Jane Coyle Morris is the Executive Director of the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships at the University of Pennsylvania. As Executive Director, Jane provides leadership, vision, and direction for CURF, working closely with the staff and faculty to promote opportunities for undergraduate research and nationally competitive scholarships. Jane also oversees the Thouron Award, a graduate exchange program between the United Kingdom and the University of Pennsylvania.  Before coming to Penn, Jane served as the Executive Director of Duke University’s Office of Undergraduate Scholars and Fellows and as the Director of Villanova’s Center for Research and Fellowships. Prior to her career in higher education, Jane had a 20-year career as a research scientist.

Jane holds a B.S. in Biology from Villanova University and an M.A. in Biology from Bryn Mawr College. She is a former President of the National Association of Fellowship Advisors, serving as a direct liaison between the scholarship advisors and the leadership of foundations including the Rhodes, the Marshall, the Mitchell, and the Udall. In this role, Jane participated directly in helping the Marshall Scholarship Program evaluate and revise their selection criteria to include those same qualities of intellectual leadership that define excellence in a broader and more meaningful context. Jane believes deeply in the power of engaging students in an authentic process of discernment, articulation, action, and reflection that moves students from the classroom into post-graduate lives where they can make meaningful contributions to the world.