<p>According to this article, </p>
<p>Obama's</a> appointees, by the numbers - News</p>
<p>there is no UPenn graduates in Obama administration, which is dominated by Harvard, Yale
Columbia, Princeton , MIT, Stanford graduates</p>
<p>Does anyone know why ? Is finance fields, which is collapsing, the only option for UPenn graduates ?</p>
<p>■■■■■ (10 char)</p>
<p>Also, there are quite a few Wharton grads in the Treasury administering the spending. Also tons of people in other depts. too. ■■■■■ indeed.</p>
<p>It’s not exactly like the Obama grads are doing a bang-up job right now… I don’t know if anyone at Dartmouth is bragging about “Tiny Tim” Geithner…</p>
<p>Penn has historically not been a big Federal government school–not at the level of Executive appointees. We got off to a good start when Philly was the home of the founding fathers but went downhill sometime after that when its focus became more vocational (a reflection of Philadelphia being the industrial heart of the country). Penn IS a dominant player in local/regional government, however. The mayor of Philadelphia, governor of PA, and one of the PA senators (and VP Biden’s son, Beau Biden, current AG of Delaware) are Penn alumni.</p>
<p>I think things will be going better in the future.
-Penn has made a concerted effort to increase the strength of its Political science department (Amy Gutmann herself is a political scientist),
-Penn has set up leadership institutes (Fox Leadership),
-Penn-in-DC Washington DC semester program
-very dynamic undergrad programs under professor John Dilulio
-As PA has become a swing state, the political machinery of Penn’s democrats and republicans has been beefed up and become a talent pool for the two parties
-and of course, as Penn has become a more selective school, the current batch of students is the smartest, most capable bunch of students that Penn has ever had, and are ever more likely to break into the DC limelight with each passing year.</p>