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University Trustee Carolyn Hoff Lynch, PT '68, and her husband Peter S. Lynch, WG '68, have provided through the Lynch Foundation, a gift of $2.5 million for the construction of a new biology building, the School of Arts and Sciences has announced. Mr. and Mrs. Lynch also made a generous pledge to establish Lynch Scholarships for undergraduate biology majors, the announcement said.
Mrs. Lynch, an SAS Overseer and Chair of the Biology Advisory Board, has led the planning effort for a building that will provide faculty with state-of-the-art laboratories for plant and animal research and biology students with a much needed lecture hall and undergraduate lounge.
"Carolyn and Peter's generosity emphasizes the importance of not only funding new facilities, but providing funds to support the students who are going to use those facilities," said President Judith Rodin.
"Carolyn's encouragement and support for our efforts in biological research and education have been invaluable to all of us in the School," SAS Dean Samuel Preston added. "The generous commitment that she and Peter have now made will help us to construct a building where these efforts can continue to flourish."
The Lynches' gift launches the drive to raise $15 million for the new building, which will be constructed alongside the Mudd Plant Sciences Institute, near Leidy Labs and the Biology Pond and greenhouses south of Hamilton Walk. The new facility for the biology department is one of the strategic priorities included in the Life Science, Technology and Policy section of the University's Agenda for Excellence.
Carolyn Hoff Lynch is president of the Lynch Foundation, located in Marblehead, Massachusetts. Mr. Lynch is vice-chairman of Fidelity Management and Research in Boston.
PreK-8 Planning: Committees at Work
Four committees have begun meeting to plan toward the University-assisted public school to be built on the former Divinity School site in the 4200 block of Locust and Spruce Streets, President Judith Rodin has announced.
The target opening date is 2001 for a GSE-related demonstration school for 700 students, pre-kindergarten through 8th grade. The project calls for construction of a $14 million building, at School District expense, on a site provided by Penn and with Penn subsidizing each pupil at $1000 per capita.
As a demonstration school it is also expected to impact other schools in West Philadelphia and city- wide, according to Dean Susan Fuhrman. In a presentation to Council, Dr. Fuhrman said, "Unlike the University of Chicago, which has a lab school, or UCLA, which has a private school, or USC, which is starting its own charter school, this is a school that's located in a system of public schools.... it's not removed from the urban public school effort but it's part of, and leading, that effort of improvement."
The structure and membership of the four committees, which began meeting October 15, are given in this issue, adapted from the new website that Dr. Rodin announced at the University Council in September, www.upenn.edu/president/westphilly.
One of the committees is a small Coordinating Committee of four members-Dean Susan Fuhrman of GSE, Vice President Stephen D. Schutt, who is the President's Chief of Staff; Germaine Ingram of the Philadelphia School District; and Jerry T. Jordan of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers.
The other three have, among them, 53 current members with the possibility to name more, and with the option to form work teams involving still other volunteers. They are the School Planning Committee, chaired by GSE Associate Dean Nancy W. Streim; the Facility/Site Committee, co-chaired by Ted Skierski of the School District and Tom Lussenhop of Penn Real Estate; and the Community Programming Committee led by Larry Bell of the West Philadelphia Partnership and Kate Ward-Gaus of Student Health.
New JA: Dr. Jill
Beech of Vet School
Dr. Jill Beech, professor of medicine in the School of Veterinary Medicince and chief of the section of Large Animal Medicine and Reproduction at the New Bolton Center, has been named University Judicial Administrator.
Dr. Barbara Lowery, associate provost announced Dr. Beech's appointment as successor to Dr. Daniel Perlmutter, professor of chemical engineering, who had been JA since 1996.
The Judicial Administrator presides over all student disciplinary/academic integrity hearings.
Dr. Beech is a 1972 graduate of the Vet School who joined the faculty in 1977 as an assistant professor and was promoted to full professor in 1993. She has served on numerous University-wide committees, including the Senate Committee on Academic Freedom and Responsibility, and chaired an ad hoc committee to review the grievance procedure. She was on the Search Committee for the Dean of the of Veterinary Medicine, the Provost's Task Force on the School, and the Consultative Review Committee for the Dean of Veterninary Medicine. She also chaired the Committee to Review the Admissions Committee and served on many other school committees including the Strategic Planning Committee and Committee on Appointments and Promotions.
Almanac, Vol. 45, No. 9, October 27, 1998