Newly Inaugurated Drexel University President Looks to the Past and Future — and the Stars
Antonio Merlo formally addressed the crowd of Dragons and friends of the University during his official investiture ceremony. All photos by Shira Yudkoff Photography.
Antonio Merlo, PhD, was officially installed as Drexel University’s president on April 16, about nine months after he first started at the University. The momentous occasion was recognized with an investiture ceremony at the Daskalaskis Athletic Center that brought together Drexel faculty, professional staff, students, alumni, Board of Trustee members, delegates from other universities and the community members. It was just one of the many events held during the week to celebrate Merlo and a new chapter in the University’s history.
During the event, Drexel and community leaders offered greetings and addressed the crowd, sharing their hopes for Drexel and experiences with Merlo as he settled in at the University. Daniel Diermeier, PhD, chancellor of Vanderbilt University, who has known Merlo personally and professionally for more than three decades, was the featured speaker at the event.
At the end of the ceremony, Merlo was officially presented with a chain of office, hood and cap formally investing him with the honors and rank to lead the institution.
In his inaugural address, he outlined how his goals and priorities for Drexel are inspired by a blend of his own personal experiences and the University’s 135-year history.
He has been leading Drexel since July 2025, when he began at the University after serving as the Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Science at New York University (NYU) since 2019. Merlo has taught at the University of Minnesota, NYU and University of Pennsylvania and served as dean of the School of Social Sciences at Rice University. He earned a Laurea summa cum laude in economics and social sciences from Bocconi University in Milan and a doctorate in economics from NYU; he has also received an honorary Master of Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania.
Merlo’s journey as a first-generation college student originally from Italy has shaped his professional work ethic, guiding values and ideas about higher education in America, he said. Growing up, he learned the value of “olio di gomito,” which is, as he translated, “the Italian way of saying ‘elbow grease,’ good old fashioned hard work.” He said he will bring that mindset to his presidency at Drexel to advance its experiential education, research opportunities and civic and community engagement.
He promised to make Drexel “even more student-centered and more student-focused,” and will continue to invest in the University’s faculty and professional staff. He believes all Dragons can share and promote “passion and purpose” across the University, he said.
The leaders of the Drexel’s Graduate Student Association (GSA) and Undergraduate Student Government Association (USGA) both attested to Merlo’s commitment to students during their speeches. He holds monthly meetings with both organizations and has also instituted student office hours to learn more about student concerns.
“In our conversations with him, one question consistently stands out: ‘What are graduate students telling you?’ That question reflects a leader who not only listens but also values student voices as essential to institutional progress,” said Kayode Oluwasegun, GSA president and a PhD candidate in mathematics who is graduating this year from the College of Arts and Sciences.
Sanjna Srinivasan, USGA president and BS/MS biomedical engineering ’27 from the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, said that Merlo’s new presidency marked “not only the beginning of a new administration, but the beginning of a renewed commitment to students, collaboration and shared progress.”
In his address, Merlo identified student success as the University’s guiding “North Star” during his tenure. And it was his Italian heritage, work ethic and aspirations for Drexel that formed another look to the stars, and the future; he quoted the final line of the first canticle, “The Inferno,” in the 14th century Italian poet Dante Alighieri’s “Divine Comedy” narrative poem.
In English, the line reads: “And then we emerged to see the stars again.”
He promised that as the faculty, professional staff members and students work together during this new journey in Drexel history, “the sky will glitter with all that our Dragons have achieved,” he said.
For Merlo, the passage represents what he hopes everyone at Drexel will work towards, and what he hopes to guide Drexel to become, during his tenure.
“At this moment, higher education in America needs wayfarers and path finders, schools and universities willing and able to travel in new directions and find new destinations,” he said. “And today I believe Drexel University is poised to do just that.”
Drexel was founded in 1891 as a technical institution that would prepare the burgeoning workforce for industry and professional opportunities. It was open to students of all genders, races, classes and religions, and the modern iteration of the institution has upheld that same accessibility — and the founding values originally included in its original name: the Drexel Institute of Art, Science and Industry. Several of the speakers, including Merlo, invoked the words of the University’s founder, financier and philanthropist Anthony J. Drexel (1826–1893): “I know the world is going to change, and therefore, the university must change with it.”
Merlo shared how the University has survived by adapting to professional, educational and societal changes, such as the 1919 creation of co-op as the world recovered from World War I and the Spanish flu pandemic. That pivot point — one of several in Drexel history — shaped Drexel into a leader in experiential education that it still is today.
“Change is a part of who we are,” said Denis O’Brien, MBA ’87, vice chair of the Board of Trustees and immediate past interim president who led Drexel from 2024–25, later adding, “This innate willingness to adapt, to be resilient and to think ahead is one of Drexel’s greatest advantages.”
Executive Vice President and Nina Henderson Provost Paul E. Jensen, PhD, noted that Drexel has “long benefited from visionary leadership,” and that he has served under two of them since he first joined Drexel’s economics faculty in 1997: Constantine Papadakis, who served for 14 years from 1995 until his death in 2008, and John Fry, who also served for 14 years from 2010 until he left in 2024 to become president of Temple University.
“President Merlo brings to Drexel an extraordinary combination of qualities: an accomplished scholar, thoughtful academic leader and someone who understands how to build teams and inspire people to pursue ambitious goals,” said Jensen. “He understands higher education’s impact and higher education’s current, pivotal moment.”
Diermeier, the chancellor of Vanderbilt University and longtime friend of Merlo, said that “at a moment when the stakes for higher education could not be higher, Drexel has chosen its leader wisely.” As the ceremony’s honored speaker, he shared anecdotes and observations about Drexel’s new president that illustrated the qualities and values he brings to the University.
“Dear members of the Drexel community, you have chosen a president with a brilliant mind and a relentless focus on excellence, a leader who can define a vision and execute it with the courage of his conviction,” he said. “Antonio Merlo will lead this great university, with its proud history of innovation, and ensure that the education offered here remains a noble and transformative force.”
Merlo will oversee the conclusion of Academic Transformation, a multi-year process in which Drexel is reimagining its academic model and curriculum. It stands to be another “pivot point” in the University’s history that will set its path for future success.
“We have an amazing opportunity now to rebuild better — not just better courses and programs, but better systems of communication and cooperation, involving everyone early and often — holding ourselves, as well as each other, accountable for doing our best for the students and families who are entrusting us with their futures,” said Kevin G. Owens, PhD, chair of Faculty Senate and associate professor in the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Chemistry.
Philadelphia’s mayor, the Honorable Cherelle Parker, pointed out another important part of the timing of Merlo’s beginnings at Drexel: He was not only officially inaugurated during the University’s 135th year, but also the year of America’s 250th anniversary. Merlo has returned to the city after first spending 14 years at the University of Pennsylvania, where served as the Lawrence R. Klein Professor of Economics, chair of Penn’s Economics Department and director of the Penn Institute for Economic Research. Parker called it both a “homecoming” and a “renewal of vows.”
“Drexel University plays an integral role in our city, and the blue and gold pride that emanates from here today, you have to know it’s shining bright as your community formally invests President Merlo today,” said Parker.
After the day’s investiture ceremony and subsequent University-wide reception, a special moment later that evening brought out the blue and gold pride Parker had referenced, under the nighttime stars that Merlo had mentioned. Boathouse Row, the iconic Philadelphia landmark, was lit up in blue and gold on April 16 to celebrate Merlo’s inauguration.
Watch the recording of the April 16 investiture ceremony.