The Trustees’ Council of Penn Women (TCPW) held a series of events for its members during its annual spring meeting last week. Included in these events were award ceremonies for recipients of the TCPW-Provost Award of Recognition, co-sponsored by the Provost’s Office, the Beacon Award and three student awards.

TCPW-Provost Award of Recognition

Afaf I. Meleis, Margaret Bond Simon Dean of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, professor of nursing and sociology and director of the School’s World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Nursing and Midwifery Leadership, is the recipient of the TCPW-Provost Award of Recognition for her significant contributions to advancing the role of women in higher education and research at Penn.

Dr. Meleis’ scholarship is focused on global health and immigrant and women’s health. Much of her life’s work has been dedicated to advocating for women’s rights in healthcare and to advancing excellence in women’s healthcare around the world. She has been invited nationally and internationally by over 40 different countries for visiting professorships, to conduct symposia, to present keynote addresses, to serve on boards, to plan conferences and to consult on women’s health research. Dr. Meleis has also held many summits focused on women’s health.

Dr. Meleis graduated magna cum laude from the University of Alexandria, earned an MS in nursing, an MA in sociology and a PhD in medical and social psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Beacon Award

Janet Napolitano was honored with the Beacon Award for her career in public service as the former governor of Arizona, the first female to serve as the US Secretary of Homeland Security and now as president of the University of California system.  

“Janet Napolitano has been a leader in improving women’s lives and in advancing education, from early childhood through college, as a way to make a profound impact on people’s lives,” said Penn Provost Vince Price, who made the Beacon Award presentation. 

The Beacon Award is presented to highlight Penn’s commitment to women’s issues and recognizes leaders who have demonstrated this same commitment. Past Beacon awardees include former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and Third Circuit Court Judge Marjorie O. Rendell.

A lawyer and politician, Ms. Napolitano has consistently promoted education throughout her career in public service. Since being named the 20th president of the University of California in September 2013, President Napolitano has made access to higher education for underrepresented students one of her top priorities. The university system she leads is the world’s largest, with 10 campuses and five medical centers, and with 234,000 students and 208,000 faculty and staff. President Napolitano holds a juris doctorate degree from the University of Virginia and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Santa Clara University. 

In 1991, Ms. Napolitano gained visibility as an attorney representing Anita Hill during the Senate confirmation hearings for Clarence Thomas, whom Ms. Hill accused of sexual harassment. From 1999 to 2002 she served as attorney general of Arizona before being elected to serve as the third female governor of Arizona in 2003. In 2008, she was cited by The New York Times as among the women most likely to become the first female president of the United States. In 2009, she was appointed by President Obama to the Homeland Security post.

Michele Huber-Bryan Giles Memorial Award

The Huber-Giles Memorial Award was established in memory of two students, Michele Huber and her fiancé, Bryan Giles, who were tragically killed in a car accident just after graduating from Penn in 1987. This award honors an outstanding Penn senior in the Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology who demonstrates academic excellence, leadership, service and a love of mankind. This year’s recipient is Nicole Woon, a senior studying entrepreneurial management and innovation at Wharton and bioengineering in SEAS. She is also a candidate for a master’s degree in mechanical engineering and applied mechanics in December.

Student Leadership Award

To recognize the contributions and accomplishments of Penn women, TCPW offers the Student Leadership Award to an outstanding woman who has combined high academic achievements with a demonstrated commitment to the University through her involvement and leadership. This year’s recipient is Carolina Angel, a senior in the College. She is studying sociology of culture and minoring in cinema studies and Latin American and Latino Studies.

Athletic Achievement Award

The Athletic Achievement Award honors a woman athlete or athletes who have transcended the customary excellence that’s expected at Penn and to recognize the success of the exceptional athlete. Women’s Basketball Coach Mike McLaughlin and three of his stellar athletes—senior co-captains Alyssa Baron and Meghan McCullough and freshman Sidney Stipanovich—are this year’s recipients. The team had an incredible season, including amassing a 22-7 record (12-2 in the Ivies), winning Penn’s first Ivy League women’s basketball crown in 10 years (Almanac March 25, 2014) and earning a bid to the NCAA Championships where they lost a close first-round game to the University of Texas.

The University of Pennsylvania’s Institute for Urban Research (Penn IUR) recently honored the recipients of its 10th annual Urban Leadership Award at its 10th annual Urban Leadership Forum. This award honors urban visionaries for their transformative leadership for sustainable and inclusive cities. The 2014 awardees are Martin O’Malley, governor of Maryland, and Sister Mary Scullion and Joan Dawson McConnon, co-founders of Project HOME.

“As Penn IUR celebrates its 10th anniversary and reflects upon a decade of informing the sustainable city, we recognize the critical role of urban innovators who are transforming cities,” said Egbert Perry, Penn IUR Advisory Board chair, chairman and chief executive officer of The Integral Group and recently-appointed chairman of Fannie Mae. “The 2014 Urban Leadership Award winners are true urban visionaries, whose work provides examples that resonate worldwide.”

This year, the Penn IUR Urban Leadership Award recognizes and showcases accomplishment by remarkable figures in the non-profit and public sectors. “We believe that our work to end the tragedy of homelessness improves the quality of life for all Philadelphians,” said Ms. McConnon. “We are restoring lives so that our residents can contribute to the community. Our work is also an economic engine, creating jobs and contributing to the overall financial health of the city.” Sister Mary underscored this point by citing Project HOME’s vision statement: “None of us are home until all of us are home.”

“America’s strength can be measured by the success of her cities big and small. Public officials need to be willing to take the chance to be innovative, because innovation breeds progress,” said Maryland governor and former Baltimore mayor, Mr. O’Malley. “Some of the best innovation happens at the city level—in Baltimore, we implemented innovative strategies that made our streets safer, reduced drug addiction among our citizens, improved our schools and delivered basic services more effectively and efficiently. It’s an honor to be recognized by the Penn Institute for Urban Research; the results that we got would not have been possible without the work of the great citizens of Baltimore.”

About the 2014 Awardees:

Martin O’Malley is serving the people of Maryland in his second term as governor. Since 2007, his administration has been delivering results for Maryland families by choosing to do the things that create jobs, expand opportunity and make Maryland a safer, healthier place. A former Governing Magazine “Public Official of the Year,” Governor O’Malley was re-elected in 2010. The Governor’s policies have been credited with restoring the health of the Chesapeake Bay and saving the Bay’s native blue crab and oyster populations. The O’Malley Administration has also secured millions of dollars in rate relief for Maryland energy consumers while jumpstarting the creation of thousands of green energy sector jobs. Under Governor O’Malley’s leadership, Maryland led the charge for RGGI, the nation’s first cap-and-trade auction of greenhouse emissions.

Sister Mary Scullion and Joan Dawson McConnon are co-founders of Project HOME. Project HOME, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary, has grown from an emergency winter shelter into an organization working to end homelessness with 535 units of affordable housing. They have created an international model for alleviating homelessness and poverty on a large scale, providing employment services programs and comprehensive medical and education services. In 2002, Sister Mary Scullion was awarded an Eisenhower Fellowship, and that same year, she and Ms. McConnon were national awardees of the Ford Foundation’s prestigious Leadership for a Changing World Award. In 2009, she was named by Time magazine as one of “The World’s 100 Most Influential People.” In 2012, The Philadelphia Inquirer selected Sister Mary Scullion as their Citizen of the Year. She was Penn’s Baccalaureate speaker in 2008 (Almanac March 25, 2008).

The Penn Institute for Urban Research, now celebrating its 10 year anniversary, is dedicated to advancing cross-disciplinary, urban-focused research, instruction and civic engagement on issues relevant to cities around the world. As the global population becomes increasingly urban, understanding cities is vital to informed decision-making and public policy at the local, national and international levels. Penn IUR focuses on research that informs the sustainable and inclusive 21st-century city. By providing a forum for collaborative scholarship and instruction at Penn and beyond, Penn IUR stimulates research and engages with urban practitioners and policymakers to inform urban policy.

“There is a general sense that the arts are ‘good’ for American society,” explained Mark Stern, professor in the School of Social Policy & Practice and director of the Social Impact of the Arts Project (SIAP). “Yet this general sense has rarely been examined empirically.” Examining this assumption is the goal of SIAP, which received a $250,000 two-year grant from the Surdna Foundation.

The grant will allow SIAP to refine the social well-being index for Philadelphia and to make initial estimates for two additional cities. Within the index, a twelve-dimension framework defines social well-being. The definition includes economic well-being, social connection, morbidity and more.

“We are also undertaking a study of the relationship of geographic mobility to cultural resources to examine the relationship of the arts to gentrification,” Dr. Stern said. “Our mission is about developing better methods for understanding the impact that the arts have on urban neighborhoods.” This grant will help SIAP achieve that goal.

“In particular, we are interested in ways that the arts and culture can improve the quality of life in low-income urban neighborhoods and how funders can better target their investments to maximize their impact,” Dr. Stern said.

SIAP recently finished CultureBlocks, a joint project with the Reinvestment Fund and the City of Philadelphia Office of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy. CultureBlocks is an interactive, web-based geographic information system on the city’s cultural resources, powered by SIAP’s databases. The National Endowment for the Arts and ArtPlace, a consortium of national arts philanthropies, funded the project.

The Netter Center Director and Faculty Advisory Board Co-Chairs have unanimously selected Carol Muller to serve as the next Moorman-Simon Faculty Fellow for a two-year term, beginning on July 1, 2014, and concluding on June 30, 2016.

Dr. Muller is a professor in the department of music, a SAS Faculty Fellow in Digital and Community Engagement and a Netter Center Distinguished Faculty Fellow. She has taught ABCS courses for approximately 14 years, and her work to engage Penn students with local communities of faith, schools and arts and cultural organizations has been impressive and significant. She also serves as the convener of the Moorman-Simon Seminar in Arts and Culture (one of seven faculty-led seminars through the Netter Center’s Moorman-Simon Program for Education and Schooling for Democracy and Citizenship). In general, there have been a lot of exciting developments through these interdisciplinary seminars and the program as a whole. 

Matt Hartley will be concluding his two-year term as the first Moorman-Simon Faculty Fellow on June 30.

Sheldon Simon is now chair of the Netter Center National Advisory Board.