PHILADELPHIA  Joann Mitchell has been named vice president and chief of staff at the University of Pennsylvania, effective July 1.  Her appointment was announced today by Amy Gutmann, who becomes president of Penn July 1.

Mitchell is currently vice provost for administration at Princeton University.  Prior to going to Princeton in 1993, she was director of affirmative action at Penn for seven years.

"Joann is an extraordinarily talented administrator and will be a tremendous asset to Penn," Gutmann said.  "She is unusually adept at managing complex issues involving faculty and senior administrators."

Mitchell has been active in civic affairs, serving as president of the board of the McCarter Theatre Center and on the boards of International Schools Services Inc.; the Association of Black Women in Higher Education, of which she is a former president; the Womens Law Project; and the New Jersey Supreme Courts Committee on Minority Concerns.  In 2002, she won the Princeton YWCAs Tribute to Women Award.

Mitchell holds a bachelors degree in psychology from Davidson College and earned a law degree at Vanderbilt University.

She replaces Pedro Ramos, who left Penn to become Philadelphia city solicitor.

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