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Above, Penn Police Officer Julie Wesley with her new canine partner, Socks, at the graduation ceremony held during the Penn Vet Working Dog Center's one-year anniversary event. Socks has joined Penn Police as its first canine cadet (Almanac August 27, 2013). The event highlighted the program's achievements and included live search demonstrations. |
75th Anniversary Medal: Dr. Ayyaswamy
Dr. Portonovo Ayyaswamy, Asa Whitney Professor of Dynamical Engineering in the department of mechanical engineering and applied mechanics in the School of Engineering & Appliced Science, received the 75th Anniversary Medal of the ASME Heat Transfer Division this summer “in recognition of his service to the heat transfer community and contributions to the field.” Dr. Ayyaswamy’s research is in the area of mechanical engineering, with foci in modeling, simulations and experimentation of multi-phase flow/heat and mass transfer.
Fellowship in Berlin: Dr. Babou
Dr. Cheikh Anta Babou, associate professor of history in the School of Arts & Sciences, is a fellow at the Wissenschaftskolleg (Institute of Advanced Study) in Berlin for the 2013-2014 academic year. Dr. Babou is examining the experience of immigrants from the former French colonies in West Africa in Europe and North America, arguing that they have been particularly successful in making room for Islam in the Western world. In contrast to Arab immigrants who have severed their links with moderate centers of Islamic spirituality in North Africa, West Africans have maintained strong bonds with sources of religious knowledge and authority in Africa, and these sources remain powerful shapers of their Islamic identity.
Infectious Disease Award: Dr. Brisson
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Dr. Dustin Brisson, assistant professor of biology in the School of Arts & Sciences, is a recipient of the 2013 Burroughs Wellcome Fund’s Investigators in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease award. The award includes $500,000 over five years. Dr. Brisson studies the evolution of infectious diseases, research that lies at the interface between evolutionary biology, microbial ecology and molecular genetics. |
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International Prize: Dr. Cavanna
Dr. Thomas Cavanna, a lecturer in the School of Arts & Sciences’ International Relations Program, received the Jean-Baptiste Duroselle Prize for his dissertation “American Foreign Policy Towards India and Pakistan in the 1970s.” His work identifies four turning points of US foreign policy in the subcontinent during the decade. Named after a French diplomatic historian, the Duroselle Prize is granted in France each year by a jury of academics to a dissertation on the history of international relations.
Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences: Dr. Giraudo
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Dr. Claudio Giraudo, assistant professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, Perelman School of Medicine and The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, was named a 2013 Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences. Dr. Giraudo will receive $240,000 over four years to pursue his research projects without direction or restriction.
Twenty-two of the nation’s most enterprising researchers were named Pew Scholars by The Pew Charitable Trusts. The scholarships provide flexible funding to early-career scientists researching the basis of perplexing health problems.
Dr. Giraudo’s research aims to understand intracellular membrane trafficking and calcium-regulated exocytosis in eukaryotic cells. |
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American Historians: Dr. McCurry
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Dr. Stephanie McCurry, Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of History in the School of Arts & Sciences, has been elected to the Society of American Historians. Their selection is based on a demonstrated commitment to the concept of literary distinction in the writing and publishing of history and biography.
Dr. McCurry is a specialist in 19th century American history, with a focus on the American South and Civil War era and the history of women and gender. |
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White House Honor: Dr. Noel
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Dr. William Noel, director of Penn Libraries’ Kislak Center for Special Collections and founding director of the Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies, was honored as one of 13 Champions of Change who are promoting and using open scientific data and publications to accelerate progress and improve our world.
The White House Champions of Change was created as part of President Obama’s ‘Winning the Future’ initiative. Through this program, the White House highlights individuals, businesses and organizations whose stories and accomplishments positively impact our communities. |
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Nursing Hall of Fame: Dr. Richmond
Dr. Therese Richmond, Andrea B. Laporte Endowed Professor of Nursing, was inducted into the International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame during a ceremony this summer in Prague. The International Awards for Nursing Excellence honor the accomplishments of nurses who are members of Sigma Theta Tau International, the Honor Society of Nursing. Her research focuses on the intersection of physical and mental health after traumatic injury and its effect on recovery.
AGA President: Dr. Rustgi
Dr. Anil K. Rustgi, T. Grier Miller Professor of Medicine and chief of gastroenterology at the Perelman School of Medicine, has been elected president of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute. He previously served as vice-president and president-elect. The AGA Institute administers the practice, research and educational programs of the organization.
Gold Medal: Professor Rykwert
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Joseph Rykwert, Paul Philippe Cret Professor Emeritus of Architecture at the School of Design and professor of history of art in SAS, was named the recipient of the 2014 RIBA Royal Gold Medal—one of the world’s most prestigious architecture awards.
Given in recognition of a lifetime’s work, the Royal Gold Medal is approved personally by Her Majesty the Queen and is given to a person or group of people who have had a significant influence “either directly or indirectly on the advancement of architecture.” The award will be presented in February 2014. |
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Outstanding Investigator: Dr. Werner
Dr. Rachel Werner, associate professor of medicine in the Perelman School of Medicine and LDI Senior Fellow, won the 2013 American Federation of Medical Research (AFMR) Outstanding Investigator Award. The honor, which comes with a $5,000 honorarium, singles out a person age 45 or younger judged to be the most outstanding medical scientist in any field.
Chapter of the Year: Penn HSC
The University of Pennsylvania Hindu Student Council (HSC) was named “chapter of the year” by the National Hindu Student Council. The Penn HSC chapter was recognized for excellence in campus ministry to and with the University’s Hindu population. During the school year, the group holds many events to celebrate their heritage and religion.
Sphinx Senior Society Honors
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| Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel receivies his honorary sphinx certificate, hat and pin from 2013-2014 Sphinx Chief, Adrienne Edwards, C '13 |
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At the Sphinx Senior Society’s annual Spring Banquet, Dr. Ezekiel “Zeke” J. Emanuel was inducted as its 2013 Honorary Sphinx. Dr. Emanuel is the Diane v.S. Levy and Robert M. Levy University Professor, Vice Provost for Global Initiatives and chair of the department of medical ethics & health policy.
The oldest honor society at the University of Pennsylvania also welcomed the new Sphinx Class of 2014, celebrated the graduating Sphinx Class of 2013, and awarded the 2013 Paul Miller Leadership Award to Alec Miller, EAS’13, W’13.
The Sphinx Senior Society Board of Governors established the Paul Miller Leadership Award to honor the memory of the late Paul Miller, C’83, and a former Penn trustee (Almanac November 2, 2010).
Alec Miller received the Paul Miller Leadership Award for his outstanding campus and public service leadership in several positions, including Chairman of the Nominations and Elections Committee of the University Council, member of the Engineering Student Activities Council and a Management 100 teaching assistant. |
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| Alec Miller, Eng '13, W '13, receives his 2013 Paul Miller Leadership Award Certificate From (left to right): Gregory Suss, C'75, Vice President, and Stephen Klitzman, C'66, President, Sphinx Senior Society Board of Governors |
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Pew Center for Arts & Heritage Fellows
Four from Penn were named 2013 Pew Fellows by the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage. Hafez El Ali Kotain and Kinan Abou-afach, instructors and performers for the University of Pennsylvania Arab Ensemble, are fellows in music. Karen M’Closkey, assistant professor, and Keith VanDerSys, lecturer, both in the department of landscape architecture in PennDesign, are fellows in design.
The Center annually awards up to 12 fellowships of $60,000 to artists of exemplary talent in the five-county Philadelphia area through its Pew Fellowships program, established by The Pew Charitable Trusts.
Mr. Kotain, a percussionist, performs with Al-Bustan’s resident takht ensemble and Intercultural Journeys, an organization that seeks to bridge cultural divides through the arts and live performance. Mr. Abou-afach, a cellist and composer, performs extensively with Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture and continues to seek opportunities for cross-pollination between Arab, European and American styles and traditions.
Professor M’Closkey and Mr. VanDerSys, are the first landscape architects to win the fellowship since its inception in 1991. The founders of PEG office of landscape + architecture, an award-winning design and research practice based in Philadelphia, will use the funds to expand on their work with the Philadelphia Water Department and the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society to explore the feasibility of their site-based installations as options for city-wide maintenance and stormwater programs. They also intend to expand the educational component of the installations through a series of classroom and on-site workshops within the Philadelphia school system.
Institute for Advanced Study Fellows
Three professors from Penn’s School of Arts & Sciences received fellowships from the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) in Princeton to pursue their research full time.
Dr. David Grazian, associate professor of sociology, and Dr. Vanessa Ogle, assistant professor of history, have been named 2013-2014 Fellows to School of Social Science. Dr. Paul Goldin, professor of Chinese thought in the East Asian languages and civilization department, is a Fall 2013 fellow in the School of Historical Studies.
During his sabbatical year of residence, Dr. Grazian will complete a book manuscript on metropolitan zoos as repositories of culture as well as nature. The book is tentatively titled Where the Wild Things Aren’t: City Zoos and the Culture of Nature.
Dr. Ogle is working on her first book, a global history of time reform during the late 19th century entitled Contesting Time: The Global Struggle for Uniformity and Its Unintended Consequences.
Dr. Goldin, named the Willis F. Doney Member of the IAS, is working on a history of early Chinese philosophy focused on eight texts from the classical period: Analects of Confucius, Mozi, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Sunzi, Xunzi and Han Feizi.
Related: Penn Alumni Reunion Gifts 2013
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