Penn Appoints Dolores Albarracin to Lead APPC

The Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) at the University of Pennsylvania has named Dolores Albarracín as its new director, effective July 1, 2026. Albarracín succeeds Kathleen Hall Jamieson, who led the Center for more than three decades and will continue her association with APPC as director emerita.

Albarracín is a Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor with joint appointments at the Annenberg School for Communication and the University's Department of Psychology in the School of Arts and Sciences. She also serves as director of Penn’s Social Action Lab and has led the Communication Science division at APPC, where her work has focused on understanding how communication influences public attitudes, health behaviors, and policy outcomes.

Her appointment marks a new chapter for one of the United States' leading public policy research institutions. Since its establishment, APPC has combined interdisciplinary research with public engagement to address some of society’s most pressing challenges, including democratic participation, public health, science communication, climate change, and media literacy.

“There is no scholar in the country more qualified to direct the policy center at this time than Dolores Albarracín,” says Jamieson, who will take on the title of director emerita and continue to supervise several research areas at APPC.

Founded in 1993, APPC was created following a landmark philanthropic gift from publisher, diplomat, and philanthropist Walter H. Annenberg. At the time, Annenberg announced a $365 million donation to multiple educational institutions—the largest private gift to higher education in U.S. history then.

Key Highlights:

• Dolores Albarracín was named director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, effective July 1, 2026
• Communication science expert to lead APPC’s research on public policy and behavioral science
• APPC continues its legacy of advancing research on democracy, health, and climate communication

Of that amount, $120 million was awarded to the University of Pennsylvania, including $100 million to endow the Annenberg School for Communication and $20 million to establish the Annenberg Public Policy Center under Jamieson's leadership.

Over the past 33 years, APPC has become widely recognized for producing influential, evidence-based research across a broad range of policy areas. Its work has informed discussions on campaign finance reform, civics education, congressional civility, children's educational television, media guidelines for suicide reporting, vaccine communication, and substance use prevention.

The Center has also developed several nationally recognized public initiatives. These include FactCheck.org, an independent fact-checking service that monitors the factual accuracy of political discourse, as well as Annenberg Classroom, which provides free educational resources on the U.S. Constitution and civics education. APPC also helped establish the Civics Renewal Network, a coalition of nonpartisan organizations dedicated to improving civic education.

Today, APPC's research is organized into three primary divisions—Communication Science, Institutions of Democracy, and Climate Communication—while also supporting the Annenberg Center for Advanced Research in Communication, which promotes interdisciplinary collaboration among communication scholars.

With Albarracín assuming the directorship, the Center is expected to further strengthen its research on behavioral science, public communication, and evidence-based policymaking. Her expertise in social psychology and communication science positions APPC to continue advancing research that informs public policy and addresses complex societal issues through rigorous scholarship and public engagement.