Patrick Harker, dean of the Wharton school at the University of Pennsylvania, is to quit the school next July to become president of the University of Delaware. Prof Harker was made interim dean at Wharton in 1999 and confirmed as dean in 2000.
During his tenure as dean, Prof Harker created Wharton West, the school’s San Francisco-based campus, and forged an alliance with Insead, which has proven particularly popular with MBA students. He oversaw the launch of both Knowledge@Wharton and Wharton School Publishing. He also led Wharton to complete the largest fund-raising campaign in its history.
Prof Harker earned both both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering from the University of Pennsylvania followed by a master’s degree in economics and a PhD. in civil engineering in 1983. He joined the Wharton faculty in1984.
His decision makes Wharton the second of the self-appointed group of top seven US business schools to now be looking for a new dean. Richard Schmalensee, dean of MIT Sloan, is also stepping down next summer.
