After giving testimony before Congress, where she refused to say whether calling for the genocide of Jews was contrary to the university’s code of conduct and resulting criticism from all sides of the political spectrum and most importantly some of Penn’s biggest donors, Liz Magill has resigned as president of the University of Pennsylvania.
In a statement to the university community, President Magill said “it has been my privilege to serve as president of this remarkable institution. It has been an honor to work with our faculty, students, staff, alumni, and community members to advance Penn’s vital missions.” Magilln will remain at Penn as a tenured professor at the law school.
Professor Magill became the ninth president of the University of Pennsylvania in the summer of 2022. Previously, she served as executive vice president and provost at the University of Virginia. Earlier, she was the Richard E. Lang Professor of Law and dean of Stanford Law School. Earlier, she spent 15 years on the faculty of the University of Virginia School of Law. She is an expert on administrative law and constitutional structure.
A graduate of Yale University with a bachelor’s degree in history, Magill worked as a legislative assistant for U.S. Senator Kent Conrad, who represented the state of North Dakota. She then enrolled at the University of Virginia School of Law where she was the articles development editor for the Virginia Law Review.
After graduating from law school, Magill clerked for Judge J. Harvey Wilkinson III of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and later for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the U.S. Supreme Court.