Barchi named Provost
Robert L. Barchi, M.D., Ph.D. (Gr'72, M'73), the David Mahoney Professor of Neurological Sciences, was named Penn's 27th Provost by President Judith Rodin on Dec. 4, effective Feb. 1.
Robert L. Barchi
Photo by Tommy Leonardi
Barchi, 52, is a distinguished neuroscientist and scholar with deep Penn roots. A 1968 alumnus of Georgetown University, Barchi earned both his graduate and professional degrees in the School of Medicine, whose faculty he joined in 1974.
He headed the Mahoney Institute of Neurological Sciences from 1983 to 1996, and at the time of his appointment as provost, he was chair of the departments of neuroscience and neurology, as well as president of Penn NeuroCare, a region-wide neurology practice.
In addition to receiving Penn's higest teaching prize, the Lindback Award, in 1979, Barchi has also been widely honored for his research. He was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, where he served as chair of its neuroscience section and as a member of its membership committee. He is also a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology, the College of Physicians and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
He has also received the Javits Neuroscience Investigator Award of the National Institutes of Health and the Senior Investigator Achievement Award of the American Heart Association.
"Dr. Barchi is an extraordinary scientist and scholar who has become one of Penn's true luminaries in his quarter-century at the University," Rodin said. "He is a deeply respected faculty leader who has been at the forefront of the design and implementation of important multidisciplinary advances in teaching and research."
As provost, Barchi is the University's chief academic officer, responsible for guiding academic policy campus-wide. He is the third provost of the modern era at Penn to come from the School of Medicine.
