PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Drexel University has tapped Antonio Merlo, an accomplished scholar, political economist and former Penn faculty member, to serve as its next president.
John Fry, Drexel’s past president of 14 years, was chosen in July 2024 to lead Temple University. Denis P. O’Brien was named Drexel’s interim president while the college looked for a permanent replacement.
Merlo will begin his tenure this summer, becoming Drexel’s 16th president in its 133-year history.
Merlo — a first-generation college grad — completed his undergraduate in 1987 at Bocconi University in Milan, Italy. He earned his Ph.D. in economics at New York University and has served as dean of NYU’s Faculty of Arts and Science since 2019.
Earlier in his career, Merlo taught at the University of Minnesota and chaired the Economics Department at Rice University. He became dean of Rice’s School of Social Sciences in 2016.
Merlo also spent 14 years as a member of the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a professor, department chair, research associate and director of the Penn Institute for Economic Research.
During his time at Penn, Merlo was awarded the Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation Award for Distinguished Teaching in 2009, among other accolades.
“Dr. Merlo is the ideal leader to uphold Drexel’s values and guide the University into its next chapter,” Richard Greenawalt, chair of Drexel’s Board of Trustees, said in a statement. “His commitment to academic entrepreneurship and his proven success in bringing together faculty, students, scholars, and practitioners to address critical societal challenges are particularly vital as we move forward with strategic institutional priorities, including an academic transformation already underway, and focus on building long-term financial resilience.”
“Drexel is an institution poised to accomplish great things in the coming years,” Merlo said. “While I am truly grateful for the many opportunities NYU has given me to grow as a scholar and a leader throughout my career, I am excited to begin my journey with Drexel and to help the University realize its tremendous potential.”