Andrea Mitchell, Rosemary Mazanet Named Campaign Co-Chairs of Making History at Penn

PHILADELPHIA -- Andrea Mitchell and Dr. Rosemary Mazanet have been named co-chairs of the University of Pennsylvania’s Making History: The Campaign for Penn

The announcement was made by Penn President Amy Gutmann at the June meeting of the Board of Trustees.

Mitchell and Mazanet join Campaign chair George Weiss and co-chair Robert M. Levy on the Making History leadership team.  Entering its final two years, the Campaign has raised more than $2.7 billion toward its $3.5 billion goal.

Mitchell is chief foreign affairs correspondent for NBC News, reporting on political, intelligence and national security issues around the globe, and hosts “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” a daily program on MSNBC featuring political news and interviews.

During her more than 30 years at NBC, she has also served as the network’s chief White House correspondent and chief congressional correspondent.  Mitchell is a frequent speaker at University events and participant in campus panels on politics, journalism and public discourse.

She has a distinguished history of volunteer leadership at Penn.  She has been a Trustee since 1992, serves on the advisory committee for the Annenberg School for Communication and was an overseer in the School of Arts and Sciences as well as a founding member of the Trustees’ Council of Penn Women. In 2002,  she received the Alumni Award of Merit, the University’s highest alumni honor.

In 2007, Mitchell and her husband, Alan Greenspan, endowed a Penn Integrates Knowledge professorship.  The Andrea Mitchell University Professorship is held by Robert Ghrist, an applied mathematician with joint appointments in the School of Engineering and Applied Science and the School of Arts and Sciences.

“Even as Andrea Mitchell has become one of the world’s most eminent journalists, she has remained deeply connected and actively dedicated to our University,” Gutmann said.  “Her professional achievements exemplify Penn’s fundamental principles of integrating knowledge with both local and global impact, and her personal commitment to our vision and mission is exemplary.  I am thrilled that she has accepted a leadership role in the Making History Campaign.”

“Penn gave me the broad liberal arts education and commitment to political engagement that inspired me to challenge myself as a journalist in an increasingly complex world,” Mitchell said.  “I can’t think of anything more rewarding than helping Penn give tomorrow’s leaders the resources to explore their own dreams and become problem solvers in our society.  That’s the ultimate goal of the Making History Campaign, and I’m honored if I can play a part.”

Rosemary Mazanet, who will also serve as chair of the Campaign for Penn Medicine, is a general partner of Apelles Investment Management in New York.  She is also CEO of DiabetesAmerica, a network of diabetes care and management centers, and a director of Cellumen Inc.  Previously, she was a general partner and chief scientific officer for Oracle Partners LP, a health-care investment firm; was founder and CEO of Breakthrough Therapeutics, a private cancer therapeutic vaccine company; and directed clinical research for the Oncology franchise at Amgen Inc.  She trained in internal medicine and hematology/oncology at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Dana Farber Cancer Institute after receiving her Ph.D. and M.D. degrees from Penn Medicine.

Mazanet has served on the Penn Medicine Board of Trustees as a member of the Executive Committee since 2002 and has served as vice chair of the Penn Medicine Campaign Cabinet since 2006.  She will now become cabinet chair.  She received the School of Medicine’s Alumni Service Award in 2006.

“Rosemary Mazanet brings the ideal combination of depth of knowledge, executive experience and love of Penn to these important leadership positions,” Gutmann said.  “Her efforts have been instrumental in advancing the Penn Medicine Campaign.  Now the entire University will benefit from her business acumen and unparalleled energy as we drive Making History to a successful close.”

“I’m excited and proud to be taking on these new challenges,” Mazanet said. “Both Making History and the Campaign for Penn Medicine have made huge strides, and success is clearly in sight.  I look forward to helping us reach the finish line and fulfilling our ambitions for Penn.”

Mazanet and her husband, John G. Stoecker III, live in Cos Cob, Conn.  Their daughter, Sarah F. Stoecker, is a rising senior at Penn in the School of Arts and Sciences.

“Andrea and Rosemary are two of Penn’s most dedicated citizens and dynamic advocates,” said Making History Campaign Chair George Weiss.  “They are just the communicators and motivators we need at this critical moment, as we forge ahead with a Campaign that is transforming the University and making a positive impact on the world.”

Additional information on the Campaign is available at www.makinghistory.upenn.edu.

Click here to view the Making History announcement.