Since 2005 the University of Pennsylvania‘s Penn Integrates Knowledge program has brought to campus exceptional faculty members whose research and teaching exemplify the integration of knowledge across disciplines. 

Now a new website further highlights this successful program started by Penn President Amy Gutmann.

Since the program’s inception, the University has named 15 PIK Professors, each jointly appointed between two of Penn’s 12 schools. Distinguished by the diversity of their research and teaching, each PIK Professor shares a commitment to enriching learning experiences and furthering Penn’s mission to integrate knowledge in service to society. 

Increasing the number of PIK and other endowed professorships to recruit and retain the most eminent and collaborative interdisciplinary faculty aligns with Gutmann’s Penn Compact 2020. 

John L. Jackson Jr., now dean of Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice, was the first PIK Professor, in April 2006. 

Since then the program has named 14 more: Shelley Berger, Philippe Bourgois, Ezekiel J. Emanuel, John D. Gearhart, Robert Ghrist, Karen Glanz, Barbara Mellers, Jonathan D. Moreno, Christopher B. Murray, Adrian Raine, Dorothy Roberts, Philip Tetlock, Sarah A. Tishkoff and Rakesh Vohra. 

In addition to the PIK Professorships, presidential initiatives tied to the Penn Compact 2020 include a comprehensive effort to raise an additional $240 million for the endowment to support undergraduate financial aid, as well as the new President’s Distinguished Professorship Fund to support as many as 50 new endowed professorships during the next four years. The newest initiative is the Presidential Engagement Prizes, announced by Gutmann last month.