August 11, 2026 Volume 73 Issue 2

Appointing the University President is chief among the duties of Penn’s Board of Trustees. Following President Larry Jameson’s recent announcement of his leadership transition, the Trustees have begun the process of identifying his successor. The first step, as set forth in our Statutes, is the convening of a Consultative Committee.

The Consultative Committee consists of a cross-section of the Penn community, including Trustees, Deans, undergraduate and graduate students, staff, and faculty. The committee identifies the priorities, challenges, and qualifications most important to Penn, and delivers a summary of its findings to the chair, who carries them into the search process, which is led by the Search Committee.

The Consultative Committee has now been duly constituted and will begin its work later this month. Committee members are listed below. I encourage members of the Penn community to respond to the survey for the presidential search, or to provide input directly to a member of the Committee. 

Universities such as Penn have the opportunity and the responsibility to think in terms of decades and centuries. Penn is at an inflection point with great promise, and the choice of the next President is highly consequential. I am grateful to all members of our community for your support and encouragement as we find our next leader.

—Ramanan Raghavendran, 
Chair of the Board of Trustees
Chair of the Presidential Search Consultative Committee

Members of the Consultative Committee:

• Kathleen M. Brown, David Boies Professor of History, School of Arts & Sciences
• Musab Chummun, C’27, President, Undergraduate Assembly
• Jonathan A. Epstein, Robert G. Dunlop Professor and Dean of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine and Executive Vice President of the University of Pennsylvania for the Health System
• Eric A. Feldman, Heimbold Chair in International Law, Professor of Law, Professor of Medical Ethics & Health Policy, Penn Carey Law
• Cait Lamberton, Alberto I. Duran President’s Distinguished Professor, Professor of Marketing, Vice Dean and Director of Wharton Undergraduate Division, Wharton School
• Yphtach Lelkes, Michael X. Delli Carpini Professor of Communication, Annenberg School for Communication
• Ryan D. Limaye, ENG’93, W’93, WG’93, Trustee; Chair, Penn Engineering Board of Advisors
• Judith A. Long, Sol Katz Professor of Medicine and Chief, Division of General Internal Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine
• Catherine M. O’Hern Lyons, C’86, Trustee; Chair Trustee Education Committee
• Marc F. McMorris, C’90, WG’94, Trustee; Chair, Investment Board
• Colleen O’Neill, C’98, GSE’99, GFA’16, WG’18, Vice President for Finance and Treasurer
• Dhananjay M. Pai, W’83, Trustee; Chair, Penn Medicine Board
• Julie Beren Platt, C’79, Trustee Emerita; Chair, Penn Live Arts Board of Advisors
• Ramanan Raghavendran, ENG’89, W’89, LPS’15, Chair, Board of Trustees; Chair, Consultative Committee
• Theodore E. Schlein, C’86, Trustee
• Whitney Soule, Vice Provost and Dean of Admissions
• Mark Trodden, Dean and Thomas S. Gates, Jr. Professor of Physics & Astronomy, School of Arts & Sciences
• Duncan J. Watts, Stevens University Professor and Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor, Annenberg School for Communication, Penn Engineering, and Wharton School
• Adam Ziada, GR’27, Perelman School of Medicine; President, GAPSA

Please note that survey submissions (link here) are anonymous and will be consolidated and shared with the Consultative Committee. 

The University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine (Penn Vet) has appointed Shaun Rowe as executive director of Ryan Hospital. Mr. Rowe joined Penn Vet on July 20, 2026, bringing more than a decade of healthcare leadership experience. As executive director, Mr. Rowe will oversee hospital operations and work closely with Evelyn Galban, chief medical officer and professor of clinical neurology and neurosurgery, and the department of clinical sciences and advanced medicine to further Ryan Hospital’s role as one of the nation’s leading academic veterinary medical centers.

“Ryan Hospital’s success has always been rooted in exceptional people, and Shaun is an outstanding addition to that tradition,” said Andrew Hoffman, the Gilbert S. Kahn Dean of Penn Vet. “Throughout his career, he has demonstrated a commitment to building strong partnerships across clinical and administrative disciplines. His experience as a physician assistant gives him a deep appreciation for the teamwork that underpins every successful hospital. He understands that the highest standard of care depends not only on talented clinicians, but also on the operational support that enables them to do their best work. I look forward to working with Shaun as we continue to expand Ryan’s impact.”

Before joining Penn Vet, Mr. Rowe held several leadership positions at Cooper University Health Care, including administrative director of the Center for Advanced Practice and administrative director of the Cooper Bone and Joint Institute (CBJI). In these concurrent positions, he guided more than 700 advanced practice providers while overseeing the strategic, financial, and operational performance of a multidisciplinary musculoskeletal service spanning inpatient and outpatient care. Earlier, as director of clinical operations for the CBJI, Mr. Rowe led initiatives to improve patient access, operational efficiency, and interdisciplinary care delivery. Throughout his tenure at Cooper, one of the Philadelphia region’s leading health systems, Mr. Rowe partnered with executives and physicians to support the institution’s long-term growth. Before moving into healthcare administration, Mr. Rowe practiced as a physician assistant in orthopedic trauma. 

“Now that I’ve joined the team at Penn Vet’s Ryan Hospital, my career has come full circle,” said Mr. Rowe. “My very first experience in healthcare, before and during college, was in veterinary medicine. It instilled a deep appreciation for the people who dedicate their careers to the health and welfare of animals. I look forward to supporting the work of the faculty, clinicians, staff, and students by ensuring they have the resources to continue to advance the veterinary profession and deliver exceptional patient care.”

Mr. Rowe received his BS, MPAS (Master of Physician Assistant Studies), and MBA from the University of the Cumberlands in Kentucky. He and his family live in New Jersey.

July 29 marked the launch of the U.S. National Science Foundation AI Institute for Human-AI Cooperation (NSF HAIC) with a $21.5 million, five-year award. Penn will partner with the University of Delaware (UD), which will lead the effort, and join other collaborators that include Delaware State University, Princeton University, and the University of Florida. Headquartered at UD’s Data Science Institute, HAIC will focus on pioneering AI’s role in improving healthcare.

In total, HAIC will bring together more than 40 partners across academia, industry, government, healthcare, and nonprofit organizations, serving as a national hub for human-centered AI—designed to support, not replace, human decision making in healthcare.

“Our goal is to transform artificial intelligence into an adaptive teammate, allowing human users and AI systems to interact in dynamic collaboration,” said HAIC director Cathy Wu, the Unidel Edward G. Jefferson Chair in Engineering and Computer Science at UD. “By developing AI that enables personalized models tailored to individual needs and decision-making, our institute will chart a new path for healthcare and cultivate the next generation of leaders in AI.”

A National Hub for Human-Centered AI

HAIC will bring together experts in artificial intelligence and machine learning, physical therapy and rehabilitation, ethics, engineering and robotics, neuroscience and biomechanics, education, and workforce development.

HAIC researchers will integrate multimodal data—from movement and physiological signals to clinical records and patient feedback—to generate both population level insights and patient specific predictions. They also will use AI-enabled digital twins to create virtual versions (or avatars) of patients, allowing clinicians to refine treatment options before applying them in real-world care. These avatars also will provide a biophysical reference for patients throughout their path to recovery.

At Penn, HAIC will integrate expertise from the School of Engineering and Applied Science, the Perelman School of Medicine, and the Wharton School. “Penn brings deep strength in machine learning, robotics, and medicine, and with the expertise of the University of Delaware and other NSF HAIC partners, we can build trustworthy AI systems that truly work alongside clinicians and patients,” said David Meaney, vice provost for research and the Solomon R. Pollack Professor in Bioengineering.

Penn researchers will focus especially on continual learning, multimodal AI, and human-AI collaboration, developing systems that deliver personalized care, communicate naturally with clinicians and patients, explain their recommendations, and remain aligned with patient goals and ethical standards in complex healthcare environments. These systems will integrate many forms of information—including video, wearable sensor data, medical records, clinical notes, and patient-clinician interactions—to build a deep understanding of patient health and recovery.

Eric Eaton, a research associate professor of computer and information science in Penn Engineering and a faculty member of Penn’s GRASP Lab, will serve as HAIC’s managing director. “Rather than building stand-alone AI tools, we’re developing collaborative AI systems that can act as true clinical partners in real-world healthcare settings,” said Dr. Eaton. “As these systems gain experience, they will continuously adapt and refine how they support clinicians and patients, helping deliver more effective and personalized care.”

Beyond research, HAIC places a strong emphasis on education, workforce development and industry partnerships. Across the participating institutions, undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral researchers will gain hands-on experience. HAIC also aims to empower healthcare professionals to effectively use emerging AI tools.

“This is truly an exciting time for the HAIC Institute to significantly advance AI research, instill trust, promote accessibility, connect with community stakeholders, and translate discovery and technology into economic and societal impact,” Dr. Wu said.

Kristen Ghodsee: Catherine Bryson Professor of Russian and East European Studies

Kristen Ghodsee has been named the Catherine Bryson Professor of Russian and East European Studies. Dr. Ghodsee also serves as a member of the graduate groups in anthropology, history, and comparative literature. She has been conducting primary ethnographic field work in Eastern Europe for more than 30 years and has written widely on the history of socialism, capitalism, and the impact of political economic structures on ordinary life. Her articles and essays have been translated into more than 25 languages and have appeared in numerous national and international publications.

Dr. Ghodsee has authored numerous books, including Second World, Second Sex: Socialist Women’s Activism and Global Solidarity During the Cold War and Taking Stock of the Shock: Social Impacts of the 1989 Revolutions. Her critically acclaimed 2018 trade book, Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism: And Other Arguments for Economic Independence, has appeared in 16 languages. Her latest book, Everyday Utopia: What 2,000 Years of Bold Experiments Can Teach Us About the Good Life, discusses thinkers and communities that have dared to reimagine how we might better arrange our domestic lives. She hosts the podcast, A.K. 47: Selections from the Works of Alexandra Kollontai, which inspired her 2022 book, Red Valkyries: Feminist Lessons from Five Revolutionary Women.

In recognition of the wide international reach of her scholarship and writing, Dr. Ghodsee has held residential research fellowships at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey; the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University; the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C.; the Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies in Germany; the Imre Kertész Kolleg at the Friedrich-Schiller-Universität in Jena, Germany; the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Rostock, Germany; the Aleksanteri Institute of the University of Helsinki in Finland; and the Sciences Po Centre for History in Paris. In 2012, she was awarded a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship for her work in anthropology and cultural studies. In 2025–2026, she was a senior honorary fellow at the Einstein Forum in Potsdam, Germany.

The late Natalie I. Koether, CW’61, L’65, served Penn as a trustee and emeritus chair of the Board of Advisors at Penn Arts & Sciences. She endowed this chair in honor of her high school English teacher, Catherine Bryson, ED ’22, G’47. Catherine Bryson was committed to the Aristotelian precept that knowledge is sufficient justification for learning. Natalie Koether was the first recipient of the Penn Arts & Sciences Dean’s Medal in 1999.

Brian Gregory: Robert I. Williams Endowed Term Professor of Biology

Brian Gregory has been named the Robert I. Williams Endowed Term Professor of Biology. Dr. Gregory conducted his undergraduate studies at the University of Arizona and earned his PhD at Harvard University, studying transcription regulation in bacteria. He completed Damon Runyon Foundation–sponsored postdoctoral work at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in the Ecker lab, studying the mechanisms of plant RNA degradation. 

Over the past 17 years, Dr. Gregory’s lab at Penn has researched numerous aspects of plant RNA biology, using Arabidopsis and sorghum as the primary research organisms. Specifically, his research focuses on the effects of three intrinsic features of RNA molecules, including their form, their various covalent chemical modifications, and their interactions with RNA-binding proteins, on post-transcriptional transcriptome regulation. The lab also researches cell type-specific and subcellular transcriptome regulation and how post-transcriptional regulatory processes affect the responses of plants to various abiotic and biotic stress conditions, with the goal of developing more stress- and pathogen-resilient crop species. 

Dr. Gregory is an editor for several research journals, with roles including editor-in-chief of Academia Molecular Biology and Genomics and deputy editor of The Plant Cell. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and served as a panel member for the Congressional Briefing to “understand the urgent need to advance RNA science.”

Paul C. Williams, W’67, established the Robert I. Williams Endowed Term Chair in memory of his father. At Penn, Mr. Williams has been an engaged and effective volunteer leader, serving in a variety of roles. He is an emeritus Penn Trustee, an emeritus member of the Board of Advisors of Penn Arts & Sciences, and a former president of Penn Alumni. In 2011, he earned Penn’s Alumni Award of Merit. He also served on the former biology department advisory board. In addition to his volunteer engagement, Mr. Williams has been a generous supporter of faculty, students, capital projects, and programs across the University.

Ayako Kano: R. Jean Brownlee Endowed Term Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations

Ayako Kano has been named the R. Jean Brownlee Endowed Term Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations. Dr. Kano’s scholarship focuses on the intersection of gender, performance, politics, and Japanese cultural history from the early modern era to the present. Her major works include Acting Like a Woman in Modern Japan: Theater, Gender, and Nationalism, which examines the first generation of actresses in modern Japan, and Japanese Feminist Debates: A Century of Contention on Sex, Love, and Labor, which analyzes debates among feminists in the context of Japanese intellectual history. She has also co-edited Rethinking Japanese Feminisms, a collection that showcases Japanese feminist ideas and actions as diverse, contentious, and evolving. 

Dr. Kano earned an undergraduate degree in British literature from Keio University, Japan. Her MA and PhD degrees are in comparative literature from Cornell University. At Penn, she teaches modern Japanese fiction, film, and critical theory, Japanese theater, and courses on gender and sexuality in Japan and East Asia. 

Dr. Kano has been at Penn since 1995, and has been a core faculty member in gender, sexuality, and women’s studies, as well as a member of the graduate groups in history, comparative literature, the history of art, and cinema & media studies. She is also an affiliated faculty member in theater arts and in Asian American studies. Since 2025, she has served as director of Penn’s Wolf Humanities Center, having previously directed the Wolf Undergraduate Humanities Forum. 

The R. Jean Brownlee Endowed Term Chair was established by the McLean Contributionship under the direction of the late William L. McLean, III, and his wife. They established this chair in recognition of Dr. Brownlee’s years of service to the contributionship and to Penn and to honor their lifelong friendship with Dr. Brownlee. R. Jean Brownlee earned her doctorate from Penn in political science in 1942 and returned in 1947 as an assistant professor of political science. She served as Dean of the College for Women from 1958 to 1975. In 1986, she received Penn’s honorary Doctor of Laws in recognition of her achievements.

John MacDonald: Schiffman Family Presidential Professor of Criminology

John MacDonald has been named the Schiffman Family Presidential Professor of Criminology. Dr. MacDonald’s research lies at the intersection of crime, public policy, and urban planning, with the goal of creating safer, healthier, and more livable cities. His work focuses on the effects of policing on crime, racial and ethnic disparities in police behavior, and the impact of police reforms.

In his 2019 book, Changing Places, Dr. MacDonald showcases his interdisciplinary approach, demonstrating how people’s health and safety can be improved by transforming neighborhoods block by block. The book illustrates how scientists, urban planners, developers, and residents can collaborate to create and test simple, affordable, and scalable place-based interventions. This work complements his research on policing strategies, as he examines how urban design and policing practices can work together to enhance public safety and reduce racial disparities.

Dr. MacDonald is a prolific researcher, with more than 100 peer-reviewed articles, 25 book chapters and research reports, and four edited books. He is a leading voice in evidence-based policymaking, working at the intersection of criminology, urban studies, and public health. 

Committed to translating research into policy and practice, Dr. MacDonald has served for a decade on the New York Police Department stop-and-frisk federal court-appointed monitoring team, overseeing court-ordered reforms through rigorous data analysis to assess the department’s compliance. He is currently collaborating with the Chicago Police Department to examine patterns and practices related to its use of force and racial disparities in misdemeanor arrests.

Dr. MacDonald has also received the David N. Kershaw Award from the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management and the Joan McCord Award from the Academy of Experimental Criminology, recognizing his significant contributions to research in public policy and experimental criminology, respectively. He is the former co-editor-in-chief of the Journal of Quantitative Criminology, vice-chair of the Committee on Law and Justice of the National Academy of Sciences, and a fellow of the American Society of Criminology and the Academy of Experimental Criminology.

Jeremy N. Schiffman, W’97, and Abby Rosner Schiffman, C’97, established the Schiffman Family Presidential Professorship in 2021. Ms. Schiffman is a member of the Penn Arts & Sciences Ambassador Council. She is a former adjunct instructor at Teachers College of Columbia University, and previously taught high school English in San Francisco and New York City. Mr. Schiffman is a co-founder and managing partner of Palestra Capital Management. In addition to the endowed professorship, they have generously supported numerous initiatives at Penn, including undergraduate financial aid and the Behavior Change for Good Initiative.

Leigh Stearns: Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Term Professor in the Natural Sciences

Leigh Stearns has been named the Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Term Professor in the Natural Sciences. Dr. Stearns’ research focuses on understanding how glaciers and climate interact over a variety of time scales. She earned her PhD from the University of Maine, her MS from Ohio State University, and her BA from Carleton College. Before joining Penn in 2024, she spent 15 years on the faculty at the University of Kansas and served as a faculty fellow with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency from 2022–2025.

Dr. Stearns uses satellite remote sensing, field observations, and numerical modeling to understand glacier dynamics, iceberg calving, and ice-ocean interactions in Greenland and Antarctica, with two decades of continuous fieldwork at Helheim Glacier in East Greenland. She has authored more than 75 peer-reviewed publications and led or co-led over $20 million in research funding from NSF, NASA, ONR, NOAA, and private foundations, including current projects on sea ice and iceberg remote sensing, glacier flow sensitivity, and machine learning applications for glacier dynamics. Dr. Stearns’s contributions have been recognized with a Kavli Frontiers of Science Fellowship, an NSF CAREER Award, the University of Kansas Scholarly Achievement Award, and selection as an Ivy Plus Provost Leadership Fellow.

Beyond her research, Dr. Stearns is deeply engaged in community building and mentorship in polar science. She co-leads a leadership training program for climate scientists, the ISMIP7 Data Working Group, and the Polar Remote Sensing Working Group for the DOD’s ICE-PPR program. She has advised numerous graduate students and postdocs who have gone on to careers in academia, industry, and government.

The Kahn chairs were established through a bequest by Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn. Edmund Kahn was a 1925 Wharton graduate who had a highly successful career in the oil and natural gas industry. Louise Kahn, a graduate of Smith College, worked for Newsweek and owned an interior design firm. They supported many programs and projects at Penn, including Van Pelt Library, the Modern Languages College House, and other initiatives in scholarship and the humanities.

Deborah A. Thomas: Geraldine R. Segal Professor of American Social Thought

Deborah A. Thomas, chair of the department of anthropology, has been named the Geraldine R. Segal Professor of American Social Thought. She also directs the Center for Experimental Ethnography and is the author of Exorbitance: A Speculative Ethnography of Inheritance, Political Life in the Wake of the Plantation, Exceptional Violence, and Modern Blackness. Dr. Thomas is also the co-director of the documentary films Bad Friday and Four Days in May and the writer and visual editor of the audio-visual prose-poem, “Tidalectic Repair,” which was exhibited at Wrightwood 659 Chicago from April to July 2026 and selected for the Kingston Biennial in Jamaica.

From 2016 to 2020, Dr. Thomas was editor-in-chief of American Anthropologist, the flagship journal of the American Anthropological Association (AAA). She also co-chaired the AAA Commission for the Ethical Treatment of Human Remains. She has received several awards, including a Guggenheim fellowship, and she is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Before her life in the academy, she was a professional dancer with the New York–based Urban Bush Women.

The late Bernard G. Segal, C’28, L’31, HON’69, and Geraldine R. Segal, ED’30, GR’78, established the Geraldine R. Segal Professorship in American Social Thought in 1978. The late Geraldine R. Segal completed her PhD in sociology at Penn and was the author of In Any Fight Some Fall and Blacks in the Law. Bernard Segal, a former Penn Trustee, was one of America’s most respected lawyers and received Penn’s Alumni Award of Merit in 1977. The professorship is interdisciplinary and is awarded to a scholar of national reputation whose central interests include human rights, civil liberties, and race relations.

Penn GSE has named Jessica Richard the director of its school leadership program. The appointment follows her service as interim director, helping guide the program through a year of growth and momentum while maintaining its focus on culturally responsive, innovative, and reflective leadership.

The announcement was made by Laurie Hall, vice dean of executive programs, who praised Ms. Richard’s dedication to preparing the next generation of school leaders.

“She has demonstrated exceptional leadership, deep expertise, and a strong commitment to our students and alumni,” Dr. Hall said. “We are delighted to officially welcome her as director of the school leadership program.”

In addition to higher education experience, Ms. Richard brings more than 20 years of experience in K–12 education and educational leadership to the role. Her career has included leadership positions across Pennsylvania and New Jersey, including impactful work as a principal and chief academic officer. Across those roles, she developed a strong record of improving instruction, building collaborative teams, supporting teacher development, strengthening school culture, and designing systems focused on student achievement.

Ms. Richard first joined the program as associate director in 2020. Over the past year, as interim director, she provided steady leadership while helping the program deepen its commitment to practice-based preparation, meaningful collaboration, and the development of leaders who are prepared to meet the evolving needs of schools and communities.

Her leadership reflects the core mission of the program: connecting research with practice in ways that help educators lead meaningful and sustainable change. Ms. Richard has worked to strengthen the student experience, support cohort-based learning anchored in research, elevate collaboration among educators from a range of school settings, and advance the professional networks that make the program a lasting community for students and alumni.

In her new role, Ms. Richard is focused on building on that foundation while continuing to refine the program’s curriculum to reflect the complex realities of contemporary school leadership. These updates will emphasize inquiry-driven leadership, experiential learning, culturally responsive school leadership, and field-based application, ensuring that students engage deeply with real-world challenges and learn to lead in ways that are reflective, inclusive, and grounded in evidence.

Going forward, Ms. Richard will continue to strengthen partnerships across public and independent school contexts, expand opportunities for students to apply leadership theory in real-world settings, and deepen alumni engagement. This work will serve to advance the program’s mission to prepare graduates to lead instructional improvement, support educators, build trust with families and communities, and create school environments where all stakeholders can thrive.

As the reach of artificial intelligence expands into new fields, a new leadership role has emerged in city and state governments: Chief AI Officer. “There’s a seismic shift going on right now,” said John Lapinski, the Robert A. Fox Leadership Professor of Political Science and a member of the SAS AI Advisory Group. “Cities and states are hiring AI leaders to figure out how to integrate the data world into the public sphere. Most are essentially starting from scratch, trying to figure out as they go how to use AI responsibly.”

Against this backdrop, the Chief AI Officer Initiative emerged. The program, which launches this fall, is the newest facet of the AI & Data Across SAS Collaborative, part of the school’s recently launched strategic vision, SAS Horizons: Pathways for a Changing World. Dr. Lapinski, who is also faculty director of the Robert A. Fox Leadership Program and the Fels Institute of Government and director of the Penn Program on Opinion Research and Election Studies, will lead the initiative.

At the start, the initiative will aim to fill the current networking vacuum for state and local Chief AI Officers, as well as partner with a few such professionals to create experiential learning opportunities for Penn students. Down the line, the plan is to broaden the work to help cities and states navigate AI use, and to foster expanded curricular opportunities for students in the College’s data science–related minors.

“This is a vital moment in artificial intelligence, as some of the best and brightest minds in SAS are thinking critically about this new technology,” said Mark Trodden, Dean of the School of Arts & Sciences and the Thomas S. Gates, Jr. Professor of Physics & Astronomy. “The Chief AI Officer Initiative will foster collaboration with AI leaders at many levels of government and drive important conversations in this space.”

Dr. Lapinski conceived of the new program’s scaffolding. “I realized this isn’t going away; this is important, I want to understand it, and I want to shape it,” he said. Through his work with Fels and the Fox Leadership Program, he’d recently begun hearing from governments struggling to easily integrate AI into public policy and governance. He also learned that many of the individuals tasked with solving these challenges were siloed, cut off from other leaders being asked to answer the same questions. “There’s no network, no formal association where they can come together and interact,” he said.

As a first step, Dr. Lapinski is working with key faculty at Penn to build out a team to launch the initiative, including its first annual meeting. “The goal is to figure out how a Chief AI Officer in one place is dealing with a problem, so they can share that knowledge with others,” Dr. Lapinski said. This coming academic year, invitations for the first conference will go out.

In that same time frame, Dr. Lapinski also hopes to begin collaborating with AI leaders in local governments, starting with Philadelphia. Partnerships in Seattle are being explored, and links to programming in San Francisco through Penn West, and Penn Washington in Washington, D.C., will provide additional convening and program opportunities. With those partnerships, his goal is twofold: To understand how the vast trove of faculty expertise at Penn Arts & Sciences can act as a concrete resource, and to seek avenues for student involvement within those institutions.

Overall, Dr. Lapinski sees the initiative as a way to bring together theory and practice, to counter the notion that academics can sometimes be, as he puts it, “divorced from the implementers and practitioners.” He also hopes to learn from and engage with colleagues about how they are thinking about AI “both in positive ways and in ways where they’re apprehensive,” and to foster dialogue about the “right mix” of how this technology gets used and what students should or shouldn’t be taught.

He acknowledges that right now—as academics and policymakers alike try to figure out the ramifications of AI—it is crucial to be part of the conversation. And thus far, no one has provided this kind of outlet for Chief AI Officers. “Now is the moment,” Dr. Lapinski said. “We won’t solve all the challenges, but I would like us to be convening the table, and we’re well-positioned to do so.”

AI and data science have been and remain priority areas for the school. The Chief AI Officer Initiative is the next step in keeping momentum in this area moving forward, one facet of many in Horizons’ AI & Data Across SAS Collaborative.

On July 1, 2026, Dolores Albarracín, a Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor, assumed the directorship of Penn’s Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC). Since its founding, APPC has examined public opinion and the effects of fact-checking and other forms of communication across politics and civics, health and science, adolescent risk, and climate. 

An award-winning social psychologist with appointments at the Annenberg School for Communication (ASC) and the School of Arts & Sciences’ psychology department, Dr. Albarracín directs the Social Action Lab at Penn as well as the policy center’s communication science division.

Under the direction of Kathleen Hall Jamieson, the University’s Elizabeth Ware Packard Professor of Communication and then-Dean of ASC, APPC has produced influential research on topics as diverse as civics education, campaign finance reform, children’s television programming, civility in Congress, suicide reporting guidelines for news media, and messaging about vaccine policy and substance use.

In June 1993, publisher, philanthropist, and ambassador Walter H. Annenberg announced what was then the largest gift to private education in U.S. history, $365 million, to several institutions. The gift included $120 million to his alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania—$100 million to endow ASC and $20 million to create APPC, to be directed by Dr. Jamieson.

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

In its earliest years, the center conducted background research for congressional retreats on comity and research on the effects of campaign spending on politics. The center expanded its civics offerings to include Annenberg Classroom, a source of no-cost resources on the Constitution, and the Civics Renewal Network, a consortium of nonpartisan organizations offering high-quality educational resources. Led by Penn professors, APPC’s research divisions currently focus on communication science, institutions of democracy, and climate communication. The center also includes two engagement initiatives: FactCheck.org and the Annenberg Center for Advanced Research in Communication.

Tyler Nase, an Olympian who previously spent five seasons at Penn with the men’s lightweight program and most recently served as the head men’s lightweight rowing coach at Cornell, has been named the head women’s rowing coach at Penn. Mr. Nase began his duties on July 20.

“Tyler embodies everything we were looking for in the next leader of Penn Women’s Rowing,” said Alanna Wren, the T. Gibbs Kane, Jr. W’69 Director of Athletics and Recreation. “He is an Olympian, an accomplished coach with a proven record of developing championship-caliber student-athletes, and someone who understands what makes Penn special from his previous time on our campus. Beyond his impressive résumé, Tyler is a thoughtful leader who is deeply committed to the holistic development of our student-athletes. We are thrilled to welcome him and his family back to Penn and are excited for the future of our women’s rowing program under his leadership.”

While he was at Cornell, Mr. Nase’s teams captured several cup races each year and were among the top teams at the Eastern Sprints and IRA National Championships. Highlights included wins at the Head of the Charles and Princeton Chase in 2022, a Lake Carnegie course record by the varsity eight in 2025, and Cornell’s best IRA Presidents Trophy finish in five years, placing fourth in 2024.

Mr. Nase was the John R. Rockwell Assistant Coach of the men’s lightweight program at Penn from 2017-2022, helping the Quakers to their first Eastern Sprints title in 50 years in 2019, as well as a third-place finish nationally. In 2021, Penn was second at IRAs. In cup races during Mr. Nase’s tenure, Penn won the Callow Cup over Navy in 2019, while in 2022 the Quakers wrested the Wood-Hammond Cup from Princeton for the first time since 2005, beating the Tigers on their Lake Carnegie home course for the first time since 1978. 

“Coming into this role, I want to listen first, then lead,” Mr. Nase said. “My goal is to build a program where every athlete feels heard, supported, and pushed to become the best version of herself on and off the water. This next chapter is about continued development and growth for our athletes and for this program.”

The Phoenixville, Pennsylvania native and La Salle College High School graduate competed and trained with the U.S. Olympic team from 2013-2016. 

He was a member of the Men’s Lightweight Four at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, and has also competed in eight World Championships and two World Cup regattas as a member of the U.S. National Team. He won a bronze medal at the 2016 World Cup, silver at the 2013 World Cup, and bronze at the 2008 Junior World Championships.

Mr. Nase was a four-year letter winner in lightweight rowing at Princeton, and earned the program’s Gordon Sikes Medal as a senior captain. 

A three-time member of the Tigers’ Varsity 8 boat, he helped lead Princeton to an IRA National title in 2010.

Mr. Nase graduated from Princeton University in 2013 with a degree in sociology. He earned a master’s of business administration from Temple University in 2023.

The Arthur Ross Gallery has appointed acclaimed artist Ralph Lemon the David Evans Family Artist-in-Residence at Penn for summer 2026. Mr. Lemon will conduct research exploring architectural shadows, as subtext and invisibility, drawing on the Penn Libraries’ collections and the architecture of Frank Furness’s landmark Anne and Jerome Fisher Fine Arts Library building. He also will advise the Arthur Ross Gallery on a new and evolving series of future artistic commissions.

The eight-week residency will culminate in a public lecture-performance on Friday, September 18, 2026, from 6-8 p.m. at the Kleinman Energy Forum on the fourth floor of the Fisher Fine Arts Library. The event is free and open to the public.

The project is co-curated by Emily Zimmerman, director of exhibitions and curatorial affairs at the Arthur Ross Gallery, and Cole Akers, curator and associate director of special projects at the Glass House museum in Connecticut.

The residency opens the research phase of a multi-year artistic initiative organized by the Arthur Ross Gallery, commissioning three contemporary artists to create new, site-responsive works inspired by the Fisher Fine Arts Library building. The multidisciplinary commissioned works across dance, sound, and visual art will begin development in the spring of 2027.

“We are delighted to welcome an artist of such profound vision to engage with the history of the Fisher Fine Arts Library and to open the questions that will guide this series of commissions in dialogue with the Furness building,” Ms. Zimmerman said. “This building was once home to the Institute of Contemporary Art and the Penn Museum, and in the 1960s it served as an artistic hearth on campus. The series will invite in new audiences, and those who know it well to see the building anew.”

The residency and lecture-performance are realized in partnership with the Weitzman School of Design’s department of fine arts and its new Penn Performance Studio. Mr. Lemon was the Keith L. and Kathy Sachs Visiting Professor at Weitzman during the 2018-2019 academic year. Mr. Lemon’s residency continues his decades-long practice of research-driven, cross-disciplinary art making, in which choreography, writing, drawing, and performance operate as porous and interdependent forms.

Mr. Lemon has spent more than four decades working across choreography, writing, drawing, and performance. He founded the Ralph Lemon Dance Company in 1985 and led it for a decade before pursuing long-form, research-driven projects, a turn that reshaped his practice and helped redefine the terms of postmodern performance in New York. In the years since, his work has moved fluidly between the stage, the museum, and the page, earning him recognition as one of the essential American artists of his generation.

Works by Mr. Lemon are in important public collections such as the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. Mr. Lemon is a visual arts mentor at Columbia University School of the Arts. He has held fellowships and residencies at Yale University, Stanford University, Brown University, Temple University, Princeton University, the Krannert Center at the University of Illinois, and the Museum of Modern Art.  

Among his many awards, Mr. Lemon received a 2020 MacArthur “Genius” Grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. In 2022 he won the Bucksbaum Award for work that was included in that year’s Whitney Biennial, and in 2024 he was awarded a Pew Fellowship in the Arts. Mr. Lemon received a 2015 National Medal of Arts from President Barack Obama. He also received the 2018 Heinz Family Foundation Award and a 2009 Guggenheim Fellowship. Mr. Lemon was honored with one of the first Doris Duke Performing Artist Awards (2012); he was also one of the first artists to receive the United States Artists Fellowship (2006). 

Adapted from a Weitzman School of Design news release, July 27, 2026.

The Penn Libraries have announced two new open access agreements with the publishers Wolters Kluwer Health and Nature, effective July 1, 2026. These agreements expand the portfolio of venues where Penn-affiliated authors can publish open access without cost. Both agreements run through 2029.

The agreements advance the libraries’ commitment to ensuring that knowledge generated at Penn can benefit the widest possible audience. 

“Penn’s research is most consequential when we remove barriers to accessing it,” said Alexa Pearce, the Gershwind & Bennett Family Associate Vice Provost for Collections and Scholarly Communications for the Penn Libraries. “These agreements with Nature and Wolters Kluwer are exciting and vital contributions to our goal of opening Penn’s scholarship to the world.”

On average, Penn-affiliated authors publish more than 300 articles annually with Wolters Kluwer Health publications, placing it among the top five publishers of Penn scholarship. Wolters Kluwer provides health sciences resources from more than 150 publishers; its offerings include the Ovid research platform and the influential Lippincott Williams and Wilkins (LWW) journal portfolio. This open access agreement covers the LWW Total Access Collection of 300+ global medical, nursing, and allied health research titles. 

The journal Nature and its constellation of research journals publish peer-reviewed research in all fields of science and technology. The suite of publications is widely read, with Nature.com reaching more than eight million visitors each month. Articles from these journals are heavily cited and frequently covered in news stories that reach audiences across the globe. Primary articles by Penn affiliated-authors—that is, those that include original, previously unpublished research findings—are now eligible for open access publishing in Nature and its research journals.

For more information on what the Wolters Kluwer and Nature agreements mean for Penn researchers, including details about eligible authors and articles, see the online guide to Open Access Agreements for Penn Authors.

By promoting open access policies that increase the global reach of Penn’s scholarship, the Penn Libraries strengthen the University’s contributions to the world’s most pressing problems. Open access publications enable worldwide access to cutting-edge research, while also benefiting authors by enhancing the reach and impact of their work. Research funders, including federal agencies, increasingly require that research they have funded be made freely accessible to the public.

In addition to the new agreements with Wolters Kluwer and Nature, the Penn Libraries currently hold open access agreements with the Association for Computing Machinery, Cambridge University Press, Company of Biologists, Elsevier, Emerald, Institute of Physics, John Benjamins Publishing Company, Oxford University Press, Royal Society of Chemistry, Sage Publishing, Springer, and Wiley. A newly available open journal finder tool supports the Penn community in identifying individual journal titles that are covered by the libraries’ open access agreements.

The Penn Libraries offer comprehensive and ongoing support for Penn authors who are preparing to publish their research. Penn Libraries staff provide direct support in developing a better understanding of open access, copyright, citation best practices, Creative Commons licenses, choosing a journal or other publication venue, preprints, publisher contracts, and more. Find publishing resources, contacts, and workshops on the libraries’ website.

William Bank, an associate professor of neurology in the Perelman School of Medicine, died on February 19. He was 91. 

Born in 1934, in Baden, Austria, Dr. Bank was a Holocaust survivor. His father, Josef, was kidnapped during Kristallnacht and imprisoned in Dachau Concentration Camp in 1938. After being released from Dachau after five months, he fled from Austria to Shanghai. His wife, Grete, prepared to leave Austria with her young sons to escape Nazi persecution. In 1941, the three of them departed from Vienna; at just six years old, Dr. Bank left his life behind—including his grandparents—and boarded the ship Villa de Madrid in Spain. 

Dr. Bank arrived in the United States without knowing any English, but learned quickly while growing up in Montgomery, New York. Dr. Bank’s father arrived in Montgomery after eight years. The family of four relocated to San Francisco shortly after, where Dr. Bank graduated from San Francisco Polytechnic High School in 1953. He then attended University of California, Berkley, graduating in 1956. He received his medical degree in 1960 from the University of California at San Francisco Medical School, and interned at San Francisco County General Hospital that same year.

After Dr. Bank completed his internship at San Francisco General, he traveled to London for a clerkship at Queens Square National Hospital for Nervous Diseases. Upon his return, he decided to specialize in neurology and took his residency at UC San Francisco. Later, he became a fellow at Columbia University in New York, where he studied under neurologist Bud Rowland. In 1967, he followed Dr. Rowland to the University of Pennsylvania Hospital, became an associate professor of neurology, and began a career as an academic neurologist with a focus on neuromuscular diseases. While at Penn, he served on Penn’s University Committees disability board, an operating committee, from 1978-1980. In 1988, he was part of the consultative committee on the selection of a director of Penn Libraries. Six years later, Dr. Bank was one of 131 University of Pennsylvania Medical Center doctors named in the second edition of The Best Doctors in America. 

Dr. Bank was an artist from a young age and took classes, specializing in oil on canvas. In 2001, an art show of his paintings was featured in Penn’s Burrison Gallery. Dr. Bank retired from Penn and became an associate professor emeritus of neurology in 2003. 

Dr. Bank is survived by his wife, Susan Sweetser; his children, William Stewart Bank, David Alexander Bank, and Greta Bank; his brother, Peter Ernst Bank; and six grandchildren, Bianca Peterman, Ruby Zuela Peterman, Kiva Sweetser Bank, Jacqui Marin Bank, Willi Zephyr Bank, and Alden Alexander Bank.

Brian Samuel Englander, a professor of clinical radiology and interim Chief Medical Officer of Pennsylvania Hospital, died on April 27. He was 54.

Dr. Englander was the Robert E. Campbell Professor of Radiology in the Perelman School of Medicine and a fellow of the American College of Radiology. Dr. Englander graduated from Yale University in 1994 with bachelor’s degrees in molecular biophysics & biochemistry and in history. He completed medical school, a residency, and a breast imaging fellowship at Thomas Jefferson University, where he served as chief resident. He began his career at Penn and was appointed chief of breast imaging at Pennsylvania Hospital in 2003. In 2014, he was named chair of radiology at the hospital, and at the time of his passing, he was serving as interim Chief Medical Officer at the hospital. 

Pennsylvania’s department of radiology was transformed under Dr. Englander’s leadership, significantly increasing access to tertiary/quaternary care for the West Philadelphia community. More recently, Dr. Englander helped to secure a mobile mammography unit to conduct breast cancer screening across Philadelphia. Throughout his career, Dr. Englander was a steadfast leader and champion of Pennsylvania Hospital and its role in the Philadelphia community. He trained countless residents and fellows at Penn, many of whom have gone on to serve as leaders in the field, and he was a beloved colleague and friend to many physicians, technologists, nurses, staff, and leaders across Penn Medicine and beyond. 

Beyond his work in Philadelphia, Dr. Englander was also deeply committed to improving healthcare globally. As a 2018 Eisenhower Fellow, he traveled to Mongolia and Israel to study how cultural, religious, and ethnic factors shape access to care, focusing on breast cancer. He founded the Benek Global Health Project, an NGO dedicated to developing affordable breast health technologies. Dr. Englander also played key roles in establishing Penn Medicine partnerships with cancer centers and medical schools in Rwanda, Mongolia, Vietnam, and Israel. He remained deeply engaged in global health projects in Haiti, Romania, Sri Lanka, and Egypt, while enthusiastically mentoring Penn trainees and international medical students and residents pursuing global health.

Dr. Englander is survived by his wife Juliet (née McGarry), GED’09, and three children, Raphael Benjamin Englander, C’27, Margot Patia Englander, C’29, and Claire Rose Englander.

Contributions in Dr. Englander’s memory may be made to the mobile mammography program at www.PennMedicine.org/MobileMamm. 

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Brittney Allyn and Lucas Restrepo, both researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, have received 2026 Brody Family Medical Trust Fund fellowships for medical research in incurable diseases from the Philadelphia Foundation, a leading driver of philanthropic impact in the greater Philadelphia region for over a century.

The prestigious fellowships will fund two years of research by Dr. Allyn into a lipid nanoparticle-based therapy for celiac disease and by Dr. Restrepo into the role of astrocytic mitochondria in neurodevelopmental brain disorders.

“Each year, the Brody Fellows remind us what’s possible when we invest in exceptional young scientists tackling the diseases that have resisted treatment for far too long,” said Pedro A. Ramos, President and CEO of Philadelphia Foundation. “Brittney Allyn and Lucas Restrepo bring both scientific rigor and personal purpose to their research, and we are proud to support their work.”

“I am grateful to be named a 2026 Brody Fellow,” said Dr. Allyn. “As someone living with celiac disease, I have a personal appreciation for how much is still missing from the treatment options available to patients. Right now, the only treatment is lifelong adherence to a strict gluten-free diet, which can be difficult to maintain and isn’t sufficient for every patient. My research focuses on developing targeted immune therapies designed to restore immune tolerance, with the goal of providing better treatment options for people with celiac disease. This fellowship gives me the opportunity to pursue that work and to build a foundation for a career dedicated to autoimmune disease research.”

“I am deeply honored to be chosen as a 2026 Brody Fellow,” said Dr. Restrepo. “This fellowship will fund the critical research I am doing to further understand the cellular mechanisms of complex neuropsychiatric diseases like schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder. Neuropsychiatric disease can often be complex to study, mainly because so many different genes are involved and there are few clear targets for treatment. Our work uses the developing zebrafish brain to look at how mitochondrial dysfunction in brain immune cells, also known as astrocytes, could provide a new potential target for therapeutic intervention for patients suffering from these devastating diseases.”

Dr. Allyn received her BS in biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Following graduation, she worked as a research assistant at Duke University before earning her PhD in immunology from the University of Pennsylvania in 2024. She then conducted postdoctoral research at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia before joining the Weissman laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research centers on developing lipid nanoparticle-based therapies for autoimmune diseases, with a particular focus on celiac disease. 

Dr. Restrepo received his BS in biology from the Catholic University of America. After gaining research experience at Reaction Biology Corporation and Thomas Jefferson University, he earned his PhD in biomedical sciences from the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, where he discovered a novel gene regulating mitochondrial clearance during development. His research focuses on how neuropsychiatric disease genes shape brain development, using zebrafish as a model to study the genetic causes of schizophrenia and autism. 

The Window Keeper: Civic Honors, a new Pennsylvania initiative honoring “everyday leaders” across the state, includes Herman Beavers, the Julie Beren Platt and Marc E. Platt President’s Distinguished Professor of English and Africana Studies in the School of Arts & Sciences, among its inaugural group. Dr. Beavers is one of 25 “Window Keepers” who is recognized for his work bolstering civic life through the humanities.

Created in line with the nation’s 250th anniversary, the Window Keeper initiative runs through PA Humanities, an independent nonprofit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. The project’s name stems from a poem by Philadelphia Poet Laureate Yolanda Wisher, which imagines the Declaration of Independence as a vast window that requires cleaning and upkeep to emit light.

According to an announcement from the organization, Dr. Beavers is included for “his work guiding local veterans in exploring Black history and the works of August Wilson as a professor” at Penn. Dr. Beavers’ wildly popular class on Mr. Wilson has run for nearly a decade, bringing together Penn students and the broader West Philadelphia community.

“Window Keepers are people who are illuminating what’s possible in their communities every day,” noted Laurie Zierer, executive director of PA Humanities, in announcing the inaugural group. “They are contributing to a flourishing civic life in ways that often go unseen. Recognizing these people makes this critical work visible and invites others to be part of it.”

Penn Institute for Urban Research co-director Eugénie L. Birch has received the 2026 Sir Peter Hall Award for Lifetime Achievement in Planning History, the highest honor bestowed by the International Planning History Society (IPHS) on July 22 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Presented biennially at the IPHS Conference, the Sir Peter Hall Award recognizes scholars whose lifetime body of work has fundamentally advanced the field of planning history while demonstrating its enduring relevance to contemporary planning policy and practice. Widely regarded as the society’s most prestigious distinction, the award honors sustained scholarly excellence, the breadth and quality of published research, influence on planning practice and policy and international impact.

Dr. Birch, the Lawrence C. Nussdorf Professor of Urban Research and Education, graduate group chair in city and regional planning at the Weitzman School of Design, and founding co-director of Penn IUR, has spent decades shaping the study of planning history while bridging historical scholarship with complex urban challenges, including sustainable development, housing, climate resilience, urban governance, and global city diplomacy.

“Eugénie Birch’s powerful, persuasive, and considered approach to engaging with emerging and seasoned scholars reflects her character as a supportive colleague and as an acknowledged ambassador for values disseminated through planning and planning history,” said Robert Freestone, a professor of arts, design and architecture at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), who presented the award.

Over the course of her career, Dr. Birch has produced a distinguished body of scholarship spanning planning history, urban revitalization, global urbanization, sustainability, governance, and finance. Her work has combined rigorous historical analysis with practical insights for policymakers, helping establish planning history as an essential lens for addressing contemporary urban issues. She has authored and edited numerous books, journal articles, reports, and policy publications while also co-editing the University of Pennsylvania Press’s City in the 21st Century series with Penn IUR co-director Susan Wachter of the Wharton School.

The International Planning History Society established the Sir Peter Hall Award in 2018 to recognize individuals whose published work has made exceptional contributions to international planning history scholarship. 

FactCheck.org, a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC), has been honored with the Society of Professional Journalists’ 2025 Award for Fact Checking for a set of three articles fact-checking Donald Trump’s claims about tariffs.

The winning entry, comprising stories by senior writer D’Angelo Gore and deputy director Robert Farley, examined a number of claims about the tariffs. Among those were the misleading calculations used for “reciprocal tariffs” the president sought to impose on nations around the world; the misleading justification for higher tariffs on imports of European goods; and the repeated, false insistence that the tariffs would be paid by other countries and not by American consumers.

“Judges said calling out deliberate falsehoods and misstatements is increasingly important in journalism,” the SPJ said during the virtual awards ceremony on July 9. “Here, [the president’s] tariff numbers and statements have been carefully analyzed with the facts clearly presented. Important work, well done.”

The award-winning stories are:

• Trump’s Misleading Tariff Chart (April 3, 2025)
• Trump’s Misleading Justification for Higher Tariffs on Imports of EU Goods (July 29, 2025)
• Recapping Trump’s Deceptive Tariff Claims (August 13, 2025)

FactCheck.org previously won the 2019, 2020 and 2023 Sigma Delta Chi (SDX) fact-checking awards. The fact-checking site, co-founded at the policy center in 2003 by then-APPC director Kathleen Hall Jamieson and journalist Brooks Jackson, also won a 2010 SDX non-deadline reporting award for independent news sites for its work on deceptive claims made about federal healthcare legislation.

The Society of Professional Journalists, originally founded as Sigma Delta Chi, has been honoring outstanding journalism since 1932.

Tulia Falleti, the Class of 1965 Endowed Term Professor of Political Science in the School of Arts & Sciences, has won the 2026 Martha Derthick Book Award for Decentralization and Subnational Politics in Latin America, published by Cambridge University Press in 2012.

The award is conferred by the American Political Science Association (APSA) for the best book on federalism and intergovernmental relations published at least 10 years ago that has made a lasting contribution to the field. Founded in 1903, APSA is the leading professional organization for the study of political science and serves more than 11,000 members in more than 100 countries.

Dr. Falleti—who has served as director of Penn’s Latin American and Latinx Studies Program and was founding director of the Center for Latin American and Latinx Studies—is a scholar of federalism, decentralization, authoritarianism, and qualitative methods. Decentralization and Subnational Politics in Latin America also earned Dr. Falleti the Donna Lee Van Cott Award, an honor given by the Latin American Studies Association to the best book about political institutions.

Wayne Gao, an assistant professor of economics in the School of Arts & Sciences, has received the Zellner Award from the Journal of Econometrics along with his cowriters, Ming Li and Sheng Xu, for their paper, “Logical Differencing in Dyadic Network Formation Models with Nontransferable Utilities.” The award is given for best theory paper.

Dr. Gao received his PhD from Yale University in 2019. He works on various topics in econometrics and microeconomic theory, with a special research interest in the economics of networks.

Selena Ann Gilles, associate dean of school and community engagement in Penn Nursing and a practice professor in the school’s biobehavioral health sciences department, has received the Trailblazer Award from the National Black Nurses Association, Inc. It recognizes an individual who leads their community, state, and the nation in nursing, business, philanthropy, communications, government, education, or the arts.

Dr. Gilles is a certified clinical nurse educator and is also certified in critical care nursing. She is an adult nurse practitioner who specializes in pain management, substance misuse, and global public health. Dr Gilles has strong community advocacy and passion for global health, currently working with organizations that serve underprivileged and underserved communities in Haiti, Ghana, and Nigeria. 

Yasmin B. Kafai, the Lori and Michael Milken President’s Distinguished Professor in the Graduate School of Education, has received the Association for Computing Machinery’s Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award for long-lasting and collective contributions to creative computing, including Scratch and electronic textiles, developing new ways for young people to create and collaborate within learning communities. A prize of $10,000 accompanies the award.

Scratch has become the world’s largest coding community for young people, with more than 150 million registered users who have created over 1 billion projects. Electronic textiles have been used to teach circuitry and coding in new ways, helping to broaden participation and ideas about computing.

Dr. Kafai has demonstrated that providing young people with access to digital tools is not enough. Her research has highlighted how project-based, interest-driven, collaborative approaches to computing education enable young people to bring their imagination to life, learn from one another by sharing and remixing creations, and make deeper connections to powerful ideas.

This award is presented annually to an outstanding educator at a recognized educational baccalaureate institution. The awardee is recognized for advancing new teaching methodologies, effecting new curriculum development or expansion in computer science and engineering, and/or making a significant contribution to the educational mission of the ACM. 

Letícia Marteleto, the Presidential Penn Compact Professor of Sociology in the School of Arts & Sciences, and Luiz Gustavo Fernandes Sereno, a visiting doctoral student in economics, are among a group of colleagues honored by the American Sociological Association (ASA). The nonprofit’s Population Section awarded them the Distinguished Contribution to Scholarship in population award for their recent paper, “Who Can Have a Baby? Social Norms and the Right to Reproduce.”

That award singles out “exceptional, long-term contributions to the field of population research and recognizes an outstanding published article in the sociology of population, broadly construed.” In their paper, Dr. Marteleto and her co-authors explore how deeply ingrained social norms can influence both perceived rights and constraints within the area of sexual reproduction.

The paper came out of broader research through the DZC Project (Longitudinal Study of Reproductive Lives in Brazil), which Dr. Marteleto oversees. DZC colleagues Sneha Kumar of Northwestern University and Alexandre Gori Maia of Universidade Estadual de Campinas are co-recipients of the honor.

Sandra Mayson, a professor of law in the Penn Carey Law School, has been elected a member of the American Law Institute (ALI), one of the nation’s leading organizations dedicated to improving and clarifying the law. ALI members contribute their expertise to the institute’s work through its restatements, principles, and model codes—resources relied upon by courts, legislators, and practitioners across the country.

Ms. Mayson was selected through a confidential nomination and election process in recognition of her professional achievements and contributions to the legal profession. She joins a distinguished class of lawyers, judges, and scholars elected to the institute this year.

Dean and Bernard G. Segal Professor of Law Sophia Z. Lee described Ms. Mayson as “one of the leading criminal law voices nationally, with impeccable standing in both the academic community and among courts, policymakers, and practitioners,” noting that she is an exceptional addition to the ALI.

Ms. Mayson’s scholarship combines criminal law, constitutional law, and legal theory to examine how legal systems regulate risk and preventive restraint. Her work is informed by her early experience as a trial lawyer at Orleans Public Defenders, where she represented indigent clients in criminal proceedings and trained fellow public defenders in immigration-sensitive defense practice. As a scholar, Ms. Mayson has taken an interdisciplinary and mixed-methods approach, integrating data-driven analysis of legal institutions with consideration of the doctrinal and theoretical underpinnings of criminal law.

Last year, Ms. Mayson received the William Nelson Cromwell Foundation’s Legal History Article of the Year Prize for “Bail at the Founding,” co-written with Columbia Law School’s Kellen R. Funk and published in the Harvard Law Review. Drawing on extensive archival research in Philadelphia and New York, the article examines the history of bail practices in the founding era and challenges common assumptions about the role of cash bail in American legal history.

Ms. Mayson also plays an active role in pretrial justice reform. She has served as an associate reporter on the Uniform Law Commission’s Pretrial Release & Detention Act, co-authored amicus briefs challenging aspects of money bail systems, and advised public and private stakeholders on pretrial reform efforts.

Election to the American Law Institute recognizes Ms. Mayson’s contributions to legal scholarship and public policy and provides an opportunity for her to contribute to the institute’s ongoing work shaping the future of law.

Two members of the Penn Carey Law School community—professor of law Kate Shaw and Rachael Totz, L’26—have been named winners of the American Constitution Society’s (ACS) 2026 Richard D. Cudahy Writing Competition on Regulatory and Administrative Law.

The Cudahy Writing Competition honors the legacy of Judge Richard D. Cudahy by recognizing scholarship that reflects his deep understanding of legal doctrine, insight into the institutional forces shaping how doctrine is put into practice, and attentiveness to the public consequences of legal and institutional choices—including fairness, participation, and transparency.

Ms. Shaw was recognized in the lawyer category alongside Leah Litman (University of Michigan Law School) and Melissa Murray (New York University School of Law) for their co-authored article, “Unsettling the Presidency.” The article argues that the Trump administration has sought to expand executive power by drawing on and appropriating the authority of the courts, through both litigation and what the authors describe as “ersatz legal processes,” to silence and deter critics and consolidate power within the presidency.

A nationally recognized scholar of constitutional law, administrative law, executive power, and the Supreme Court, Ms. Shaw joined the Penn Carey Law faculty in 2025. She is also a contributing opinion writer with The New York Times and a co-host of the legal podcast Strict Scrutiny with Ms. Litman and Ms. Murray.

Ms. Totz, who earned her JD/MBE from Penn Carey Law in May 2026, was recognized in the law student category for her article, “Redefining Program Integrity: Protecting Consumers and Systems in the Affordable Care Act Marketplaces.” Ms. Totz’s piece addresses unauthorized plan switches and enrollments within ACA marketplaces—a persistent problem with significant costs for consumers—and argues that marketplace integrity must be evaluated through a consumer protection lens that safeguards access to affordable insurance while protecting enrollees’ rights.

The recognition of both a Penn Carey Law faculty member and a recent graduate underscores the school’s longstanding commitment to scholarship that shapes public discourse and advances understanding of the nation’s most consequential legal issues.

The winners were recognized during the ACS 2026 National Convention in June.

Four books have been shortlisted for the 2026 Penn Libraries Book Prize in Sustainability. This annual award acknowledges outstanding contributions to the global discourse on environmental sustainability, with a specific focus on books that have a substantial impact on the public’s understanding of these crucial issues.

The shortlist includes:

• A Climate of Truth: Why We Need It and How to Get It by Mike Berners-Lee
• We Are Eating the Earth: The Race to Fix Our Food System and Save Our Climate by Michael Grunwald
• No New Things: A Radically Simple 30-Day Guide to Saving Money, the Planet, and Your Sanity by Ashlee Piper
• The Arrogant Ape: The Myth of Human Exceptionalism and Why It Matters by Christine Webb

This marks the third year of the award, which acknowledges outstanding contributions to the global discourse on environmental sustainability. The winning author will visit campus to accept the award and present their work in October 2026.

The National League for Nursing (NLN) has selected Antonia M. Villarruel, the Margaret Bond Simon Dean of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania, as a recipient of the prestigious 2026 NLN President’s Award. This honor recognizes prominent leaders in nursing education whose lifetime career achievements deserve public and professional acclaim. Dean Villarruel will formally accept the award alongside co-recipient Ena Williams, senior vice president and Chief Nursing Officer at Yale New Haven Hospital, during a special presentation at the 2026 NLN Education Summit in Washington, D.C., from September 23-25.

Dean Villarruel leads Penn Nursing in fulfilling its core mission of advancing science, promoting equity, and demonstrating practice excellence. A bilingual and bicultural researcher, Dean Villarruel has led a career that is grounded in these values, laying the groundwork for extensive research and clinical practice focused on improving health outcomes and health equity for marginalized Latino communities. Alongside her deanship, she also directs the WHO Collaborating Center for Nursing and Midwifery Leadership at Penn Nursing, the only such center on Penn’s campus.

Dean Villarruel advances health equity in nursing education through an interdisciplinary approach. As a member of the National Academy of Medicine’s (NAM) Committee on Educating Health Professionals to Address the Social Determinants of Health, she co-authored the 2016 framework that prioritizes long-term infrastructure over short-term programs. This model directly informed the Leonard A. Lauder Community Care Nurse Practitioner Program at Penn Nursing, a first-of-its-kind, tuition-free program that prepares primary care nurse practitioners to work in under-resourced communities nationwide. Across Penn, NAM, and other national nursing and health professions organizations and committees, she drives policy and curriculum reforms to broaden workforce diversity, advance cultural and linguistic competence, and set national best practices for institutional inclusion.

“I am deeply honored to receive the NLN President’s Award and to be recognized alongside such esteemed colleagues who are dedicated to preparing nurses at all levels to care for individuals, families and communities,” said Dean Villarruel. “This recognition reflects the collective efforts of the extraordinary faculty, students, and partners at Penn Nursing who work tirelessly every day to transform healthcare and prepare the next generation of nurse leaders.”

Dean Villarruel’s distinguished career spans key leadership positions across nursing, government, and national healthcare organizations. She is an inducted fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, a member of the National Academy of Medicine and the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, former chair of the National Academy of Medicine’s Culture of Health Program Advisory Committee, and former co-chair of the Strategic Advisory Council for the AARP/RWJ Future of Nursing Campaign for Action. She is an invited member of the Aspen Health Strategy Group at the Aspen Institute and a member of the Task Force for the Vision for American Science & Technology.

The Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania is expanding its growing collection of political cartoons with a significant new addition.

Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Signe Wilkinson has announced the donation of a significant collection of editorial cartoons and originals to Annenberg Library Archive, which will become part of the school’s growing collection dedicated to journalism and media. 

Widely recognized as one of America’s most influential editorial cartoonists, Ms. Wilkinson was the editorial cartoonist for the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News, and her cartoons chronicled pivotal moments in American political and cultural life through satire, civic critique, and visual storytelling.

“Signe Wilkinson’s cartoons have done what good journalism always does: they speak truth to power and make us see the world differently,” said Sarah Banet-Weiser, Dean of the Annenberg School. “This collection is a remarkable gift to our community. We are proud that her legacy will live here, and that it will challenge and inspire generations of media practitioners to come.”

The donated collection includes original drawings, published cartoons, sketches, notes, and related materials spanning Ms. Wilkinson’s career. The archive will serve as a valuable educational and research resource for students, scholars, journalists, and historians studying political communication, satire, and the role of visual media in democracy.

“We are honored to receive this extraordinary collection from Signe Wilkinson and to be the stewards of her incredible legacy,” said Samantha Dodd Summerbell, lead archivist at the Annenberg School. “Her work represents the power of editorial cartooning to inform, challenge, and inspire public conversation. This archive will provide future generations with insight into the intersection of journalism, art, and political commentary.”

As part of American 250 at Penn and in celebration of these extraordinary gifts, the Annenberg School for Communication will present a year-long exhibition and series of public programs during the 2026–2027 academic year. Opening to the public on September 17, 2026, Witty and Gritty: Editorial Art of the Philadelphia Inquirer will highlight the rich legacy of editorial illustration and cartooning, exploring how these works have informed public debate, documented history, and shaped American civic life.

Adapted from an Annenberg School news release, July 22, 2026.

On behalf of the PPSA Tri-Chairs, we’d like to thank vendors for their participation in the 2025 Penn Employee Resource Fair. We would also like to invite the campus community to this year’s Employee Resource Fair.

Please save the date:
Thursday, October 1, 2026
Noon–1:30 p.m.
David Pottruck Health and Fitness Center

We are excited to bring together campus partners and vendors once again to showcase the many resources and services available to the Penn community.
Additional details, including the registration link, will follow soon. In the meantime, we encourage you to reserve the date on your calendar.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We look forward to seeing you on October 1!

—Elona Canaj, PPSA Chair-Elect, 2026-2027
Educational Tech, Penn Vet

—Justin D. Purohit, PPSA Chair, 2026-2027
Manager, Accounting Operations, Division of Finance

—Dawn Maglicco Deitch, PPSA Past-Chair, 2026-2027
Executive Director, Office of Government and Community Affairs

Fitness & Learning

College of Liberal & Professional Studies

Online webinars. Info: https://www.lps.upenn.edu/about/events.

8/11     Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences Virtual Information Sessions; 6 p.m.

Graduate School of Education

Online webinars. Info: https://www.gse.upenn.edu/news-and-events.

8/13     Executive Doctorate in Higher Education Management, EdD Virtual Information Session; 10 a.m.

            Health Professions Education Certificate: Virtual Information Session; 5 p.m.

Penn Libraries

Various locations. Info: https://www.library.upenn.edu/events.

8/12     The Dark Crystal Structure; guides users through navigating and combining the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD) tools, comparing the WebCSD interface with the ConQuest client to execute, refine, and optimize 3D crystal structure searches; 11:30 a.m.; Chemistry Library Computer Lab and online webinar.

8/14     Canvas 101 for Faculty and Staff; will introduce basic Canvas functions that allow participants to set profile and notifications, navigate the Canvas interface, create content for a Canvas site, and post files, images, and videos; noon; online webinar.

Talks

8/11     Thermodynamic Model Discovery with Structure-Preserving Uncertainty Quantification; Zequn He, mechanical engineering & applied mechanics; 10:15 a.m.; room 337, Towne Building (Mechanical Engineering & Applied Mechanics).

This is an update to the Summer AT PENN calendar, which is available now. To submit events for future AT PENN calendars and weekly updates, email almanac@upenn.edu.

Division of Public Safety
University of Pennsylvania Police Department Crime Report

About the Crime Report: Below are the Crimes Against Persons and/or Crimes Against Property from the campus report for July 27-August 2, 2026. The Crime Reports are available at: https://almanac.upenn.edu/sections/crimes. Prior weeks’ reports are also online. –Eds.

This summary is prepared by the Division of Public Safety (DPS) and contains all criminal incidents reported and made known to the Penn Police, including those reported to the Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) that occurred within our patrol zone, for the dates of July 27-August 2, 2026. The Penn Police actively patrol from Market Street to Baltimore Avenue and from 30^th Street to 43^rd Street in conjunction with the Philadelphia Police.

In this effort to provide you with a thorough and accurate report on public safety concerns, we hope that your increased awareness will lessen the opportunity for crime. For any concerns or suggestions regarding this report, please call DPS at (215) 898-7297. You may view the daily crime log on the DPS website.

Penn Police Patrol Zone
Market Street to Baltimore Avenue and from 30^th Street to 43^rd Street

Philadelphia Police 18th District
Schuylkill River to 49th Street & Market Street to Woodland Avenue

Below are the Crimes Against Persons from the 18th District: 7 incidents were reported for July 27-August 2, 2026 by the 18^th District, covering the Schuylkill River to 49th Street & Market Street to Woodland Avenue.

The Division of Public Safety offers resources and support to the Penn community. DPS developed a few helpful risk reduction strategies outlined below. Know that it is never the fault of the person impacted (victim/survivor) by crime.

• See something concerning? Connect with Penn Public Safety 24/7 at (215) -573-3333.
• Worried about a friend’s or colleague’s mental or physical health? Get 24/7 connection to appropriate resources at (215) 898-HELP (4357).
• Seeking support after experiencing a crime? Call Special Services - Support and Advocacy resources at (215) 898-4481 or email an advocate at specialservices@publicsafety.upenn.edu
• Use the Walking Escort and Riding services available to you free of charge.
• Take a moment to update your cellphone information for the UPennAlert Emergency Notification System
• Download the Penn Guardian App which can help Police better find your location when you call in an emergency.
• Access free self-empowerment and defense courses through Penn DPS.
• Stay alert and reduce distractions; using cellphones, ear buds, etc. may limit your awareness.
• Orient yourself to your surroundings. (Identify your location, nearby exits, etc.)
• Keep your valuables out of sight and only carry necessary documents.

August 4, 2026

The University has received notice that PennDOT will close the Market Street Bridge to vehicle traffic beginning on Monday, August 24, 2026, as part of a major infrastructure renovation project. The closure is expected to continue through October 2027 and will significantly alter local traffic patterns in and around University City.  Faculty and staff who commute to campus should anticipate increased congestion, longer travel times, and periodic traffic pattern changes throughout the construction.

We recognize that a project of this duration may affect your daily commute and appreciate the flexibility it may require. Penn is committed to providing timely information and resources to help you navigate the disruption.

Planning Your Commute

To help you prepare for the bridge closure, we encourage you to:

• Allow additional travel time, particularly during peak commuting hours.
• Consider alternative transportation options, including SEPTA.
• Check traffic and transit conditions before traveling to campus.
• Stay informed about roadway and transportation updates throughout the project.

Transportation Resources

Penn offers several resources to support your commute during the bridge closure:

• SEPTA provides multiple transit options serving University City. Please note that some SEPTA-connected services, including the LUCY® (Gold and Green Loops through University City), may experience changes during construction.
• Penn Transit bus routes will continue to operate as scheduled throughout the bridge closure.
•  Penn’s Transportation, Parking and Commuting website offers valuable information on Penn Transit routes, parking, as well as sustainable commuter benefits.
• The PennTransit Mobile app serves as a convenient tool to connect you with these resources.

To stay informed about street closures and transportation updates on traffic conditions in the area, we encourage you to subscribe to the Division of Public Safety’s Traffic Advisories.

For additional information about the Market Street Bridge renovation, please visit the PennDOT project website.

We appreciate your patience, flexibility and understanding as PennDOT undertakes this vital infrastructure improvement.

—Felicia A. Washington, Vice President of Human Resources
—Kathleen Shields Anderson, Vice President for Public Safety
—Michael D. Scales, Vice President of Business Services

On August 3, Penn Transit Services rebranded its four weekday campus bus routes, replacing directional labels with color-coded names that reflect the corridors and destinations each route serves.

The change is a direct response to student feedback. Surveys and focus groups conducted over the past year flagged confusion about the old directional names (Penn Bus East, West, and North), with riders asking for clarification about where the buses actually travel.

Riders can see the new names and color-coded badges on bus displays and A-frame signs at Penn Transit stops, as well as in the PennTransit Mobile app. Routes, stops, and schedules remain unchanged. For more information, download the PennTransit Mobile app, visit https://transportation.upenn.edu/, or contact penntransit@upenn.edu.

Dear Penn Community,

Thank you for your spirit of volunteerism. Many benefit from your willingness to share. We receive many expressions of gratitude from community members and agencies with whom we have partnered. The Penn community continues to work towards being good neighbors in our shared community, and we thank you for your overwhelming support and for your generosity.

Please see below for a list of different volunteer activities both on and off campus. Let us help you volunteer!

Volunteer with Penn Leads the Vote

Volunteer with Penn Leads the Vote (PLTV), Penn’s only non-partisan civic engagement organization, this fall. PLTV promotes voter registration, education, and engagement to equip Penn students, faculty, and staff to have the necessary resources to be educated and engaged voters. With the fall semester quickly approaching, PLTV needs dedicated volunteers from the Penn community to help staff various PLTV events, starting immediately. For specific dates and times, please refer to the sign-up sheet. No prior experience is required.

For information on how to register students, check out this video. For any questions, please contact pennvotes@upenn.edu.

Contact Isabel Mapp at sammapp@upenn.edu for additional information.

School Supplies Drive Until August 20

Help collect school supplies for the annual Penn Volunteers in Public Service School Supplies Drive. Donations are shared with public schools in west and southwest Philadelphia that are involved in the University-assisted community (Sayre, Lea, and Comegy’s West, for example) and with students from Mastery Charter School. We also receive requests for items from local shelters, day care centers, and from families.

Support school children by providing books, pens, pencils, book bags, calculators, crayons, rulers, dictionaries, elementary school storybooks, and other items.

Please email coordinators from the list below to make arrangements to drop off your donations.

Contact Isabel Mapp at sammapp@upenn.edu for additional information.

Become a Mentor in the Penn Workplace Mentoring Program

Encourage 7^th graders from a local school to do well in school. Talk to them about the importance of college. Share your area of expertise in your job with them and help them to think about their futures. Make a difference in the life of a young person!

Mentors meet with students once a month from September to May. All sessions are held on Penn’s campus. Training is held in September. Volunteer today!

Contact Isabel Mapp at sammapp@upenn.edu for additional information.

Teach at the Nonprofit Institute Sponsored by the Netter Center

Have a special knowledge on advisory boards, grant writing, risk management, strategic planning, etc.? Want to teach members of the surrounding community how to more effectively manage/create their nonprofits?

The Nonprofit Institute is a five-day program offering a variety of classes designed to help start-up nonprofits gain important skills to create a successful organization. Classes range from 1.5-3 hours. The institute is held twice a year in the fall and spring.

Contact Isabel Mapp at sammapp@upenn.edu for additional information.

Teach at the University Assisted Community School (UACS) Nights

Have a special talent? Want to teach it to members of the surrounding community? University-Assisted Community Schools nights allow you to teach adult learners your expertise. Teachers can teach résumé writing, interviewing skills, computing, professional development, dance, cooking, and/or another subject you are passionate about. Teach once a week for a one- or two-hour period for four to six weeks; we also welcome classes that can be taught in one two-hour session.

Classes are normally held from 6-8 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday evenings at West Philadelphia High School.

Contact Isabel Mapp at sammapp@upenn.edu for additional information.

Penn Adopts A Classroom

This is an exciting opportunity for you and your colleagues to “adopt” a Philadelphia school classroom and help teachers with needed supplies for their rooms.

Provide needed classroom items like reams of paper, pens, pencils, tissues, hand sanitizer, notebooks, folders, glue sticks, disinfecting wipes, calculators, index cards, scissors, backpacks, pencil sharpeners, dividers, protractors, highlighters, markers, construction paper, book socks, combination locks, personal organizers, Post-It notes, tape, staplers and staples, etc.

Work with classrooms involved in community schools operated by the Netter Center for Community Partnerships. Schools include Lea, Sayre, West Philadelphia, Hamilton, Comegys, and more. You would have the opportunity to select the age group you prefer. A classroom would be assigned to you with a wishlist. You and your colleagues can collect the supplies during the summer, and arrangements will be made in September for you to make your donations to your adopted class.

Contact Isabel Mapp at sammapp@upenn.edu for additional information.

Drop Site Volunteers

Become a drop site volunteer and participate in the various drives held throughout the course of the year. Assist with collecting donated items that are shared with a variety of agencies in the community. Penn VIPS provides the collected donations to local agencies and schools, which makes a huge difference to members of the surrounding community.

Drives take place as follows:

• March—Change Drive to Benefit the Scholarship Program
• August—School Supplies Drive
• November—Food Drive
• December—Toy/Gift Drive
• December—New Coat Drive

Drop site volunteers advertise the various drives, help designate the beneficiaries of the drives, and help with the distribution of the donated items.

In addition, you can donate unwanted conference tote bags, T-shirts, pens, etc., and unused office furniture or technology to Penn VIPS. We will share them with school children and members of the community.

Contact Isabel Mapp at sammapp@upenn.edu for additional information.

—Isabel Sampson-Mapp
Associate Director, Netter Center for Community Partnerships

The University Research Foundation (URF) is now accepting applications for the 2027 program with a deadline of September 10, 2026. Projects can begin no sooner than March 2027. The URF is an intramural funding program that provides up to $75,000 for research support grants and up to $5,000 for conference support grants. The URF provides funding for up to one year for research activities that are expected to lead to external sponsorship and/or peer-reviewed research publications.

Research Grants

The URF provides up to $75,000 for research grant support. The objectives of this program are to: (a) help junior faculty undertake pilot projects that will enable them to successfully apply for extramural sources of funding and aid in establishing their careers as independent investigators; (b) help established faculty perform novel, pioneering research to determine project feasibility and develop preliminary data to support extramural grant applications; (c) provide support in disciplines where extramural support is difficult to obtain and where significant research can be facilitated with internal funding; and (d) provide limited institutional matching funds that are required as part of a successful external peer-reviewed application.

Conference Support Grants

This program is designed to provide funding (up to $5,000) for meetings and conferences held on Penn’s campus to enhance existing research and scholarly programs, particularly in disciplines where external funding is difficult to obtain. Conferences that promote interdisciplinary and multi-school participation are given priority.

Disciplinary Areas

Faculty members are invited to submit their research applications to one of four disciplinary areas: humanities, social science & management, natural sciences & engineering, and biomedical science.

Eligibility

Except for the biomedical sciences panel, the URF is open to Penn assistant, associate, and full professors in any track. Note: The biomedical sciences panel limits applications to research grants to assistant and early-stage associate professors only. Instructors and research associates must provide a letter (included within the proposal) from their department chair establishing that the applicant will receive an appointment as an assistant professor by the time of the award (March 2027). Adjunct and emeritus faculty are not eligible to apply. Only one application per PI per cycle. Awards must be expended on University of Pennsylvania facilities, equipment, and/or associated University technical staff and students.

Apply at the Penn InfoReady site at: https://upenn.infoready4.com/#ovprfunding.

—Office of the Vice Provost for Research

Purpose and Research Focus 

The purpose of Digestive and Liver Center (DLC) is to unite investigators with interests in digestive and liver physiology and disease and to stimulate others in the biomedical community to enter this area of research. One of the most important parts of this effort is the funding of Pilot and Feasibility Projects. 

The proposed Pilot and Feasibility Project should be related to the focus of the center and encompass basic or translational studies on the biology or disease of the alimentary tract, pancreas, and liver and biliary tree. Relevant investigations include those in developmental biology, nutrition, regulation of gene expression, growth, differentiation, the biology of stem cells, molecular genetics, bioengineering approaches to digestive diseases, gene therapy, and immunology. Please note that strong preference is given to junior investigators and to proposals studying areas other than cancer, although we will consider applications from senior investigators and on cancer-related topics. Pilot project awards are for $40,000 for one year with a second year possible through a competitive renewal. Candidates will be notified by the end of November 2026. The funding start date is January 1, 2027.

Eligibility 

All faculty members of the Penn scientific community (at the rank of instructor and above) who meet the eligibility requirements below are invited to submit proposals. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or hold permanent resident visas. There are three categories of applications, with strong preference given to those in category 1: 

1. New investigators who have never held extramural support at the level of a NIH R01. 
2. Established investigators in other areas of biomedical research who wish to apply their expertise to a problem in digestive and liver diseases. 
3. Established digestive and liver investigators who wish to study an area that represents a significant departure from currently funded work. 

Proposal Preparation 

1. Submit the documents outlined below directly to Lillian Chau, Lillian.Chau@pennmedicine.upenn.edu. 
2. Complete proposals are due by Friday, September 11, 2026. 
   • Format (Submit as a single PDF, in this order)
   • Cover page: must include an abstract of up to 250 words and a list of approved or pending IACUC/IRB protocols. If embryonic cell lines will be used, they must be from the NIH Embryonic Stem Cell Registry, and you must provide a list within your cover page. Finally, if your pilot grant will include human subjects research, involving more than minimal risk, that will need to be included in the letter as well. NIH has to approve these studies in advance of an award. *If you are not currently a faculty member but will be by the project start date of January 1, 2026, please state that explicitly in the cover letter.
   • NIH Biosketch
   • NIH Other Support
   • Budget and justification: one year, $40,000, one page only. No PI salary allowed.
   • Background, preliminary results, estimated DLC core usage, research plan including statistical analyses, and future directions; up to three pages total. 
   • Senior investigators should indicate how this project represents a new direction in their research.
   • References: one page only.

Please note: The top applicants will be asked to present a five-minute summary of their proposal to the center’s external advisory board on Friday, November 13, 2026. Applications from top candidates identified by the EAB will be reviewed further by center leadership and members of the center’s community advisory board.

For additional information, please contact the Penn Digestive and Liver Center at Lillian.Chau@pennmedicine.upenn.edu.

The Penn-CHOP Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) has been renewed, extending the 20-year duration of continuous funding for an additional seven years. Since 2006, under the original leadership of Garret FitzGerald, senior advisor to the EVP and dean of the Perelman School of Medicine, the grant has supported Penn’s efforts to move scientific discoveries into real-world improvements in health.

The Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics (ITMAT) in the Perelman School of Medicine serves as the academic home of the CTSA. This program will continue to advance novel therapeutics, strengthen data science, expand community-partnered research across the lifespan, and provide critical support for the training of the clinical and translational science workforce. The program, led by Daniel J. Rader, chair of genetics; Emma A. Meagher, senior vice dean for clinical and translational research, and Lisa M. Guay-Woodford, associate chief scientific officer for clinical and translational science at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, is comprised of five grants-—the UM1, a K12 Award, two T32 grants and a RC2 Grant—totaling almost $15 million annually.