Distinguished Alumni: Dr. Rodin

Dr. Judith Rodin, Penn president,  has been named the recipient of the 2004 Distinguished Alumni Award of the SAS. The award recognizes alumni who have used their strong foundation in the liberal arts to achieve professional distinction. Dr. Rodin was selected in recognition of her many accomplishments as "an eminent scholar," a visionary leader, and an inspiring role model. During Dr. Rodin's presidency, the University has enjoyed a period of unprecedented growth that has transformed Penn's academic core, enhanced the quality of life on campus, and revitalized the surrounding community.

Bessel Research Award: Dr. Discher

Dr. Dennis Discher, associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, has been selected the recipient of the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. He received the award in recognition of lifetime achievements in science.

The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation is a non-profit foundation established by the Federal Republic of Germany for the promotion of international research cooperation. It enables highly qualified scholars not resident in Germany to spend extended periods of research in Germany and promotes the ensuing academic contacts.

Oral Biology Award: Dr. Gibson

Dr. Carolyn Gibson, professor of anatomy and cell biology in the School of Dental Medicine, has received the 2004 Research in Oral Biology Award from the International Association for Dental Research. The award recognizes Dr. Gibson's contribution to the understanding of the molecular and genetic basis for tooth development and arrangement.

Krogman Award: Dr. Holloway

Dr. Ralph L. Holloway, professor of anthropology at Columbia University, has received the University of Pennsylvania Museum's Wilton Krogman Award for Distinguished Achievement in Biological Anthropology. Dr. Holloway was cited by Dr. Jeremy A. Sabloff, director of the Museum, "A true pioneer in the field, Professor Holloway remains one of the foremost scientists in the evolution of the hominid brain." The Krogman Award was developed to recognize scientists in the field of biological anthropology, in memory of Dr. Wilton M. Krogman, former professor of physical anthropology (1947-1971) and founder of the Philadelphia Center for Research in Child Growth, now the W.M. Krogman Center for Research in Child Growth and Development.

ACS Award: Dr. Percec

Dr. Virgil Percec, the Roy & Diana Vagelos Professor of Chemistry, has received the American Chemical Society Award in Polymer Chemistry. He was recognized for the breadth of his creative work, from the discovery of cyclic and dendritic liquid crystals to the synthesis of self-assembling chemicals that can spontaneously form organized structures. Dr. Percec strives to strike a balance among a diversity of interrelated disciplines from organic, bioorganic, macromolecular and supramolecular chemistry, seeking to understand, mimic and extend nature's solutions to the design of synthetic functional nanosystems.

Scientist of the Year: Dr. Davies

The Pennsylvania Delaware Affiliate of the American Heart Association has selected Dr. Peter F. Davies, professor of pathology and laboratory medicine and director of the Institute for Medicine and Engineering, to receive the 2004 Scientist of the Year Award. He  is prominent in the fields of both heart disease research and biomechanics, and is a leader in blood flow regulation of vascular biology and pathology. In recent work published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, his group has performed the first in vivo genomic animal studies of arterial susceptibility to atherosclerosis. The award gives special recognition to long-term distinguished research by an outstanding investigator; it will be presented at the President's Reception at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia on May 12.

Wharton's Dean's Medal

The Wharton School has awarded its Dean's Medal to alumni leaders Geoffrey Boisi and Michael Tarnopol and former dean Thomas P. Gerrity for their extraordinary efforts during the School's first Sustained Leadership Finale Campaign, which raised nearly $450 million, the largest campaign in business school history.

Mr. Boisi, a 1971 Wharton MBA graduate, serves on the Board of Overseers and was the chairman of the Wharton Graduate Executive Board, 1985-1991. He received the Wharton Alumni Association's Distinguished Service Award in 1993.

Mr. Tarnopol, W '58, serves as a trustee, member of the Executive Committee of the Trustees, chairman of the Development Committee, and is a member of the Budget and Finance, Internationalization and Student Life Committees. He is a 1997 recipient of the Wharton Alumni Association Distinguished Service Award.

Mr. Gerrity is the former dean of the Wharton School (1990-1999). The Dean's Medal was created in 1983 to recognize outstanding leaders of private enterprise, public service, and academia. 

INA Prize: Dr. Mitchell

Dr. Olivia S. Mitchell, International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans Professor; professor of insurance and risk management and business and public policy, has received the 2003 International INA-Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei Prize from the National Academy of Lincei in Rome ex acqueo, for her work on retirement security and annuities. The Academy, founded in 1603 has awarded this prize in Insurance Sciences since 1962 and it is considered the "Nobel Prize of the insurance field." Past winners include Martin Feldstein, Jean Lemaire, Robert Merton, and Joseph Stiglitz.

Fulbright Grant: Dr. Feldman

Dr. Eric A. Feldman, assistant professor of law, and senior fellow in bioethics, has been awarded a Fulbright Grant for 2004-2005. He will continue his work on Japanese law and society by examining a variety of reforms currently being introduced to the Japanese legal system. His study examines the relationship between the legal reform movement and recent changes to tobacco control policy, which seek to more rigorously regulate smoking by replacing the reliance on smokers' Loaners' with explicit legal rules.

Grants in Biomedical Research

A Review Committee convened by Penn's Institute for Medicine and Engineering (IME) awarded five IME Interdisciplinary Pilot Grants effective April 1 for one year. The grants are awarded for collaborative pilot investigations in biomedical research that extends across schools. An objective is the development of preliminary data for further federal and foundation grant funding.

Dr. Dawn Elliot,  assistant professor of orthopedic surgery, and Dr. Hyun-Duck Nah, research associate professor of biochemistry, School of Dental Medicine, for The Rescue Effect of BMP-2 on the Osteoporotic Phenotype in Transgenic Mice with Loss of FGFR Function: Assessment of Bone Mechanical Strength and Cellular Phenotype.

Dr. David Boettiger, professor of microbiology, and Dr. Russell Composto, associate professor of materials science and engineering, for Probing the Relationship Between Binding Affinity and Mechanical Function

Dr. Alan M. Gewirtz, professor of medicine and Dr. Ivan Dmochowski, assistant professor of chemistry, for  Reporter Molecules for Gene Detection and Destruction.

Dr. Yale E. Goldman,  professor of  physiology and Dr. Haim H. Bau,  professor of mechanical engineering and applied mechanics, for Interschool Studies of Molecular Motion.

Dr. Beth A. Winkelstein, assistant professor of bioengineering, and Dr. Kathryn Commons, research assistant professor of anesthesia, HUP and CHOP, for Developing an Interdisciplinary Understanding of Facet-Mediated Neck Pain: Defining the Relationship Between Biomechanics & Neurokinin-1 Receptor Expression in the CNS.

National Book Awards

Dr. Susan Stewart, the Donald T. Regan Professor of English, and Paul Hendrickson, lecturer in the English Department Creative Writing Program of the Center for Programs in Contemporary Writing, have won the 2003 National Book Critics Circle awards in poetry and nonfiction respectively.

NBCC noted, "Susan Stewart is a poet of amazing range and ability. In Columbarium, her fourth book, she meditates quietly and traditionally on a whisper or scatters her words daringly across the page. She reinvents the ancient georgic form, offers a stunning prose poem, plays delightfully with the printed page, and contemplates possible views of hell. These poems are sensual, complex, and intelligent, owing as much to Virgil and the ancient Greeks as they do to Kant, Kierkegaard, and Dante. But these poems are also wholly new in American poetry, attempting to link language and nature, to explore nature's vitality and promise in the creation of meaning. For her great range and fluency, for the intelligence and ambition behind Columbarium, for the delight her book brings us, we are pleased to give Susan Stewart this year's National Book Critics Circle Award in poetry."

In its praise for Mr. Hendrickson's book NBCC commented, "The jacket of Paul Hendrickson's Sons of Mississippi features a slightly distorted 1962 photograph of Natchez Sheriff Billy Ferrell wielding a billy club like a baseball bat as six of his fellow lawmen look on with great, chilling admiration. It is an indelible image, taken just days before James Meredith's attempts to integrate the University of Mississippi. Hendrickson, though uses the image as a lens through which to examine the lives of these seven men in uniform and also, far more importantly, the lives of what he calls the "inheritors," their children and grandchildren. It is the legacy of racial prejudice, in all its nuances and subtle permutations, that matters as much as history now. 'Where did the hatred and sorrow go that flowed out of this moment,' Hendrickson asks. 'How did a gene of intolerance and racial fear mutate as it passed sinuously through time and family bloodstreams?'"

Spirit of Sports: Ms. Greenberg

Penn Women's Basketball head coach Kelly Greenberg, has received the Donna de Varona Spirit of Sports Award from the Women's Sports Foundation Philadelphia Awards Program. The award is presented to a person in the Philadelphia community who best demonstrates the ideals of the "true spirit of sport," either as a participant or as a supporter or promoter of girls' and women's sports and fitness. The criteria include a distinctive display of leadership traits, dedication to furthering women in sport, and demonstration of extraordinary performance that exceeds expectation.

Mickey Miners Award: Mr. Joyce

Mr. Brian Joyce, director of the Philadelphia International Children's Festival and director of audience services at Annenberg Center, has been awarded the Mickey Miners Award, which is given to an individual who "demonstrates exemplary ethical behavior, a consistent dedication to professionalism, an unwavering respect for colleagues in the field, and a proven dedication to the future of presenting young people's performing arts. Mr. Joyce will step down as director after this year  his 12th year as director of the Festival. Under his direction the Children's Festival has grown to an event of international renown drawing approximately 20,000 children and their families annually.

Nora Magid Prize

There are two winners of the first annual Nora Magid Mentorship Prize,  which is in memory of a  legendary woman who taught English at Penn for over twenty years and was established by some of her former students (www.NoraPrize.com).   The Nora Magid Mentorship Prize is a component  of the scholarship fund of the Philadelphia Foundation, a community foundation serving southeastern Pennsylvania.                      

Daniel A. Kaplan, C ' 04, a history major and  Rebecca Rosner, C '04, a creative prose major, each received $500  and mentoring from the "Nora-ites"  who will gather at Writers House during Alumni Weekend for a program on non-fiction writing/journalism. Mr. Kaplan was cited as a "compelling, smart and sometimes wild wordsmith who is already writing at a professional level." Ms. Rosner wrote what the judges considered to be the single best article submitted, "a powerfully spare piece about the illness and recent death of her father." 

Academic Team: Ms. Elansary

Mei Elansary,  a senior  double-majoring in biology and environmental studies, has been named to the Second Team in USA Today's 2004 All-USA College Academic Team Program. The panel considered approximately 600 nominees from four-year colleges nationwide, and Ms. Elansary was one of 20 selected to Second Team. She was nominated by President Judith Rodin for her public service achievements. Ms. Elansary was recognized for her work in the West Philadelphia community through Sayre Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Program. The program which she founded in the fall of 2002 works to bridge the divide between Penn and the West Philadelphia community regarding issues of health and educational disparities.

Woodrow Wilson Grants

Two doctoral students, Sejal Patel of the department of the history and sociology of science and Sarah Riedl of the history department have received Practicum Grants from the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation. Ms. Patel is investigating the integration of qualitative analysis into mainstream clinical research practice. This summer, she will intern at the Innovia Foundation, a Dutch organization that mediates the personal concerns of patients and the theoretical and methodological concerns of researchers.

Ms. Riedl will intern with the National Constitution Center. At the core of the NCC experience is a changing, long-term exhibit, The Story of We the People, which narrates American history through the lens of the constitution. Ms. Riedl plans to create a list of artifacts that will periodically replenish the exhibit, maintaining it's educational stature.

Lauren Barr, biochemistry '04;

Jonathan Bronson, biochemistry '05;

Simon Brooks, English &  mathematics '04;

Sarah Chesney, anthro. & classical studies '05;

Jeffrey Cohen, biology and economics '05;

Sonali Mishra, linguistics '06;

Michael Tseng, classical studies & German '04;

Lauren Zeitels, undeclared '06;

Nicholas Zwang, history '04;

CGS: Philip Labo, biology, '04

Anna Agbe-Davies, anthropology '04;

Cala Beatty, Romance languages; '08;

Jacques Bromberg, classical studies; '10;

Barbara Czako, chemistry '10;

Monica Dunford, physics and astronomy; '10;

Jennnifer Hallam, history of art, '04;

Laszlo Kurti, chemistry '10;

John Nemec, South Asia studies '04;

Dahlia Porter, English; '10;

Cassio Turra, demography '10;

Ed Webb, political science '09.

 

Daven Johnson mgmt/fin/BAS, '04;

Arinze Onugha, entrepreneurial mgt., '04.

Serge Amissah, entrep.,  '04;

Paul Ansah, real estate/finance, '04;

Angela Frazier, entrep/marketing, '05;

Assaf Harel, entrep/fin/marketing, '05;

Roni Karassik, entrep./finance/marketing,  '05;

Eli Kennedy, entrep. mgmt/finance, '04;

Gideon Yudelowitz, entrep.mgmt/finance '05.