“Every day of my career in public service has been motivated by the desire to ensure that every American is treated with dignity and gets a fair shot,” Biden said in a statement. | Getty Biden to take roles at Delaware, Pennsylvania universities

Former Vice President Joe Biden will make his foray into education at his and President Donald Trump’s respective alma maters.

Biden, a University of Delaware alumnus, will serve as founding chair of Delaware’s Biden Institute, the university announced Tuesday. The institute will be “a new research and policy center focused on developing public policy solutions on issues ranging from economic reform and environmental sustainability to civil rights, criminal justice, women’s rights and more,” the university said. “The institute will also convene thought leaders on the most important issues of the day.”


“Every day of my career in public service has been motivated by the desire to ensure that every American is treated with dignity and gets a fair shot,” Biden said in a statement. “I am happy to continue that work at my alma mater, a place that is stamped on my heart. I look forward to working with a top notch policy staff at the Biden Institute to continue the hard work of developing public policy to benefit American families.”

University of Delaware President Dennis Assanis hailed Biden as “one of our most distinguished and loyal alumni” and expressed the university’s excitement about the new partnership. Biden has spoken at four of the university’s commencement ceremonies and donated his Senatorial papers to its library in 2011.

“His vast experience as a public servant for more than 40 years will bring an important focus to many domestic policy matters to enhance the broader portfolio of programs within our school of public policy,” Assanis said. “His insight and experience will lend invaluable enhancement to programming, education and research initiatives as the University of Delaware helps shape the future leaders of our society.”

At Trump’s alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania, Biden will serve as the Benjamin Franklin presidential practice professor and head the Washington, D.C.-based Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, which the university described Tuesday as “a new center focused principally on diplomacy, foreign policy, and national security.”

“The Penn Biden Center promises significant impact for both Penn’s teaching and research missions,” the university said, noting that Biden will hold joint appointments in its schools of communication and arts and sciences.

Biden said he looks forward to building on “promoting and protecting the post-WWII international order that keeps the United States safe and strong.”

“The Penn Biden Center and I will be engaging with Penn’s wonderful students while partnering with its eminent faculty and global centers to convene world leaders, develop and advance smart policy, and impact the national debate about how America can continue to lead in the 21st Century,” he added.

Penn President Amy Gutmann heaped praise on Biden, calling him “one of the greatest statesmen of our times” and extolling his “distinguished career of service to our nation.”

“He has demonstrated a unique capacity to bring people together across divides and to craft constructive responses to some of the toughest and most important policy challenges of our day,” she said. “His unsurpassed understanding of diplomacy and far-ranging grasp of world issues make him an ideal fit to further Penn's global engagement.”