Charlotte Maiden, Penn Today
Two new vice provosts have been named at the University of Pennsylvania.
Russell Composto will be the vice provost for undergraduate education and Kelly Jordan-Sciutto the vice provost for graduate education, both beginning July 1. These two new positions will assume many of the administrative and oversight roles of the deputy provost and the vice provost for education.
The appointments were announced by Provost John L. Jackson Jr.
Jordan-Sciutto is currently associate dean for graduate education and director of biomedical graduate studies in Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine and professor and associate dean for organizational effectiveness in the School of Dental Medicine.
Composto is Bozza Family Faculty Co-Director of Penn First Plus and Howell Family Faculty Fellow and professor of materials science and engineering in the School of Engineering and Applied Science.
“I am delighted to welcome two of our most dynamic and innovative educators to these important new leadership positions,” Jackson said. “Both were first-generation college students with decades of experience at Penn, who are widely respected across campus for their leadership of interdisciplinary educational initiatives, strong collaborative skills, and longtime focus on teaching, mentoring, and advising students at all levels. By creating these expanded new faculty leadership roles, dedicated separately to graduate and undergraduate education, we aim to recognize and address the specialized needs of our different groups of students. I am deeply grateful to Deputy Provost Beth Winkelstein and the consultative committee of faculty and students who helped us to arrive at these exciting inaugural appointments.”
Composto has been at Penn since 1990, serving from 2015-23 as associate dean for undergraduate education of the School of Engineering and Applied Science. He was appointed in 2023 as Bozza Family Faculty Co-Director of Penn First Plus, the program that provides support, resources, and community-building for undergraduate students who identify as lower- to middle-income or are the first in their families to attend college. He has also been undergraduate and graduate chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Chair of the Research Working Group for Penn’s 2024 reaccreditation by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, among numerous other roles. He is a pioneer of polymer science who is a fellow and former chair of the division of polymer physics of the American Physical Society and received Special Creativity and Presidential Young Investigator Awards from the National Science Foundation, among many other awards. He received a Ph.D. and an M.S. from Cornell University and a B.A. from Gettysburg College.