David Meaney appointed Vice Provost for Research beginning August 1, 2025
Provost John L. Jackson, Jr. has announced the appointment of David Meaney as vice provost for research, beginning August 1, 2025. Dr. Meaney is currently the senior associate dean for faculty development and strategic initiatives and the inaugural Solomon R. Pollack Professor of Bioengineering in the School of Engineering & Applied Science.
“Dave Meaney is a dynamic and deeply experienced leader who is engaged with every aspect of research at Penn, from cross-campus partnerships, to space and capital planning, to initiatives in technology and entrepreneurship,” said Provost Jackson. “He has an exciting and expansive vision for the future of research, which will be more important than ever as our strategic framework, In Principle and Practice, calls us to lead on the great challenges of our time, accelerating interdisciplinary innovation across our campus and our city.
“I am deeply grateful to Deputy Provost Beth A. Winkelstein and the consultative committee that helped us to arrive at this outstanding result,” continued Provost Jackson. “We are especially indebted to Dawn Bonnell for her landmark twelve years as senior vice provost for research—which have transformed the landscape of research across our region—and for agreeing to extend her term through July 31.”
As senior associate dean in the School of Engineering & Applied Science since 2020, Dr. Meaney has spearheaded major initiatives to advance wellness, faculty development, facilities expansion, and capital planning across the school. He has been a key partner in the development of such interdisciplinary, cross-campus initiatives as Structured, Active, In-Class Learning (SAIL) for introductory STEM courses; the landmark Penn Health-Tech, which facilitates the creation of new medical devices and healthcare technologies; the first-of-its-kind Center for Innovation in Precision Dentistry, which promotes engineering technologies for oral health; and innovative cross-school partnerships including the Penn Advanced Research Computing Center, the Innovation in Data Engineering and Science Initiative, the Energy and Sustainability Initiative, the Center for Precision Engineering for Health, and the Center for Quantum Information, Engineering, Science, and Technology. He served from 2007 to 2019 as chair of the department of bioengineering, raising the department’s U.S. News ranking to fourth and tripling its per capita research to rank second among all peer universities.
Dr. Meaney’s research focuses on the science of concussions, especially how to prevent and detect injuries, predict recovery, and assess why some people’s brains may be more resilient to injuries. The recipient of a National Science Foundation CAREER Award and the Y.C. Fung Young Investigator Award of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, he has worked extensively with the National Football League, as well as on a Congressional Blue Ribbon Panel to investigate roller coaster safety.
At Penn, Dr. Meaney has received a 2021 Lindback Award, Penn’s highest teaching award; the 2019 Ford Motor Company Faculty Advising Award, awarded by undergraduate Penn Engineering students; and the 2014 Trustees Council of Penn Women Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Advising, among other awards. He began teaching at Penn in 1993, following a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at Penn, a PhD and MS in bioengineering from Penn, and a BS in biomedical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.