Ferguson, Missouri, disrupted a holiday party for students at Gutmann's home. As a gesture of support for the students' cause, Gutmann joined them in lying on the ground to symbolize the four-and-a-half hours that Brown's body was left lying on the street in Ferguson after his death. Members of the Penn police force publicly responded to the show of support, with the head of the police union writing a public letter criticizing the move and the chief of the police department responding with a letter defending Gutmann's actions. Tenure as president On May 8, 2012, Penn announced that Gutmann's contract had been renewed through 2019. In announcing the extension, David L. Cohen, chair of Penn's Board of Trustees, stated that Penn's "Trustees feel very strongly that Amy Gutmann is simply the best university president in the country. Under her superb leadership, Penn is a stronger and more vibrant institution than at any time in its storied history." In November 2016 Cohen, still Board Chairman, announced that Gutmann's contract would be extended until 2022, making her the longest-serving president ever at Penn. In 2017, Gutmann's total compensation was $2.9 million, making her the highest paid private college president in Pennsylvania and fourth highest in the United States. United States Ambassador to Germany On July 2, 2021, President Joe Biden nominated her to serve as the United States Ambassador to Germany. Hearings on her nomination were held before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on December 14, 2021. Her nomination expired at the end of the year and was returned to President Biden on January 3, 2022. President Biden renominated Gutmann the next day. The committee favorably reported her nomination to the Senate floor on January 12, 2022. On February 8, 2022, the United States Senate confirmed her nomination by a 54-42 vote. She presented her credentials on February 17, 2022. Scholarly career Through her writings, Gutmann has consistently sought to bridge theory and policy to advance the core values of a civil democratic society: liberty, opportunity and mutual respect. In a recent ranking of US political scientists in PhD-granting departments, she is ranked second-highest in citations among all political theorists, eighth-highest among all women political scientists, and has been cited more than any other political scientist at the University of Pennsylvania. Her first major contribution to political philosophy was her book Democratic Education (1987; revised 1999). The book addresses the central questions