U.S. President Joe Biden claimed he was a “full professor” at the University of Pennsylvania for several years during a speech on Thursday. Though Biden was paid over $700,000 to give speeches at UPenn, he never taught any classes.
“I’ve been on a lot of university campuses,” Biden said while speaking at North Carolina AT&T State University. “Matter of fact, for four years I was a full professor at the University of Pennsylvania,” the president added.
Joe Biden while speaking at North Carolina A&T State University: "I've been on a lot of University campuses. As a matter of fact, for four years, I was a full professor at the University of Pennsylvania." pic.twitter.com/5dg13Fij4G
— Newsmax (@newsmax) April 14, 2022
In 2017, the University of Pennsylvania named Biden the “Benjamin Franklin Presidential Practice Professor.” Kate Bedingfield, who worked as a spokesperson for Biden at the time, stressed that he would not be teaching any classes.
Biden was ultimately paid $776,527 during his time at the University of Pennsylvania, which was largely spent giving speeches, according to PhillyMag.
The University of Pennsylvania is home to the “Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement”; a think tank that granted Biden an office on campus. “The Penn Biden Center promises significant impact for both Penn’s teaching and research missions. As Presidential Practice Professor, Biden will hold joint appointments in the Annenberg School for Communication and the School of Arts and Sciences, with a secondary affiliation in the Wharton School,” the university said in a statement in 2017.
As National File previously reported, the think tank was home to numerous Biden Administration officials, including U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. In 2017, Biden was publicly welcomed to the university by University of Pennsylvania professor and vice provost of global initiatives Zeke Emanuel, who served in the Obama Administration and was a key architect of Obamacare.
While Biden never taught at UPenn, he did teach a constitutional law seminar at Widener University in Delaware County PA. From 1991 through 2008, Biden worked as an adjunct professor and co-taught the class.