The University of Pennsylvania’s Dean of Admissions Eric Furda will be stepping down on December 31, 2020 from his post. Furda, who has led UPenn’s admissions office for the past 12 years, is a straight-shooter. For those loyal readers of this college admissions blog, you know we’ve outlined the heroes and the villains of highly selective college admissions over the years. After all, we’ve got to entertain our readers. And Eric Furda, well, this protagonist of our college admissions blog is a hero for his tell-it-like-it-is style, for speaking the truth even when speaking the truth isn’t always popular.

As Jonah Charlton writes for The Daily Pennsylvanian in a piece entitled “Dean of Admissions Eric Furda to leave Penn at end of 2020,” “Under Furda’s leadership, [UPenn President Amy] Gutmann and [Provost Wendell] Pritchett wrote ‘the diversity and academic excellence of [Penn’s] classes have grown each year,’ particularly highlighting the Dean’s work in prioritizing the admission of more low-income, first-generation students to the University…He received the A. Phillip Randolph Award for Diversity and Inclusion from student leaders at Penn in 2017. Furda has also served on or led committees for the Ivy League and the Consortium on Financing Higher Education and has served on the Board of Directors for the Common Application, including as the chair of its board.”

Ivy Coach salutes outgoing University of Pennsylvania Dean of Admissions Eric Furda, a longtime hero of this college admissions blog, on his long tenure leading an Ivy League admissions office with integrity and candor. As he will be joining the college counseling team at William Penn Charter School, we trust he’ll remain an important and needed voice in highly selective college admissions.