Amy E. Gadsden

Amy E. Gadsden, Associate Vice Provost for Global Initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania, works with Penn’s 12 schools and centers to develop and implement strategies to increase Penn’s global engagement both on campus and overseas. She oversees Penn Global’s reporting offices, including International Student and Scholar Services, Penn Abroad, Global Support Services, Global Initiatives, Perry World House, and Penn Washington. She also oversees Penn Global’s research funds, including the China Research and Engagement Fund, India Research and Engagement Fund, Holman Africa Research and Engagement Fund, and the Global Research and Engagement Fund.

As Executive Director of Penn China Initiatives, she coordinates University strategy and activity in China, working closely with the Penn Wharton China Center. Prior to joining the Provost’s Office, Dr. Gadsden was Associate Dean for International and Strategic Initiatives at Penn Law. She established or expanded all of Penn Law’s signature international programs and played a key role in building Penn Law’s cross-disciplinary programs, pioneering new initiatives in law and technology and law and health. As an adjunct law faculty member, Dr. Gadsden taught seminars in international human rights and rule of law. Currently, she teaches an undergraduate course on the history of U.S.-China relations.

Before Penn, Dr. Gadsden spent more than a decade working in the foreign policy field with a focus on China, working for both the U.S. government and for nonprofit organizations. Dr. Gadsden was one of the first American scholars to observe and write about grassroots elections in the PRC in the mid-1990s.