Penn Arts & Sciences Board of Advisors

The Penn Arts & Sciences’ Board of Advisors established two chairs in honor of former Deans.

The Samuel H. Preston Endowed Term Chair in the Social Sciences was established in 2004 by the Board in honor of Preston’s service as Dean of the School from 1997 to 2004. He joined the Penn Arts & Sciences faculty as a professor of sociology in 1979 and served as director of the Populations Studies Center.

In 2012, the Board established a professorship in recognition of Rebecca W. Bushnell, who served as Dean from 2005 to 2013. The professorship was held by Bushnell from 2013 until her retirement in 2018, when it was renamed the Rebecca W. Bushnell Professorship and designated for the sciences to reflect her commitment to all academic disciplines. Bushnell joined the Penn Arts & Sciences faculty in the Department of English in 1982.