The Association of American Universities has elected University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann as its vice chair for the 2013-2014 term, the AAU announced today during its semi-annual meeting in Washington, D.C. 

AAU is a non-profit association of 60 U.S. and two Canadian leading public and private research universities.  Founded in 1900, AAU focuses on national and institutional issues that are important to research-intensive universities, including funding for research, research and education policy, and graduate and undergraduate education. 

"I am honored to be selected Vice Chair of the AAU. By the discoveries they make, the new knowledge they generate, and the students they educate, America’s leading research and teaching universities are vital to our nation’s future," President Gutmann said. "There is no more exciting place to be than on the cusp of discovery and the AAU has a proud history of supporting and advancing vitally important work that benefits all Americans."

After becoming Penn’s eighth president, Gutmann established herself as a national leader in the effort to facilitate greater access to higher education, making Penn the largest university to establish a no-loan guarantee that has become a national model, and significantly expanding the number of low-income students attending the University.  She pushed Penn to the forefront in civic engagement, exemplified by the creation of Penn Park, a 24-acre urban oasis connecting the campus to center city Philadelphia.

Gutmann is the Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Political Science in the School of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Communication in the Annenberg School for Communication at Penn, with secondary faculty appointments in Philosophy in the School of Arts and Sciences and the Graduate School of Education. She has published widely on the value of education and deliberation in democracy, on the importance of access to higher education and health care, on "the good, the bad and the ugly" of identity politics, and on the essential role of ethics—especially professional and political ethics—in public affairs.

The AAU today also elected University of Texas at Austin President Bill Powers as its chair for the 2013-2014 term. 

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