Amy Gutmann
Encyclopedia
- For the novelist see Amy GutmanAmy GutmanAmy Gutman is an American novelist. Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, she graduated Harvard College magna cum laude, and thereafter became a journalist, working at the Wilson Quarterly in Washington, DC and The Tennessean in Nashville, Tennessee. She then worked in several positions for newspapers in...
Amy Gutmann (born November 19, 1949) is the eighth President of the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
and the Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Political Science, Communications, and Philosophy. She is a political theorist who taught at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
from 1976 to 2004 and served as its provost.
Personal life
Born in Brooklyn, New York, to Jewish parents Kurt and Beatrice Gutmann, Amy Gutmann was raised in Monroe, New YorkMonroe, New York
Monroe, New York may refer to two municipalities in Orange County, New York in the United States:*Monroe , New York*Monroe , New York, located entirely within the town...
. Her father had fled Nazi Germany in 1934 as a college student and brought his entire family – including four siblings—to join him first in Bombay, India, and in the United States after World War II. She is married to Michael Doyle, a Professor of Law and International Affairs at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
. They have one daughter, Abigail, who is a Ph.D. student in chemistry at Harvard and was recently hired as an assistant professor of chemistry at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
.
Academic career
Gutmann graduated as class valedictorian from Monroe-Woodbury High School, before entering Harvard-Radcliffe College in 1967 with sophomore standing on a scholarship. She received a A.B.Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
magna cum laude from Radcliffe College
Radcliffe College
Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was the coordinate college for Harvard University. It was also one of the Seven Sisters colleges. Radcliffe College conferred joint Harvard-Radcliffe diplomas beginning in 1963 and a formal merger agreement with...
in 1971, a M.Sc.
Master of Science
A Master of Science is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in the sciences including the social sciences.-Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay:...
in Political Science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
from the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
in 1972, and a Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
in Political Science from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
in 1976.
Through her writings, Gutmann has consistently sought to bridge theory and policy to advance the core values of a civil democratic society: liberty, opportunity and mutual respect. Her first major contribution to political philosophy was her book Democratic Education (1987; revised 1999). The book addresses the central questions in the political theory of education: How should a democratic society make decisions about education? What should children be taught? How should citizens be educated?
The book also takes on some contemporary scholarly debates: What is the appropriate response of democratic education to the challenge of multiculturalism
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
? Should schools try to cultivate patriotic or cosmopolitan sentiments among students?
Gutmann’s second major contribution to political philosophy is a theory of deliberative democracy
Deliberative democracy
Deliberative democracy is a form of democracy in which public deliberation is central to legitimate lawmaking. It adopts elements of both consensus decision-making and majority rule. Deliberative democracy differs from traditional democratic theory in that authentic deliberation, not mere...
that she developed in collaboration with Harvard political scientist Dennis Thompson
Dennis Frank Thompson
Dennis Frank Thompson is a political scientist and professor at Harvard University, where he founded the university-wide Center for Ethics and the Professions...
. Democracy and Disagreement (1996) calls for more reasoned argument in everyday politics. Deliberation can inform decision making through reasoned argument, and develop society’s collective capacity to pursue justice while finding mutually acceptable terms of social cooperation – even when disagreements persist.
Democracy and Disagreement has been both praised as an effective remedy for polarized politics and criticized as impractical. A collection of pro and con essays was published in Deliberative Politics, edited by Stephen Macedo.
Gutmann’s third major contribution to political philosophy is her analysis of group identity and its intersection with justice. In Identity in Democracy (2003), Gutmann argues that identity groups as such are neither friends nor enemies of democratic justice. She analyzes the legitimate but also problematic parts played by group identity in democratic politics and draws distinctions among the good, the bad, and the ugly of identity group politics.
Penn presidency
In her inaugural address, she launched the Penn Compact, her vision for making Penn both a global leader in teaching, research, and professional practice, and a dynamic agent of social, economic, and civic progress. The Compact articulates three central strategic goals: increasing access for the very best students of all backgrounds, regardless of economic means; recruiting and retaining the very best faculty members, who will integrate knowledge across multiple disciplines; and magnifying Penn’s intellectual and institutional impact throughout the Philadelphia region, the United States, and the world.Since arriving at Penn, she has spearheaded a major campus development plan, Penn Connects, that includes 24 acres (97,124.6 m²) that Penn purchased from the U.S. Postal Service along the Schuylkill River. Penn Connects is designed to boost the economic, educational and social capacity of Philadelphia and to create seamless gateways between West Philadelphia and Center City across the Schuylkill River
Schuylkill River
The Schuylkill River is a river in Pennsylvania. It is a designated Pennsylvania Scenic River.The river is about long. Its watershed of about lies entirely within the state of Pennsylvania. The source of its eastern branch is in the Appalachian Mountains at Tuscarora Springs, near Tamaqua in...
.
Gutmann has been a leading national advocate for financial aid based on need to promote socioeconomic diversity in higher education. Gutmann made Penn one of the handful of universities in the country that substitute grants for loans for students from economically disadvantaged families. In September 2009, for the first time in Penn’s history, all undergraduates eligible for financial aid received grants rather than loans in their aid packages. Students from typical families with income less than $40,000 paid no tuition, fees, room or board. Students from typical families with incomes less than $90,000 paid no tuition and fees. Ten percent of the students in Penn's incoming class of 2013 are the first in their families to attend college.
Board and leadership positions
Gutmann serves on the Board of Directors of the Carnegie Corporation and The Vanguard GroupThe Vanguard Group
The Vanguard Group is an American investment management company based in Malvern, Pennsylvania, that manages approximately $1.6 trillion in assets. It offers mutual funds and other financial products and services to individual and institutional investors in the United States and abroad. Founder...
Corporation. From 2005 to 2009, Gutmann served on the National Security Higher Education Advisory Board
National Security Higher Education Advisory Board
The National Security Higher Education Advisory Board was created by American Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Robert S. Mueller III on 15 December, 2005...
, a committee that advises the FBI on national security issues relating to academia.
In November 2009, Barack Obama appointed Gutmann as Chair of a new Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues
Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues
The Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues was created by Executive Order 13521 on November 24, 2009, to succeed the disbanded President's Council on Bioethics. The Commission's leadership and members were appointed by President Barack Obama...
. Gutmann is also member of the Asia Society’s Task Force on U.S. policy toward India and the Global University Leaders Forum (GULF), which convenes at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
In addition, Gutmann is among the leaders of a select group of presidents of research universities throughout the world who advise the U.N. Secretary General on a range of global issues, including academic freedom, mass migration, international development, and the social responsibilities of universities.
She currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the National Constitution Center
National Constitution Center
The National Constitution Center is an organization that seeks to expand awareness and understanding of the United States Constitution and operates a museum to advance those purposes....
in Philadelphia, a museum dedicated to the U.S. Constitution.
In February 2011, Gutmann was appointed to the Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences established by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Selected works (ordered by date)
- Why Deliberative Democracy? with Dennis Thompson, Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J., 2004
- Identity in Democracy, Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J., 2003 (Trad. esp.: La identidad en Democracia, Buenos Aires/Madrid, Katz editores S.A, 2008, ISBN 9788496859333)
- Goodness and Advice [title essay by Judith Jarvis Thomson], Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2001 [editor and introduction]
- Human Rights [title essay by Michael Ignatieff], Princeton University Press, 2001 [editor and introduction]
- Democratic Disagreement (a collection of essays on Democracy and Disagreement with a response by the authors), edited by Stephen Macedo, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1999
- New edition with Preface and Epilogue, 1999
- The Lives of Animals [title essay by J. M. Coetzee], Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1999 [editor and introduction]
- Freedom of Association, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1998 [editor and first chapter]
- Work and Welfare [title essay by Robert Solow], Princeton, N. J.: Princeton University Press, 1998 [editor and introduction]
- A Matter of Interpretation: Federal Courts and the Law [title essay by Antonin Scalia], Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1997 [editor and introduction]
- Color Conscious: The Political Morality of Race, with Anthony Appiah, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1996
- Democracy and Disagreement, with Dennis Thompson, Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1996
- Multiculturalism and The Politics of Recognition [title essay by Charles Taylor], Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1992 [editor and introduction]
- Expanded paperback edition: Multiculturalism: Examining the Politics of Recognition, 1994
- Democracy and the Welfare State, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1988 [editor]
- Democratic Education, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1987
- Ethics and Politics: Cases and Comments, with Dennis Thompson, Chicago, Ill.: Nelson-Hall, 1984
- Third edition, 1997
- Fourth edition 2005
- Liberal Equality, New York and London: Cambridge University Press, 1980
Awards and honors
- Named one of Newsweek magazine’s “150 Women Who Shake the World,” 2011
- Carnegie Corporation Academic Leadership Award, 2009
- Alumnae Recognition Award from the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard for her outstanding contributions to liberal arts education, 2006
- Centennial Medal by Harvard University for "graduate alumni who have made exceptional contributions to society,” 2003
- Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree, University of Rochester, 2005
- Honorary Doctor of Letters Degree, Wesleyan University, 2005
- Member, American Philosophical Society, 2005-
- Fellow, The Hastings Center, an independent bioethics research institution
- W. E. B. Du Bois Fellow of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 2001-
- Fellow, National Academy of Education, 1999-
- Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1997-
- Ralph J. Bunche Award of the American Political Science Association, 1997
- North American Society for Social Philosophy Book Award, 1996–97
- Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Human Rights in North America Award, 1997
- Tanner Lecturer in Human Values, Stanford University, 1994–95
- Honorary Doctor of Law Degree, Kalamazoo College, 1992