Dr. Paul Sniegowski has been named the 21stpresident of Earlham College and Earlham School of Religion. He will take the helm Aug. 1, succeeding Dr. Anne M. Houtman, who will retire in July after a five-year term as president.

“Earlham has an important and longstanding place within the distinctive liberal arts tradition in the United States. It is a place that brings together a diversity of people to explore ideas, to learn to think and to go out and contribute to the world for good,” said Sniegowski, a distinguished biologist and the Stephen A. Levin Family Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. “Serving that ideal, and serving Earlham’s students and faculty, is why I am so excited to become part of the community.”

Dr. Paul Sniegowski Since his appointment as dean in 2017, Sniegowski has been responsible for the direction of Penn’s liberal arts undergraduate curricula, programs and students in academic departments and interdisciplinary programs across the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences.

He advocates for first-generation, low-income students, participating in the establishment of the Penn First Plus Office and launching a student advisory board in 2018 to provide a voice for FGLI students in the college.

Sniegowski holds a bachelor’s degree in music from the Indiana University School of Music; an M.A. in biology from Indiana University, Bloomington; and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. He joined Penn’s Department of Biology in 1997 after a postdoctoral fellowship at Michigan State University.

Sniegowski’s scientific work focuses on evolutionary and population genetic theory as a framework for understanding genetic mutation rates and mutational phenomena. His research has been supported by the Sloan Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and NASA; he is a co-author on nearly 70 peer-reviewed and other scientific papers, has mentored dozens of graduate, undergraduate, and high school students, and is an award-winning teacher.

Sniegowski also has maintained an active commitment to outreach and regularly engages with public audiences to promote better understanding of science. He is currently writing a book, Persistence of Error: A Natural History of Mutation, explaining genetic mutation for non-scientists.

“Paul has been impressive and thoughtful in his excellent career as a faculty member specializing in evolutionary genetics and as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania,” said Earlham Board Chair Tom Thornburg. “He is a strong researcher, a frequently honored teacher, and much appreciated academic leader. His work as a faculty member and leader resonates with Earlham's mission and Principles and Practices. He and his wife, Gail Kienitz, bring to us the knowledge of recent Earlham parents as well."