for so many reasons. It’s everything I believe in rolled into one. It enables me to further education, and I think there is nothing more important to the 21st century than higher education. It enables me to give opportunities to the best and the brightest kids from low and middle income families from all over the world. This year we admitted 13½% international students to come. Last year we started a new scholarship policy that eliminated loans for kids from American families who have incomes of under $60,000, and we doubled the number of those kids that can. It enables me to create economic opportunities in Philadelphia, where in China and India it enables me to also engage globally. So there’s almost no limit; but the resources we have to what we can do as a great university. So I’m very privileged. I’m very . . . it’s a culmination of a lot of what I believe in.

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