Meet the Dean
Joan Hendricks, VMD, PhD
The Gilbert S. Kahn Dean of Veterinary Medicine
Assuming her responsibilities as the Gilbert S. Kahn Dean of Veterinary Medicine in 2006, Dean Hendricks believes that veterinarians play an integral part in ensuring public health and food safety, guarding against bio- and agro-terrorism and working to protect the environment. She has played a lead role in lobbying to state legislators on behalf of the School.
Prior to assuming her responsibilities as dean, Dr. Hendricks has served on the faculty of the school for more than 20 years. In 2001 she became the first woman named to an endowed professorship at the school when she was named the Henry and Corinne R. Bower Professor of Small Animal Medicine.
In addition to serving as chief of critical care in the Department of Clinical Studies at Philadelphia, Dean Hendricks is founding director of the Veterinary Clinical Investigation Center (VCIC) at the School and holds a secondary appointment as professor in the Department of Medicine at Penn Medicine. During her sabbatical year, Dean Hendricks chose to investigate how molecular biology could be applied to neuroscience, specifically to the field of sleep and sleep disorders, in which she is a recognized expert.
In 1979 and 1980, Dean Hendricks earned her VMD and PhD from Penn. She also carried out her residency and postdoctoral fellowship at the university. She has a BS in biology and psychology from Yale University.
Dr. Hendricks became the third woman dean of a veterinary school in the nation and the first at Penn Vet.
Our Board
A board of overseers is the advisory body to the dean of a school or the director of a major center at the University of Pennsylvania. While formal institutional governance and fiduciary responsibility for the University rests solely with its Board of Trustees, Overseer boards serve as a vital channel of communication with the Trustees on the activities of Penn's schools and centers.
Boards of overseers afford Penn ready panels of professionals, experts, and informed lay people who provide volunteer leadership and financial support to the areas they serve. Overseers also serve as ambassadors and spokespersons by linking the campus to the world.