From the President: |
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March 31, 2015, Volume 61, No. 28 |
Inaugural Recipients of the President’s Engagement Prizes
I am pleased to announce the inaugural recipients of the President’s Engagement Prizes, which are awarded annually to Penn seniors to design and undertake fully funded local, national or global engagement projects during the first year after they graduate from Penn.
These members of the Class of 2015 have each developed an extraordinarily promising project, and each recipient has demonstrated an impressive track record of community engagement and scholastic achievement during their years as a Penn undergraduate.
The recipients of the 2015 President’s Engagement Prizes are:
Homegrown Organic Purification Project: Adrian Lievano (EAS’15) and Matthew Lisle (EAS’15) will develop and implement a rainwater catchment and purification system in Kimana, Kenya. After installing the system, the group plans to engage the community through ongoing support and education. Mr. Lievano and Mr. Lisle are being mentored by Stanley Laskowski, lecturer and academic advisor in the master of environmental studies program.
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Home, Heart, Health: Engaging the Community in Bridging the Gap: Jodi Feinberg (Nu’15) will design, implement and evaluate a comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation model for home care with the support of the New York University Langone Medical Center and the Visiting Nurse Service of New York. The goal of Ms. Feinberg’s one-of-a-kind program is to serve as a much-needed bridge between inpatient and outpatient cardiac rehabilitation, ensuring that patients are steadily progressing along the cardiac rehabilitation continuum. Ms. Feinberg is being mentored by Terri Lipman, Miriam Stirl Endowed Term Professor of Nutrition, professor of nursing of children and assistant dean for community engagement in the School of Nursing.
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Health and Education in Africa: Shadrack Frimpong (C’15) will establish the Tarkwa Breman Model School for Girls and Community Clinic in his poverty-stricken home village of Tarkwa Breman, Ghana. The Tarkwa Breman Model School for Girls and Community Clinic will serve young girls and citizens in Tarkwa Breman, as well as citizens in the surrounding seven villages. Mr. Frimpong is being mentored by Harvey Rubin, professor of medicine in the Perelman School of Medicine.
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GenHERation: Katlyn Grasso (W’15) will use the President’s Engagement Prize to further her work with GenHERation, a female empowerment network for high school girls. GenHERation will provide female students the opportunity to develop advocacy campaigns to address important community issues and will positively impact girls’ confidence and personal development across the country. Ms. Grasso is being mentored by Lee Kramer, director of student life in the Wharton School.
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Each recipient of the President’s Engagement Prize will receive $50,000 for living expenses and up to $100,000 for project implementation expenses. We received 25 outstanding applications from 37 students. The Selection Committee, appointed by Provost Vincent Price, was chaired by Vice Provost for Education Andrew Binns and included Marc McMorris, chair of the Trustee Committee on Local, National and Global Engagement and one faculty member from each undergraduate school: Katherine Klein (Wharton), Walter Licht (SAS), Jianbo Shi (SEAS) and Barbra Mann Wall (Nursing).
The President’s Engagement Prizes strengthen Penn’s commitment under the Penn Compact 2020 to encourage and support local, national and global engagement among our students. The Prizes have been generously endowed by Trustee Judith Bollinger, WG’81, and William G. Bollinger; Trustee Lee Spelman Doty, W’76, and George E. Doty, Jr., W’76; and Emeritus Trustee James S. Riepe, W’65, WG’67, HON’10, and Gail Petty Riepe, CW’68. On behalf of the recipients and the entire Penn community, I want to extend my thanks to the Bollingers, Dotys and Riepes for their generosity and for helping us make these unique prizes a reality.
This inaugural competition for the President’s Engagement Prizes represents an exciting milestone in realizing Benjamin Franklin’s vision of an education that integrates the theoretical with the practical. In underscoring the high priority that Penn places on educating students to put their knowledge to work for the betterment of humankind, these prizes also demonstrate the extremely high intellectual and civic caliber of our Penn undergraduates.
Please join me in congratulating our 2015 President’s Engagement Prize winners.
—Amy Gutmann, Penn President
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