Widener President Julie E. Wollman to join faculty at University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education

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Julie E. Wollman, president of Widener University, has been named Professor of Practice at the University of Pennsylvania’s #1-ranked Graduate School of Education (Penn GSE). The announcement made today by Penn GSE’s Dean Pam Grossman. The appointment is effective July 1, 2022; Dr. Wollman will be part of the school’s highly-ranked higher education division, which has prepared 60 college presidents or chancellors in the last 19 years.

“We are thrilled to have Dr. Wollman joining us,” said Penn GSE’s Dean Grossman. “She brings tremendous experience and an entrepreneurial spirit to our renowned higher education division. She has an outstanding record of contributions to the field and will be an enormous asset as we prepare the next generation of college and university leaders.”

Dr. Wollman, an alum of Penn GSE, has been President of Widener University since 2016. During her six-year tenure, Dr. Wollman has led a series of efforts aimed at enhancing access and promoting diversity, equity and inclusion. She has strengthened Widener’s commitment to Chester, a city that continues to struggle with lack of economic opportunity and poverty. The university’s civic engagement efforts include a variety of community partnerships, including operation of the Widener Partnership Charter School, a K-8 school. In 2017, Dr. Wollman launched Common Ground, an initiative designed to encourage reasoned, respectful discourse on challenging topics. In 2019, Dr. Wollman designed an innovative scenarios-based approach to strategy development, which has also been recognized nationally as an emerging best practice. She has served in a variety of senior administrative positions in higher education over the past 30 years, and earned her undergraduate degree at Harvard University, a master of science degree at Penn GSE, and a doctor of philosophy degree at New York University. She is a frequent commentator and dynamic speaker on education-related public policy issues, on higher education access and affordability, and on leadership, appearing regularly in print, online, and broadcast media outlets.

Penn GSE is one of the nation’s premier research education schools and is currently ranked #1 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. No other education school enjoys a university environment as supportive of practical knowledge-building as the Ivy League’s University of Pennsylvania. The School is notably entrepreneurial, launching innovative degree programs for practicing professionals and unique partnerships with local educators, and the first-ever business plan competition devoted exclusively to educational products and programs.