Claire Bruno: Assistant Dean of Admissions and Student Life at Penn’s School of Veterinary Medicine
The University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine (Penn Vet) has named Claire Vanna Bruno, a senior higher education professional with more than 18 years of recruitment experience, as its new assistant dean of admissions and student life. Her appointment began on July 25, 2022.
Ms. Bruno comes to Penn Vet from Villanova University’s School of Business, where she served as assistant dean of graduate admissions and oversaw that institution’s wide-ranging recruitment plans for 12 graduate programs, including the MBA, executive MBA, and specialized masters programs. Before her appointment as assistant dean at Villanova in 2020, she served as that school’s director of graduate admissions, and director of diversity initiatives. Ms. Bruno previously held admissions positions at Penn’s Wharton School and at Temple University’s Fox School of Business.
As assistant dean of admissions and student life, Ms. Bruno will be responsible for delivering visionary leadership to achieve strategic recruitment, retention, and graduation goals. She also wants to oversee all aspects of admissions, financial aid, and student life. She will also lead best practices and benchmarking initiatives to measure progress toward strategic enrollment objectives, as well as supporting student academic success.
“Claire has an outstanding record of achievement. She brings extensive expertise in graduate admissions and firsthand knowledge of the value of inclusion and diversity efforts,” said Andrew M. Hoffman, the Gilbert S. Kahn Dean of Penn Vet. “Her belief in our relationship-oriented culture, and in the unique nature of our veterinary program, will be essential as we prepare students for whatever career pathways they invent, whether in private practice or research, academia or public policy, or some unique combination of all.”
Ms. Bruno’s most significant accomplishments at Villanova include a yield program that penetrated smaller recruiting markets in the southern and midwestern regions of the United States, programming that diversity integrated and inclusion into Villanova’s business school culture, and corporate outreach that accelerated employer desirability for Villanova business school students.
“I am thrilled and honored to join Penn’s School of Veterinary Medicine,” said Ms. Bruno. “The school has a dynamic and forward-looking educational mission and a vision for the future of veterinary medicine. I welcome this extraordinary opportunity to work with the entire Penn Vet community in preparing our students for a world characterized by rapid medical discovery and escalating societal needs.”
