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Congratulating Dr. Amy Gutmann on her confirmation to the Administration of President Joe Biden as the Ambassador to Germany and recognizing her many contributions to public life and service in Philadelphia and beyond.
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WHEREAS, On July 2, 2021, President Joseph Biden announced his nomination of Philadelphian, Dr. Amy Gutmann, to be the United States Ambassador to Germany. On February 8, 2022, she was officially confirmed by the United States Senate; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Gutmann was born in New York and educated at Harvard University where she received her PhD and at the London School of Economics; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Gutmann began her career at Princeton University and taught there until 2004. At that time, she was appointed as President of the University of Pennsylvania, a position she has held ever since; and
WHEREAS, During her tenure as President, the longest of any Penn leader, Dr. Gutmann has elevated the University of Pennsylvania’s profile with careful direction and visionary strategy. Dr. Gutmann created the Penn Compact - strategic goals of inclusion, innovation, and impact - which have propelled Penn forward during an era of transformational change; and
WHEREAS, Under Dr. Gutmann’s leadership, Penn has recently expanded its impact on Philadelphia and the world even further. Dr. Gutmann’s team opened the Penn Center for Innovation which fast tracks Penn-developed research and ideas in technology and science; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Gutmann is a champion of educational inclusivity. Penn’s all-grant policy for undergraduate financial aid has provided students and their families with more than $2.3 billion in grants since its implementation in 2008. A first-generation, low-income college student herself, Dr. Gutmann has more than doubled the number of students from first-generation, low-income, and middle-income families attending Penn; and
WHEREAS, In 2020, Dr. Gutmann announced Penn’s historic contribution of $100 million to the School District of Philadelphia, the largest ever private donation to Philadelphia’s public schools; and
WHEREAS, In addition to her remarkable career leading Penn, Dr. Gutmann is also a premier political scientist. She has written seventeen books and made major contributions to the field. In fact, her work some of the most cited in American political philosophy and her focus on the workings of democracy and governance have informed United States Presidents and leaders for over three decades; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Gutmann’s status as a top leader both in political science and in academia will inform her role as Ambassador to Germany, one of the United States’ closest allies; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, that the City Council of Philadelphia, Hereby congratulates Dr. Amy Gutmann on her confirmation to the Administration of President Joe Biden as the Ambassador to Germany and recognizes her many contributions to public life and service in Philadelphia and beyond.
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