Joan C. Hendricks, V.M.D., Ph.D.

Joan Hendricks is the Gilbert S. Kahn Dean of Veterinary Medicine at the School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. Her vision for and support of interdisciplinary research and teaching is shaping the future of veterinary medicine. Under her leadership, Penn established the Penn Vet/Wharton Executive Leadership Program and the Veterinary Public Health Certificate Program and has significantly increased collaborations with the majority of Penn’s 12 Graduate Schools. She opened a Shelter Animal Medicine Program, the best in class James M. Moran Critical Care Center, and established the nationally-known Working Dog Center.

During her tenure, she has emphasized that vets are key health providers to the eco-system and play a crucial role in ensuring food safety and public health, safeguarding animal health, guarding against bio- and agro- terrorism and working to maintain a healthy environment. She coined the phrase, “the veterinary profession is the profession that stands between all of humanity and plague and famine” (meaning they help ensure a safe, health, affordable food supply).

She is a scholar and recognized expert on sleep and sleep disorders. She holds a secondary appointment as professor at the Department of Medicine at Penn and has served in a leadership position in the Pennsylvania Veterinary Medical Association. She is Penn vet’s first female dean and the third female dean of a veterinary school in the United States.