New College House: Urban Project of the Year

The University of Pennsylvania’s New College House, designed by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson Architects and constructed by INTECH Construction, has received the 2016 Urban Project of the Year, awarded by the Architecture, Construction and Engineering Mentor Program of Eastern Pennsylvania. 

The New College House at 34th and Chestnut streets is Penn’s first residential building specifically designed as a college house (see pages 1 and 4-5). The project was honored both for its important mark on Philadelphia’s design and construction community and for the University’s ongoing and substantial involvement with the ACE Mentor Program.

Both Penn’s Facilities and Real Estate Services Division and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania have hosted ACE teams for the past two years. During the 2015-2016 school year, Facilities and Real Estate Services mentored 11 students from Mastery Charter School’s Shoemaker Campus in West Philadelphia in after-school activities on a biweekly basis. Using Penn’s New College House as the base project for exploration, members of Penn’s Facilities and Real Estate Services team, along with professionals from both the architectural and engineering team led by BCJ Architects and the construction team led by INTECH Construction, developed activities to teach skill-building in areas such as site construction, project management, architectural drawing, estimating and structural design.

This year’s Facilities and Real Estate Services ACE mentor team, including Mariette Buchman, Dave Dunn and Sue Long, all of the design and construction department, and Marilyn Jost of FRES administration also received a 2016 Models of Excellence Honorable Mention from Penn for their work on the project. Project Manager Rafael DeLuna, also of design and construction, was an additional contributor to the team, and will lead the 2016-2017 school year ACE mentor team.

Monica Harmon: Under 40 Award

The National Black Nurses Association (NBNA) has honored Monica Harmon, senior lecturer in Penn Nursing’s department of family & community health, with an “Under 40 Award.” This was the first year the award was given. Ms. Harmon was one of 19 NBNA members selected for the award, which was presented August 5 during the NBNA’s 45th anniversary celebration in Memphis.

The Under 40 Award honors and celebrates young NBNA members who have shown strong leadership and demonstrated excellence and innovation in their practice setting, in their NBNA chapters and in the communities they serve.

“These are some of NBNA’s rising stars, chosen by their chapter presidents,” stated Eric J. Williams, NBNA president. “They are the next cadre of NBNA leaders and we look forward to great things from them.”

The NBNA’s mission is to “represent and provide a forum for black nurses to advocate and implement strategies to ensure access to the highest quality of healthcare for persons of color.”

Gary Molander: Paul G. Gassman Distinguished Service Award

Gary A. Molander, the Hirschmann-Makineni Professor of Chemistry and chemistry department chair at University of Pennsylvania, has been awarded the Paul G. Gassman Distinguished Service Award by the Division of Organic Chemistry of the American Chemical Society. The award was established in 1994 to recognize outstanding service to the organic chemistry community.

Dr. Molander has a long history of service to the organic community in elected and appointed positions, both at the local and national levels. He has served the Organic Division for over 15 years as member of the executive committee, including as executive officer of the 37th National Organic Symposium, secretary-treasurer and chair of the Division. One of the most important initiatives he established, in collaboration with Andrew Evans, is the Division’s Graduate Research Symposium, now in its sixth year. The symposium was recognized by the ACS with a ChemLuminary Award.

Locally, Dr. Molander served as chair of the Philadelphia Section of the ACS and the Philadelphia Organic Chemists Club. He has been on many editorial advisory boards and is currently serving as an associate editor of Organic Letters, co-editor-in-chief of Comprehensive Organic Synthesis II and is a member of the editorial advisory board of Science of Synthesis.