Penn President Emerita Amy Gutmann accepted the Yale Legend in Leadership Award at the Yale Higher Education Leadership Summit at the Yale School of Management in New Haven, Connecticut, during a ceremony held on Jan. 28. The award was presented by Maurie McInnis, Yale’s 24th president; Peter Salovey, Yale’s 23rd president; Hanna Gray, Yale’s 18th president and University of Chicago’s 9th president; Joanne Berger-Sweeney, Trinity College’s 22nd president, Trinity College; and Linda Mills, New York University’s 17th president.
“President Gutmann is one of the most revered leaders in higher education today,” said Summit organizer Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, the Lester Crown Professor in Management Practice at Yale’s School of Management. “A trailblazer who was the first in her family to graduate college, Gutmann made accessibility and affordability key priorities during her tenure at UPenn, more than doubling the number of students from low-income and first-generation college families, while launching bold, successful initiatives. Those projects include the Penn Compact, Penn First Plus, Penn Connects, and the Pennovation Center, among many other widely-celebrated achievements on campus and around the community.
“President Gutmann’s accomplishments and reputation as a leader and scholar transcends the halls of academia. The impact of her scholarship on democracy and democratic pluralism extends into her public service during the administrations of President Barack Obama, who nominated her to serve on a presidential commission, and President Joe Biden, who nominated her to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Germany. During her tenure, President Gutmann fortified the longstanding U.S. friendship with Germany and served as an ethical and moral beacon of leadership on issues ranging from support for Ukraine’s defense against Putin to resistance against rising extremism.”
Gutmann, the Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Political Science in the School of Arts & Sciences, and professor of communication in the Annenberg School for Communication, was Penn’s longest-serving leader, from 2004 to 2022. Named by Fortune as one of the “World’s 50 Greatest Leaders” in 2018, Gutmann championed access to education and health care, innovative discoveries that save lives and propel economies forward, global engagement, and public-private partnerships.
During her tenure, Gutmann oversaw expansions of student financial aid, innovative collaborative research, and patient-centered clinical care—in addition to the single largest private contribution to the Philadelphia School District.
In 2009, President Barack Obama appointed Gutmann to chair the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues for seven years; during that time, the commission published 10 reports on major issues, including preventing and responding to public health crises. Gutmann also is an award-winning author and editor of 17 books, including “Democratic Education” and “The Spirit of Compromise” and, along with Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor Jonathan D. Moreno, “Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven but Nobody Wants to Die: Bioethics and the Transformation of Health Care in America” with an afterword on pandemic ethics in the paperback edition.
Aside from her public service, Gutmann has served on the boards of Vanguard (2006-2022) and the Berggruen Institute (2014-2021). She has also served as chair of the Association of American Universities (2014-2015); executive committee member of the National Constitution Center and chair of its Liberty Medal Committee (2007-2019); and member of the Knight Commission on Trust, Media, and Democracy (2017-2019).
The Legend in Leadership Award was created 25 years ago to honor current and former CEOs and university presidents who serve as living legends to inspire leaders across industries, sectors, and nations. A full list of recipients can be found online.
