Karyn Tufarolo is the Director for Faculty Affairs at the Weitzman School of Design, where she guides the recruitment, promotion, and retention of a distinguished faculty. Karyn coordinates with the Dean, Departments, and the Provost’s Office, to manage faculty appointments and tenure reviews. She also provides guidance for standing committees, search committees, supports University faculty initiatives, coordinates policy information, and assists with various aspects of faculty planning.
Beginning in 2019, Karyn served on the team to lead the launch of our first cohort of the Executive Program for Social Innovation Design (XSD), a certificate for professional development with both online and in-person content, developed in partnership with the School of Social Policy and Practice (SP2). XXSD has had hundreds of learners from around the globe complete the certificate; the program is now housed within the Center for Social Impact Strategy at Penn.
Karyn joined Penn in 2015 and has many years of experience in higher education administration, with a focus in art and design programming. She previously directed the Professional & Adult Program in Continuing Studies at the University of the Arts. Her work focused on professional development graduate courses for K-12 educators, including a special grant initiative with the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources. She holds a BA in English with Fine Arts from Elizabethtown College and an MA in Museum Studies from the University of the Arts. Karyn grew up in central Pennsylvania, enjoys arts & cultural events, and has volunteered on the East Passyunk Community Center Advisory Council and as an architectural guide with the Preservation Alliance of Greater Philadelphia. She can often be found taking pictures of her dog.
