January 05, 2024
Provided Image/University of Pennsylvania
Ramanan Raghavendran, a University of Pennsylvania alum and cofounder of the venture capital firm Amasia, has been named the chair of Penn's board of trustees.
Ramanan Raghavendran, a University of Pennsylvania alum with a 30-year career in venture capitalism and growth equity, has been named the chair of Penn's board of trustees.
Raghavendran, who has served as a trustee since 2014, will step into the role immediately. He replaces Scott Bok, who resigned in December on same day that Liz Magill stepped down as president. Penn's leadership had been accused of failing to adequately address antisemitism on campus.
Interim chair Julie Beren Platt will return to the role of vice chair.
Raghavendran is the cofounder of Amasia, a global venture capital firm focused on climate and sustainability and has served in several leadership roles at Penn. Interim President J. Larry Jameson called Raghavendran an "inspired" pick for chair.
"With three Penn degrees, devoted University engagement in multiple leadership roles, and professional experience in a rapidly changing business environment, he is poised to partner with other distinguished Trustees to support our University's important and impactful missions," Jameson said Thursday. "Ramanan has a history of bridging distance to make a lasting difference, whether between places and people or fields of knowledge."
In 2020, Raghavendran was appointed chair of the local, national and global engagement committee. He also has served on Penn's executive committee and on the advisory boards for the School of Arts and Sciences and the Center for Advanced Study of India. The San Francisco resident is the global coordinator for the Penn Alumni Ambassador program and is currently pursuing a master's of liberal arts at Stanford University.
"I believe great American universities, like the University of Pennsylvania, are the most important repositories of all that defines, and is good and laudable about, our modern civilization," Raghavendran said. "I am honored to take on the role of chair of Penn's Board of Trustees. I am humbled by the trust reposed in me by my fellow trustees. We are united in supporting the mission of this incredible institution."
Bok resigned on Dec. 9 – hours after Magill tendered her resignation. Magill was facing increasing criticism for her testimony at a congressional hearing in which she did not unequivocally state that calls for the genocide of Jews on campus would violate the university's code of conduct.
Harvard University President Claudine Gay, who also testified at the hearing, resigned earlier this week. She faced similar backlash for her remarks at the hearing, and also had been accused of plagiarism.
Magill had been criticized for months beforehand, partly because the university had allowed a Palestinian literature festival to be held on campus despite some of its speakers having been accused of making antisemitic remarks in the past. The university also was accused of being silent when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7. Antisemitic graffiti found near a Jewish fraternity house and the on-campus screening of a film critical of Israel's relationship with Palestinians added further scrutiny.
Amid the backlash, the Pennsylvania House denied more than $33 million in funds to Penn's veterinary school, and nearly 1,000 Penn faculty members signed a letter opposing trustee and donor influence in academic and governance policies.
