The Ruth M. and Tristram C. Colket, Jr. President’s Distinguished Professorship

The Professorship was established in 2015 through the generosity of Ruth M. and Tristram C. Colket, Jr. Their gift provides financial support for a prominent faculty member in the Perelman School of Medicine with a preference toward holders in the field of neuroscience and stroke.

Tristram C. Colket, Jr. is a graduate of Penn’s College of General Studies; Ruth M. Colket has served as a School of Nursing Overseer since 1988. The grandson of Campbell’s condensed-soup inventor John T. Dorrance Sr., Tristram Colket is dedicated to medical philanthropy in part because he had a sister who died of leukemia when she was 4½ years old. The Colkets are long-time supporters of The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where they have endowed two professorships, named a translational research center, and served as trustees for many years.

President’s Distinguished Professorships are awarded to eminent faculty members with research and teaching expertise in areas identified by the President of the University as high priorities. The creation of President’s Distinguished Professorships at the Perelman School of Medicine has been supported by the challenge gift of Penn University Trustees and Penn Medicine Board members George A. Weiss and Richard W. Vague.

Current Chairholder
Scott E. Kasner, MD

Scott E. Kasner, MD is Chief of the Division of Vascular Neurology, Vice Chair of Clinical Affairs for the Department of Neurology, and Director of Penn’s Comprehensive Stroke Center. Since 2015, he has held the Ruth M. and Tristram C. Colket, Jr. President’s Distinguished Professorship. He received his MD from Yale University and MS in Clinical Epidemiology from the University of Pennsylvania, joining the faculty of the Department of Neurology here at the University of Pennsylvania in 1997.

Widely recognized as an international leader in stroke research, Dr. Kasner’s research—which has appeared in more than 400 publications—drives improved outcomes for stroke patients, ranging from studies in acute stroke treatment or stroke diagnosis, to outcome measures, secondary stroke prevention, and neurocritical care. He directs the Greater Philadelphia Stroke Net, part of an NIH-sponsored research network, and currently has multiple international clinical trials related to stroke underway. Under his leadership, in 2004, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania became the first Joint Commission certified stroke center in the city of Philadelphia. Further, the innovative telestroke program he launched at Penn Medicine in 2012 permits the Division of Vascular Neurology to share their expertise with remote hospitals.

Dr. Kasner is a member of Penn Medicine’s Academy of Master Clinicians, the highest honor granted for clinical care at Penn. In addition, Dr. Kasner serves as a Fellow of the American Heart Association (AHA) and was previously a recipient of its Stroke Council Award. He has also chaired the AHA’s Stroke Oversight Committee, which generates national stroke-related guidelines and policy statements.