The College of Arts and Sciences can trace its history back to the start of undergraduate education at the University of Pennsylvania in 1755. Originally titled dean of the College faculty, the position eventually changed to dean of the College. Initially the dean oversaw the activities of the College of Arts and Sciences, which was the undergraduate program open only to men. In 1974 the title was changed to the Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences when the College merged with the College for Women, Wharton’s four social sciences departments, and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, creating the School of Arts and Sciences.
| Dean | Term |
|---|---|
| Edward Rutledge | 1828 |
| Alexander Dallas Bache | 1830 – 1836 |
| Henry Reed | 1837 – 1846 |
| George Allen | 1847 – 1865 |
| Francis A. Jackson | 1866 – 1872 |
| J. Peter Lesley | 1872 – 1877 |
| E. Otis Kendall | 1878 – 1879 |
| Charles P. Krauth [ex-officio] | 1880 – 1882 |
| E. Otis Kendall [ex-officio] | 1883 |
| E. Otis Kendall | 1884 – 1889 |
| Horace Jayne | 1890 – 1893 |
| George S. Fullerton | 1894 – 1896 |
| William A. Lamberton | 1896 – 1897 |
| Josiah Penniman | 1897 – 1909 |
| George Egbert Fisher | 1909 – 1912 |
| Arthur Hobson Quinn | 1912 – 1922 |
| Robert B. Burke | 1922 – 1929 |
| Paul Howard Musser | 1929 – 1939 |
| William E. Lingelbach | 1939 – 1941 |
| John M. Fogg, Jr. | 1941 – 1944 |
| Glenn R. Morrow | 1944 – 1952 |
| Lloyd W. Daly | 1952 – 1959 |
| Otto Springer | 1959 – 1968 |
| William E. Stephens | 1969 – 1974 |
| Vartan Gregorian | 1974 – 1978 |
| Robert H. Dyson, Jr. [acting] | 1979 – 1982 |
| Joel Conarroe | 1983 – 1985 |
| Michael Aiken | 1985 – 1987 |
| Walter Wales [acting] | 1987 – 1988 |
| Hugo F. Sonnenschein | 1988 – 1991 |
| Rosemary Stevens | 1991 – 1996 |
| Walter Wales [acting] | 1996 – 1997 |
| Samuel H. Preston | 1997 – 2004 |
| Rebecca Bushnell | 2005 – 2013 |
| Steven J. Fluharty | 2013 – Present |