The David and Lyn Silfen University Professorship

David and Lyn SilfenThis Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professorship was created in 2005 by David and Lyn Silfen. David Silfen (1945–2015) was a University Trustee for over 17 years, serving as Vice Chair from 2010 to 2015.

In addition to two Penn Integrates Knowledge professorships, the Silfens endowed the annual David and Lyn Silfen University Forum in which Penn faculty join experts from around the world to discuss the most challenging questions confronting our society. Their philanthropy also supported educational innovation in the School of Arts and Sciences and created the Silfen Student Study Center in Perelman Quadrangle.

A graduate of the School of Arts and Sciences, Mr. Silfen was Chairman of Mayfair Management/Silfen Investment Partners LP and Senior Director of The Goldman Sachs Group. In addition to his positions on the University’s Board of Trustees, Mr. Silfen served as Chair of the School of Arts and Sciences Board of Overseers.

The Penn Integrates Knowledge (PIK) Program was launched by President Gutmann in 2005 as a University-wide initiative to recruit exceptional faculty members whose research and teaching exemplify the integration of knowledge across disciplines and who are appointed in at least two Schools at Penn.

 

Jonathan D. MorenoCurrent Chairholder
Jonathan D. Moreno, PhD

Jonathan D. Moreno, PhD is the David and Lyn Silfen University Professor, Professor of Medical Ethics and Health Policy, Professor of History and Sociology of Science, and Professor of Philosophy. Dr. Moreno holds appointments in the School of Arts and Sciences and the Perelman School of Medicine. His writings include Impromptu Man, The Body Politic, Mind Wars, Undue Risk, and hundreds of articles and papers. Dr. Moreno frequently contributes to such publications as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Nature and Scientific American, and to blogs on Huffington Post and Psychology Today. He is often quoted on broadcast and online media. From 2008 to 2009, he served as a member of President Barack Obama’s transition team. Dr. Moreno is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and is a U.S. member of the UNESCO International Bioethics Committee. He is a recipient of the Penn Alumni Faculty Award of Merit. The American Journal of Bioethics has called him “the most interesting bioethicist of our time.”