PHILADELPHIA -- Mark O. Winkelman, a member of the University of Pennsylvania’s Board of Trustees, has been named chair of Penn Medicine, effective Nov. 1.  He currently serves as a member of the Penn Medicine Board and its Executive Committee.

The announcement was made by David L. Cohen, chairman of Penn’s Board of Trustees, and Penn President Amy Gutmann.

“We are delighted that Mark has agreed to assume this important role, at a time when Penn Medicine is both thriving and, like all academic medical centers throughout the country, facing many challenges in the context of uncertain economic times and the ongoing debate over health-care reform,” Gutmann said.  “Mark is a thoughtful leader and a dedicated Penn and Penn Medicine trustee. His broad management experience and deep understanding of the Penn landscape will help assure Penn Medicine’s eminence and momentum under the leadership of Dr. J. Larry Jameson, our new executive vice president of the university for the health system and dean of the Perelman School of Medicine.”

“Penn is fortunate to have benefited from Mark’s great expertise throughout his tenure on the board, most particularly his service on Penn’s Investment Board during one of the most volatile decades in the history of the financial markets, and his tenure as chair of the University's Budget and Finance Committee,” Cohen said. 

Winkelman will replace James S. Riepe, former chair of Penn’s Board of Trustees and senior advisor and retired vice chairman of the board of directors of T.Rowe Price Group Inc.  During his two-year tenure, Riepe oversaw the continued growth of Penn Medicine, including the opening of the Roberts Proton Therapy Center and Translational Research Center, the renaming of the Perelman School of Medicine and the transition to new leadership for Penn Medicine.

“We are extremely thankful for Jim’s inspired leadership of the Penn Medicine Board these past two years,” Gutmann said.  “As a founding member of the Board, he brought his wide-ranging knowledge and expertise to the role, helping to ensure Penn Medicine’s continued growth and upward trajectory. We are grateful that he will continue to serve on the Penn Medicine Executive Committee.”

Winkelman, who received an MBA from Penn’s Wharton School in 1973, is a senior director of Goldman, Sachs & Co. A member of Penn’s Board of Trustees since 2002, he serves on the Executive Committee, is chair of the Budget and Finance Committee and also sits on the Audit and Compliance and Facilities and Campus Planning committees.

He is a member of the Wharton Board of Overseers and served as the chair of the Advisory Board of the Wharton Entrepreneurial Center. He endowed the Dorinda and Mark Winkelman Faculty Scholar Award and the Winkelman Professorship in the Wharton School.

Winkelman first joined Goldman Sachs in 1978. Prior to that, he was a senior investment officer with the World Bank.

He received a candidate’s degree from the Erasmus Universiteit in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, in 1970. He served as a lieutenant in the Regiment Huzaren van Boreel of the Dutch Army. He currently serves as a director of Anheuser-Busch InBev NV/SA.

Penn Medicine is the umbrella governance structure created in 2002 to oversee both the University’s School of Medicine and Health System.