PHILADELPHIA – Vincent Price has been named the 29th provost of the University of Pennsylvania. The announcement was made today by Penn President Amy Gutmann.

Price, who has served as interim provost since March 1, is the Steven H. Chaffee Term Professor of Communication in Penn’s Annenberg School for Communication, with a secondary appointment as professor of political science in the School of Arts and Sciences.

“Vince is an eminent scholar, a seasoned academic administrator and an exceptionally judicious and effective academic leader,” Gutmann said. “He has a passion for academic excellence, access and diversity, interdisciplinary scholarship and teaching, effective collaboration, deliberative problem solving and inclusive team building.

“He will be a superb partner with Penn’s deans, faculty, staff, students and me in leading the University in the years ahead and advancing the Penn Compact,” she said.

Price will formally assume his office on July 1 after ratification by the University’s trustees at their June meeting.

He is a leading global expert on public opinion, social influence and political communication. His book, “Public Opinion” (Sage, 1992), has been published in six languages and is taught in courses around the world. His work has been widely cited and funded by grants from the Pew Charitable Trusts, National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health.

Price is former editor in chief of Public Opinion Quarterly, former guest editor of both Communication Research and Political Communication and an active board member of several academic journals.

He earned a Ph.D. in 1987 and an M.A. in 1985, both in communication, from Stanford University and a 1979 B.A., magna cum laude, in English from the University Honors Program at Santa Clara University. He came to Penn in 1998 from the University of Michigan, where he was chair and associate professor of communication studies and a faculty associate of the Center for Political Studies.

In his 11 years at Penn, Price has served as associate provost for faculty affairs, chair of the Faculty Senate and associate dean of the Annenberg School.

As interim provost, he has overseen all aspects of the University pertaining to faculty appointments, research, education, student life, athletics, libraries and arts and culture, working with the deans of Penn’s 12 schools throughout this year’s especially challenging budget cycle.

As interim provost, he has also worked closely with the president, executive vice president and other members of the senior-leadership team in areas such as the University’s operating and capital budgets and long-range financial plans.

As associate provost for faculty affairs, he introduced new family-friendly policies and worked to increase faculty diversity, and he undertook new initiatives to address long-standing records-management and data-analysis issues, to identify and cultivate new faculty leadership and to orient and train department chairs.

Price’s selection as provost follows a five-and-a-half-month international search in which more than 180 people were considered for the position.