Transitions
Washington Semester Program
Dr. Kathryn Dunn Tenpas has been appointed associate director of the University's Washington Semester Program, announced Dr. Jack Nagel, director of the program. Dr. Tenpas will serve as the on-site leader and teach the core seminar to all WSP students. She succeeds Dr. Mark Rozell, who has become a tenured associate professor at Catholic University of America.
Dr. Tenpas received her Ph.D. in American Government from the University of Virginia in 1993. Before joining Penn, she taught at the University of South Florida, where she won the Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award in 1998, Leiden University in the Netherlands and George Mason University.
She was presidency program chair for the 1999 Southern Political Association Annual Meeting, and is currently a member of the Executive Council of the Florida Political Science Association, and a board member of the American Political Science Association's Presidency Research Group. Dr. Tenpas is currently researching a book on presidential political consultants.
Horticulture at the Arboretum
Anthony Aiello, formerly a Morris Arboretum intern in 1987, has returned as the new Director of Horticulture and Curator of Living Collections. Most recently, Mr. Aiello served as curator of woody plants at the Chicago Botanic Garden where he managed a diverse collection of 2,500 woody plant taxa. Director Paul Meyer noted Mr. Aiello's "breadth of experiences in curation, teaching and research are custom-made for this key Arboretum position." In 1991, Mr. Aiello was selected for the prestigious Garden Club of American Interchange Fellowship, which provided individualized training at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, England and Edinburgh, Scotland. Subsequently, he took a position as a woody plants researcher and instructor at the highly respected horticulture program at Iowa State University.
Outgoing Chief Horticulturist and Rosarian Judy McKeon nurtured the Arboretum's spectacular Rose Garden over her 15 years there. She started as a trainee gardener in 1980. "Her management and horticultural skills have contributed to the entire renaissance of the Arboretum," according to Mr. Meyer. "Under her direction, the Rose Garden rose to international fame." Although she is now working on a masters degree at Penn and has started a consulting business helping homeowners as a horticultural advisor she will continue to teach classes and volunteer at the Arboretum's Plant Sale and Rare Plant Auction.
ICA's Curator to RISD
Judith Tannenbaum, at the Institute of Contemporary Art for the past 14 years, will be leaving in May to become the first curator of contemporary art at the Rhode Island School of Design's 123-year-old Museum of Art on June 1.
Ms. Tannenbaum came to the ICA as assistant director and curator in 1986. She has been associate director since 1990. Over the years she made her mark in the art world and at ICA, having published extensively and curated numerous exhibitions. Most memorable was her handling of the Mapplethorpe photography exhibition at ICA in 1989. Her arguments defending ICA and the artist (Almanac September 5, 1989) gained national attention.
Ms. Tannenbaum, who curated the current ICA exhibition of works by sculptor Nancy Davidson, will produce one more show before she leaves: "Wall Power"--an exhibit in collaboration with the Fleisher Art Memorial and the city's Mural Arts Project which opens May 12.
Almanac, Vol. 46, No. 16, January 11, 2000