September 6, 2022 Volume 69 Issue 4

August 26, 2022

It is my pleasure to invite you to join the University of Pennsylvania Board of Trustees in celebrating the Inauguration of President Liz Magill. A series of wonderful events has been planned for Friday and Saturday, October 21 and 22, to mark her official installation as the University’s ninth President.

As you may know, the Trustees are responsible for choosing the University President and I am very proud to say that in Liz Magill we have found a leader of proven strength and a person of unquestionable principle to lead Penn into the future. Her upcoming Inauguration will reflect both the solemnity of this historic moment for our centuries-old University, as well as the wonderfully festive spirit that we all have come to know and love about Penn.

Please plan to join us as we honor Penn’s new President, Liz Magill, at her Inaugural celebration.

Event details are as follows:

Friday, October 21

Academic Procession
9:30 a.m.
Inaugural festivities will begin with an academic procession down Locust Walk, starting at the Annenberg Center, continuing through the viewing tent on Penn Commons, and into Irvine Auditorium for the traditional ceremony.

Inuguration Ceremony
10 a.m.
This invitation-only ceremony at Irvine Auditorium will be live-streamed and can be viewed on the Inauguration website and on a big screen in a tent on Penn Commons, adjacent to Irvine Auditorium.

Celebration on College Green
Noon–2 p.m.
This Penn-wide party will feature special musical headliners Jeff Tweedy and Sheryl Crow, two of President Magill’s favorites. Come enjoy signature Philadelphia tastings from CookNSolo restaurants (Zahav, Federal Donuts, Goldie, and more), scrumptious picnic fare from Neuman’s Kitchen, plus fun give-aways. Be sure to get a scoop of Bassetts Ice Cream’s “Penn-augural Berry Chocolate Chunk”—custom-made for the occasion.

Academic Symposium
2:30 p.m.
President Magill will sit down for a conversation with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan. This invitation-only event will be live-streamed from Irvine Auditorium and can be viewed on the Inauguration website and on a big screen in a tent on Penn Commons.

Saturday, October 22

Walk with Olive
8 a.m.
Join President Magill and her beloved goldendoodle, Olive, along with members of the Penn Band and the Quaker mascot, for a morning walk across campus. All canine companions welcome! The stroll will begin on Locust Walk outside of Huntsman Hall and end at Franklin Field, where the Penn Relays 5K will kick off.

Penn Relays 5K
8:30 a.m.
Lace up your shoes and join us for an organized 5K around Penn Park. President Magill will serve as ceremonial starter for the race, which will begin and end at iconic Franklin Field. There’s an optional one-mile fun run/walk, too. Registration is now open.

Events will continue throughout the weekend with Homecoming activities, including the football game against Yale, a variety of arts and cultural opportunities, and much, much more. For event details, visit the Homecoming Weekend website.

—Scott Bok, Chair of the Penn Trustees

Michele Volpe has been named the University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS)’s new Chief Operating Officer, following 23 years as CEO of Penn Presbyterian Medical Center (PPMC).

In her new role, each of Penn Medicine’s six hospital CEOs will report to Ms. Volpe, and she will be responsible for a slate of efforts to further enhance operational efficiency and program integration across the 3,400+-bed health system, which stretches from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to Princeton, New Jersey, including three hospitals in Philadelphia. Together, the hospitals care for patients during more than 6.5 million outpatient visits and about 130,000 admissions each year, including the deliveries of more than 18,000 babies.

“Michele is among the very best leaders working in healthcare today, and she is a deeply experienced and trusted strategist and partner who has continuously proven her skills at shaping new models and facilities that allow us to deliver the very best care to our patients,” said UPHS CEO Kevin B. Mahoney. “I’m thrilled for her to take on a role that will allow her to expand her vision and steady leadership hand across our entire health system.”

During her tenure as CEO of Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Ms. Volpe has overseen pivotal projects that include the opening of the Penn Medicine University City outpatient facility, the relocation of Penn Medicine’s Level 1 Trauma Center from the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania to PPMC, and construction of the Penn Presbyterian Advanced Care Pavilion, which opened in 2015. Together with the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, PPMC is consistently ranked among the nation’s top hospitals by U.S. News and World Report, coming in at #13 on the publication’s prestigious honor roll this year.

A highly respected leader among her healthcare peers, Ms. Volpe currently serves as chair of the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP), which advocates for the more than 240 hospitals across the commonwealth. She has been a member of HAP’s Board of Directors since 2016 and served as its treasurer before becoming chair.

“This is the most exciting time in Penn Medicine’s long history, and I am honored to begin this new work with my colleagues across the health system to advance our position as the place that patients from across our region—and far beyond—can always rely on,” Ms. Volpe said.

She assumed the new role beginning September 1, 2022, succeeding Philip Okala, who will soon begin a new role as system president at California-based City of Hope.

Shelley Welton has joined Penn Carey Law as the Presidential Distinguished Professor of Law and Energy Policy. She will also hold an affiliation at the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy in the Weitzman School as part of former President Amy Gutmann’s 2019 commitment to build a multidisciplinary energy policy faculty affiliated with the Kleinman Center.

Dr. Welton’s cutting-edge and widely published scholarship focuses on the increasingly urgent intersections between climate change, energy law, environmental regulations, and environmental policy. Before joining Penn Carey Law, Dr. Welton was a faculty member at the University of South Carolina School of Law and worked as the deputy director of Columbia Law School’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law.

She holds a BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a master of public administration in environmental science and policy from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, a JD from NYU School of Law, and a PhD in law from Yale Law School.

Though her official appointment begins this fall, Dr. Welton served as a Kleinman Center visiting scholar this past spring. During the 2022-2023 school year, Dr. Welton will teach a number of energy law and climate change-related courses, including “Climate Change,” an upper-level seminar encouraging students to delve deeply into emerging questions of law related to the world’s rapidly changing climate.

Cara McClellan, GSE’12, will join the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School as the director and associate practice professor of the newest of the Gittis Legal Clinics, the Advocacy for Racial and Civil (ARC) Justice Clinic–a clinic inspired in part by Martin Luther King Jr.’s words, “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

Under Ms. McClellan’s leadership, the ARC Justice Clinic will offer Penn Carey Law students the chance to apply their legal skills toward the furtherance of racial justice, both locally and at the national level. Additionally, the ARC Justice Clinic will be the first of the Gittis Legal Clinics to focus on complex federal litigation.

Ms. McClellan’s career as a civil rights litigator before joining Penn Carey Law demonstrates her strong dedication to civil and racial justice. As assistant counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense & Education Fund, Inc., Ms. McClellan served as lead counsel on many cases, including I.S. et al. v. Binghamton School District, a case challenging a school’s discriminatory strip search of four Black and Latina middle school girls. Ms. McClellan has also represented students and families in school desegregation cases, such as Sheff v. O’Neill, and students and alumni as amici in SFFA v. Harvard, defending Harvard’s affirmative action admissions policy.

A Philadelphia native, Ms. McClellan graduated from Central High School. She earned an undergraduate degree from Yale and an MSEd from Penn’s Graduate School of Education, then returned to Yale to earn her JD, where she served both as an editor of the Yale Law & Policy Review and as the president of the Black Law Students’ Association.

Following law school, she was a clerk for the Honorable Gregory M. Sleet, Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, and the Honorable Andre M. Davis, Senior Judge for the Fourth Circuit.

The University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing has been re-designated as a World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center for Nursing and Midwifery Leadership for an additional four-year term. As a collaborating center, Penn Nursing commits to advancing the workplan of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) related to human resource development and the sustainable development goals (SDG’s) during each four-year cycle of work.

Under the directorship of Penn Nursing Dean Antonia Villarruel; co-director Eileen Lake; and with Nancy Biller as associate director, it will seek to increase workforce capacity to improve maternal health in Latin America and the Caribbean. The terms of reference are as follows:

• Support PAHO/WHO’s efforts to increase knowledge and understanding of maternal health and mortality.  
• Support PAHO/WHO in building capacity in nursing education.
• Support PAHO/WHO in strengthening nursing research.

“Penn Nursing’s work as a WHO Collaborating Center has been central to our school’s commitment to developing nursing leaders, advancing science, and engaging in social justice—our redesignation is very meaningful,” said Dean Villarruel. “It provides incredible opportunities to make a significant impact in the Latin American and Caribbean region and highlights Penn Nursing’s true strengths as a globally-focused health entity.”

This designation demonstrates Penn Nursing’s enduring commitment to advancing global health through nursing and midwifery leadership. Not only is Penn Nursing among the first nursing schools in the U.S. to attain this prestigious designation, it is also the only WHO Collaborating Center at Penn.

In an effort to improve the lives of children and adults with kidney disease, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and Penn Medicine are jointly launching the Penn-CHOP Kidney Innovation Center. The first-of-its-kind center will advance research to transform patient care for those of all ages, focusing on the early detection, prevention, and treatment of kidney disease and its complications

“More than 850 million people suffer from kidney disease, and kidney disease is one of the fastest growing causes of death, so there is a pressing need to accelerate breakthroughs in our understanding and treatment of the condition,” said co-director Katalin Susztak, a professor of nephrology and genetics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. “This center will draw from experts across both institutions, using interdisciplinary collaboration as the driving force to accelerate research that improves the health and well-being of all patients with kidney disease.”

The center will focus on three main areas: fostering cutting-edge discoveries through collaboration between Penn and CHOP; recruiting and growing top talent to key areas that align with the center’s mission; and building the next generation of nephrology researchers through an enhanced training and mentorship program.

“By bringing pediatric and adult kidney researchers under one umbrella, we will accelerate the pace of discovery for both populations,” said co-director Michelle Denburg, director of research in the division of nephrology at CHOP and an associate professor of pediatrics and epidemiology at Penn. “Some processes of kidney disease are shared in adults and children, and others are unique, but in both cases, promoting crosstalk between researchers can shed light on mechanisms of disease for both children and adults and lead to precise diagnostics and treatments.”

The Kidney Innovation Center brings together scientists in clinical epidemiology, biostatistics, bioinformatics, computational biology, genetics, pathology, physiology, biochemistry, immunology, genomics, pharmacology, psychology, and education. Researchers will take a bench-to-bedside, big data approach, investigating the molecular pathways, genetics, and biochemistry involved in kidney disease and identifying targets for potential therapies.

The center will promote a culture of cooperation and discovery among researchers at CHOP, Penn, and beyond by hosting an annual Kidney Life Course research symposium, as well as regular meetings, journal clubs and shared resources. It will also grow local talent through training in the latest research methods and the administration of a pilot grant program.

Charles Ilsley Minott, an associate professor emeritus in the history of art department in the School of Arts and Sciences, passed away recently. He was 90.

Dr. Minott received an MFA from the Massachusetts College of Art, then an MA from the University of North Carolina and a PhD from Princeton University. He held a faculty position at the University of Pittsburgh before joining Penn’s faculty in 1966 as an assistant professor of the history of art. He advanced to associate professor in 1973. While at Penn, Dr. Minott’s research interests centered on Medieval and Northern Renaissance Art, including sculpture, painting, manuscript illumination, and graphic arts. He wrote a book, Martin Schongauer, in 1971, and followed it up twenty-one years later with History of Art, part of the Harper Collins College Outline Series. He published widely in scholarly journals, including articles on Albrecht Dürer, Robert Campin, Nicolas Froment, and Melchior Broederlam. Dr. Minott was active in Penn’s governance, serving on University Council and Faculty Senate committees (including SEC in the 1980s). In 1997, he retired from Penn and took emeritus status.

E. Neil Moore, an emeritus professor of biomedical science in Penn’s School of Veterinary Medicine, passed away recently. He was 89.

Dr. Moore joined Penn Vet’s faculty in 1962 as an assistant professor of physiology and animal biology. In 1966, he rose to the rank of associate professor, and became a full professor four years later. While at Penn, he conducted research with colleague Joseph F. Spear about lethal cardiac arrhythmias using electro-physiology. He published this research extensively in peer-reviewed journals, drawing connections between treatment of disorders in animals and humans.

Neal Nathanson, the former chair of the department of microbiology in the Perelman School of Medicine as well as its former associate dean for global health programs and Penn’s former vice provost for research, passed away due to complications of leukemia and pneumonia on August 11. He was 94.

Born in 1927, Dr. Nathanson earned a BS in biochemistry from Harvard University in 1949, then a medical degree, also from Harvard, four years later. He then completed his residency at the University of Chicago. To satisfy his military service, he led the Polio Surveillance Unit at the agency that would later become the Centers for Disease Control, where he helped increase the safety of early polio vaccines. He served for two years in the military as an epidemic intelligence service officer, then moved to Baltimore in 1957 to begin postdoctoral study in virology at the School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University. He remained at Johns Hopkins until 1979, where he rose to become the head of infectious diseases in the department of epidemiology.

In 1979, Dr. Nathanson joined Penn’s School of Medicine faculty as chair of the department of microbiology. At Penn, he rose to prominence for his definitive work on the epidemiology of polio. Among his important contributions to the field were his delineation of the two major routes by which poliovirus could be disseminated in its host, the introduction of immuno-suppression to understand the role of the immune response in recovery from primary viral infections, the demonstration that lymphocytic choriomeningitis could be prevented or enhanced by immune manipulation, and the detailed genetic analysis of bunyavirus virulence. He did some of the first studies of the visna virus of sheep, the prototype of the lentiviruses, of which the AIDS virus is another member, and conducted NIH-funded research on the methods by which HIV causes disease.

At Penn, Dr. Nathanson was a staunch advocate for women. In 1980, he hired Susan Weiss, who was the second woman to join the microbiology department. “He was really a great mentor to me for many years,” Dr. Weiss said. “At the time when he hired me in 1980, no one thought coronaviruses were very interesting or important, and he believed in me.” Dr. Nathanson advanced through the ranks at Penn, taking emeritus status in 1995. That same year, he took a position as the School of Medicine’s vice dean for research. In 1998, he was named director of the Office of AIDS Research of the National Institutes of Health (Almanac May 19/26, 1998). “Dr. Nathanson brings a powerful scientific intellect, great compassion, and long administrative experience to the task of leading the NIH AIDS research program at this critical time,” said NIH director Harold Varmus. At the NIH, Dr. Nathanson led an office that coordinated scientific, budgetary, legislative, and policy elements of the NIH AIDS research program.

After serving at the NIH for two years, Dr. Nathanson returned to Penn as the vice provost for research (Almanac November 14, 2000). “President [Judith] Rodin and I are thrilled that someone of Neal’s stature will head our research efforts,” said then-Provost Robert Barchi. “I can’t think of anyone with a better combination of world-class personal research, and science policy experience at the national and local level, to lead our research efforts in the near-term.” While he was in this position, the departments of microbiology and neurology endowed a lectureship in his honor (Almanac February 5, 2002). At Penn, Dr. Nathanson oversaw an over-$500 million research enterprise and played a central role in Penn’s research-related strategic planning for research, including assisting in the transfer of new technology from the research laboratory to the public.

In 2003, Dr. Nathanson retired from the Provost’s Office and returned to being a professor emeritus of microbiology. In what he jokingly called his “fourth retirement,” he also focused on his affiliations with numerous scientific societies. He continued pouring time and effort into his teaching, winning the Perelman School of Medicine’s Special Teaching Award in 2014 (Almanac April 29, 2014), and also served as PSOM’s associate dean for global health programs from 2004 to 2014. Outside of his Penn responsibilities, Dr. Nathanson also served as the president of the American Epidemiological Society, an editor of Epidemiologic Reviews, and the founding editor of the American Journal of Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University.

“He was an irascible iconoclast,” said former colleague Glen Gaulton, the vice dean and faculty director of the Center for Global Health at Penn. “He had his way of doing things, and I have to say, he was right 99.9% of the time. He was completely without artifice; he just did what he thought was right.”

He is survived by his wife, Valerie Epps; his daughter, Katherine Nathanson, the Pearl Basser Professor in the Perelman School of Medicine; his first wife, Constance; his brother, Larry; his sons, John and Daniel; and seven grandchildren. He was predeceased by wife Phoebe Leboy Nathanson, a former professor in Penn's School of Dental Medicine. Memorial services will be held in the fall in Philadelphia and Cambridge, Massachusetts. His family asks that any charitable donations be made in support of the Neal Nathanson lectureship in the department of microbiology at the Perelman School of Medicine. Checks can be made payable to the “Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania” and sent to: Penn Medicine Development, c/o Andrew Bellet, 3535 Market Street, Suite 750, Philadelphia, PA 19104. To give online, please visit: https://micro.med.upenn.edu/donate/.

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However, notices of alumni deaths should be directed to the Alumni Records Office at Suite 300, 2929 Walnut St., (215) 898-8136 or email record@ben.dev.upenn.edu.

University Council Meeting Agenda

Wednesday, September 14, 2022
4 p.m.
Hall of Flags, Houston Hall
PennCard Required

1. Welcome. 1 Minute
2. Appointment of Moderator. 1 Minute
3. Appointment of Parliamentarian. 1 Minute
4. Approval of the minutes of April 27, 2022.  1 minute
5. Follow up comments or questions on Status Reports.  5 minutes
6. Presentation of the Council Committee Charges for 2022-2023. 10 Minutes
7. Timing and format of Open Forum sessions. 5 minutes
8. Discussion about adding Post-Doctoral Fellow Representation to Council. 30 minutes
9. New Business.  5 minutes
10. Adjournment.

Eleven nursing professionals with ties to Penn Nursing will be inducted as 2022 fellows of the American Academy of Nursing (AAN). Three are current Penn faculty, with two of them being alums; the additional eight are all Penn Nursing alumni.

All of the inductees will be honored at a ceremony during the AAN’s 2022 Health Policy Conference, taking place on October 27-29, 2022, at the Marriott Marquis in Washington, DC. This year’s conference – From Reflection to Impact: Positioning Nursing's Future – will be in-person only with no virtual option.

Our Penn Nursing faculty inductees this year are:

• Margaret Souders, Nu’81, GNu’96, GR’08, Associate Professor, Biobehaviroal Health Sciences
• Sara Jacoby, Nu’05, GNu’08, GR’15, Assistant Professor, Family and Community Health
• Dalmacio Dennis Flores, Assistant Professor, Family and Community Health

Penn Nursing Alumni:

• Christine Pintz, GNu’88
• Marianne Shaughnessy, Nu’84, GNu’89, GRN’96
• Lichuan Ye, GR’08
• Marlene McHugh, GNu’18
• Maxim Topaz, GR’14
• Joseph Napolitano, Nu’92, GNu’95
• Bridgette (Brawner) Rice, GNu’05, GR’09
• Sadie Hutson, GNu’00, GR’04

Fellow selection criteria include evidence of significant contributions to nursing and health care, and sponsorship by two current AAN fellows. Applicants are reviewed by a panel comprised of elected and appointed fellows, and selection is based, in part, on the extent the nominee’s nursing career has influenced health policies and the health and well-being of all. Academy fellows include hospital and government administrators, college deans, and renowned scientific researchers. The newest felows represent 35 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and 17 countries.

Ioana Marinescu, an associate professor in the School of Social Policy & Practice, recently began a one-year leave from SP2 to join the antitrust division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) as its principal economist. In this role, Dr. Marinescu will work with Susan Athey from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, who recently accepted the role of chief economist.

In addition to serving as an associate professor at SP2, Dr. Marinescu is a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. An economist by training, her primary focus is the labor market and how policies can shape employment, productivity, and economic security. Her research expertise includes wage determination, antitrust law for the labor market, universal basic income, unemployment insurance, the minimum wage, and employment contracts.

This past year, Dr. Marinescu and Kat Rosqueta, founding executive director of the Center for High Impact Philanthropy, launched a pilot podcast called Just Economics, which explores how policies and labor markets work, including the science behind job creation and unemployment insurance. The podcast served as an example for SP2 students enrolled in the course Social Policy through Podcasting, co-taught by Drs. Marinescu and Rosqueta.

“In her new role at the DOJ, Dr. Marinescu will be looking at the economy from the lens of the federal government with an opportunity to translate her economic and social policy expertise at the broadest national level,” said SP2 Dean Sally Bachman. “I am thrilled for Dr. Marinescu to take on this exciting challenge. I know that her deep knowledge of economics and social policy as well as her commitment to social justice, equity, and inclusion will be front and center.”

Campus Pride, the preeminent resource for LGBTQ+ leadership development, diversity inclusion and advocacy within higher education, have announced the annual Best of the Best Colleges and Universities for LGBTQ+ students in the United States, naming the University of Pennsylvania to this year’s list of campuses creating a safe, welcoming environment for students, faculty, and staff alike. 

“Campus Pride created the Best of the Best list to recognize the outstanding accomplishments of these colleges and universities, creating safer, more welcoming campuses for LGBTQ+ people,” said Shane Windmeyer, executive director  of Campus Pride. “Students, prospective students, and their families, along with faculty and staff members, deserve to know whether they will be safe on campus, so they can make the best choices for their own academic success – and by creating inclusive, safe environments these colleges are taking responsibility for all students.”

“We are honored to once again be recognized by Campus Pride for the work the LGBT Center does to support, encourage, and celebrate our LGBTQ+ graduate/professional student, undergraduate student, staff, faculty, and alum communities at Penn,” said Erin Cross, director of the LGBT Center. “We would be remiss if we did not recognize the partnership of our many campus and community partners – from student groups to Human Resources, schools to Athletics, and so many more. Although there is always more to be done, we are grateful to take this moment to pause and reflect on our accomplishments to ensure Penn’s LGBTQ+ folks truly belong.”

Campus Pride’s Best of the Best awardees have achieved 5 out of 5 stars on the Campus Pride Index (CPI), a national benchmarking tool measuring LGBTQ-friendly policies, programs, and practices. To earn a ranking of 5 out of 5 stars, campuses receive a percentage score from 90 to 100 based on their LGBTQ-inclusive policies, programs, and practices. The methodology to determine this year’s Best of the Best List was based on an overall score of 93 percent or higher. 

“The work Campus Pride does every day to foster safer, more welcoming campuses across the country is creating positive change for students, staff, and faculty, as this year’s Best of the Best list reflects that with 40 colleges represented, up from 30 last year,” said Tom Elliott, Campus Pride board chair. “At a time when LGBTQ+ rights and other civil rights are under assault in states across the country, including Texas and Florida, it is as important as ever to recognize the campuses in these states working to create spaces where the next generation of LGBTQ+ leaders can learn and flourish.”

Campus Pride’s full Best of the Best list is available at http://campuspride.org/BestoftheBest. 

Nicholas Stern, professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), author of the groundbreaking Stern Review: the Economics of Climate Change, and former chief economist and senior vice president of the World Bank, has received the 2022 Carnot Prize, given by the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy.

Penn awards the Carnot Prize to those who make distinguished contributions to energy policy and over the last seven years, it has become perhaps the most notable annual recognition of energy policy impact by leaders around the world and across all sectors.  

Lord Stern is known for his urgent call to action on climate change—sustained over a period of decades. His focus on bringing the best scholarship on climate change and the energy transition to the public square is unmatched. The 2006 Stern Review, commissioned by the U.K. Treasury, raised the visibility of the analysis of climate change as a collective action problem. Lord Stern’s standing as both a scholar and a highly placed advisor to some of the world’s most powerful government institutions both challenged and empowered establishment actors to speak and act on climate risk.

In his 2015 book, Why Are We Waiting?, Lord Stern recalculated the risks and costs of climate change and found that they are far worse than conventional economic analysis suggests. These findings have profoundly challenged policy guidance to governments. There are hotly contested claims about objectivity in the methods used to provide such guidance.

Lord Stern said: “The Carnot Prize is a great honor for which I am very grateful. It is a privilege to join the very distinguished group of past recipients. The opportunities in transforming our energy systems changed enormously for the better in the last 15 years or so. They are at the center of a new approach to growth which can carry tremendous benefits in human well-being across the board. And they were quite rightly at the heart of the deliberations at COP26 in November 2021 in Glasgow.”

On Monday, August 29, 2022, Penn’s Class of 2026 Convocation was held in person in Blanche Levy Park, in front of College Hall. President Magill’s speech is shown below as prepared for delivery.

Free to Disagree–Productively

President Liz Magill

Let’s hear it again for the Class of 2026 and transfers! Welcome to your new University!

As you may know, it’s my new University, too. I started on July 1, so this is day 60 for me. And since we’re all just getting to know each other, I think some friendly introductions would be a great idea. I’ll go first.

Hi, I’m Liz Magill. I’m originally from North Dakota, from a town called Fargo. And I believe there’s one of my fellow North Dakotans in your class. Amy from North Dakota, if you’re here now, could you do me a favor and give a wave? Hi, Amy! Welcome! It’s always good to see folks from back home.

That was just two of us saying where we come from. But now I’m curious. I want to know what it would sound like if everybody said where they’re from—at the same time. So, let’s do an experiment together. I’m going to count to three. Then I want each of you to shout out the name of your home state or country. All together. And make it loud.

Everybody ready? Ok, here we go. One. Two. Three!

That was…really something!

Thank you! I think we satisfied my curiosity. I don’t know about you, but for me, that exercise made one thing very clear.

It’s clear that, in nearly 300 years of Penn history, this is the most diverse class ever assembled at Convocation. Just look at where you come from: 84 countries, 49 U.S. states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and American Samoa. You run the gamut of race and ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, economic background, faith, ability, life experience, and points of view. So, when I say ‘diverse,’ I mean it in the broadest sense—as we just heard.

Thanks to this diversity, your time at Penn may be one of the most unique opportunities you have ever had or will ever have.

Living and learning here at Penn, you have the opportunity to learn everything you can about one another and to seek out those who are very different from you. You will also—and this is important—have plenty of opportunity to disagree.

Why is that so important, exactly? Let me offer you a quick story.

I served as law clerk for the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, AKA the Notorious RBG. It was one of the greatest honors of my life. It wasn’t long before I learned something very important about Justice Ginsburg.

Her number one rule—always—was this:  Engage with and understand the very best version of your opponent’s argument. She followed that rule as a women’s rights advocate long before she was a judge or Justice. As general counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, she argued more than 300 cases about discrimination against women.  Six of those were before the U.S. Supreme Court. She compiled a string of victories that transformed American law’s treatment of women, work that she continued all her life.

She clearly practiced what she preached. Only by carefully and thoroughly hearing out the opposing side could she notch those victories. That’s how she could best advocate for the change she wanted to see.

Some years ago, Justice Ginsburg spoke at the memorial service of her staunch opponent—and good friend—Justice Antonin Scalia. They had argued many times over differences that seemed irreconcilable. They also traveled together—there’s a famous picture of them in India, sharing a seat on the back of an elephant.

At Justice Scalia’s memorial, Justice Ginsburg remembered how he had once shared an early draft of his dissenting opinion. She called it “a zinger.” Then she said this: “My final draft was much improved, thanks to Justice Scalia’s searing criticism.”

So, why does all this matter to us? Our willingness and our ability to engage with and understand views different from our own, to hear out ideas we disagree with, and to be humble enough to rethink our own views and question orthodoxies—this is essential.

How else can a community of people who bring so many different experiences and views live together and learn from one another? This capacity is essential to the fabric of a deeply diverse community. Foundational to the mission of a world-class university. And it is indispensable to the success of a democracy.

If you take away only one message this evening, this should be it. To make the most of your time at Penn: Seek out people who are different from you in all sorts of ways, engage with them, learn from them and, yes, feel free to disagree with them—productively.

I want to make it very clear what that means—and looks like—at a place like Penn. The entire academic enterprise—everything we do here—depends on productive disagreement. We constantly test and refine theories. We debate. We shine fresh light on ideas old, current, and brand new.

Some of Penn’s recent breakthroughs were once dismissed as wild pipe dreams or, worse, scientific dead ends.

CAR T therapy for leukemia or mRNA technology that now delivers COVID vaccines: Only through years of productive disagreement—not to mention tireless hard work—did these lifesaving, groundbreaking discoveries happen. The same could be said of any department or academic discipline on campus.

The history of breakthroughs like this also teach that a healthy dose of humility is important. In medicine, we no longer believe that bloodletting is a good idea or that mental illness is a sign of demonic possession. Nor do we think that the solar system revolves around the Earth. In the future, it’s likely that some of our most cherished ideas today may sound as outdated as the ones I just mentioned.

And we know—in part because of rigorous research done right here at Penn—that the more diverse we are and the more engaged we are across our differences, the better we’ll be in our learning, teaching, research, and service. That’s where you come in.

As Penn’s newest members, you now share our academic pursuits.

As important, this is your unique opportunity to dive headlong into one of the most diverse communities you may ever encounter in your life.

Remember how many countries, states, walks of life, and points of view I mentioned? And that’s just you. Add to the mix the tens of thousands of other people at Penn who cover just about every discipline and profession there is.

You will likely never again live, study, and have fun side by side, elbow to elbow, with such a comprehensive cross-section of the world.

So I urge you: Use this unique time. Be open to others who are very different from you in all sorts of ways. Hone your skills and your appetite for listening, learning, and, yes, productive disagreement. Seek chances to engage in good faith across divides and differences. It’s not just your personal growth and Penn’s academic mission that depend on it. The fate of our world may as well.

Observing these important guidelines has helped make my own life—my scholarship, leadership, and service—that much better.

But you don’t need me to tell you that, these days, Justice Ginsburg’s number one rule doesn’t seem to be very popular. Instead, the zeitgeist is to drown out opposing ideas, shout down debate, and demonize opponents. Sure, it might make for a highly entertaining drama on Netflix. But it makes for a poor educational experience, more dysfunctional politics, and a challenge to society.

This evening, looking at all of you, I feel a lot of hope and real excitement. If there’s something wrong with how our society handles difference and disagreement, then right here sits the cure. If there’s a place that’s going to help make our future better, then this is it.

I could go on, but I’m told that after the ceremony, we get to enjoy something that will make our near future even better—and that’s dessert.

So, I’ll wrap it up by saying, tonight, you join a very long, very proud line of Penn people who are devoted to the rewarding effort of listening, learning, and disagreeing productively. Who see differences as strength. Who, in fact, include Justice Ginsburg herself. On the day she received her honorary degree from Penn, she sat on College Green where you sit now. I am confident that she, as a member of the Penn community, would share my pride and my hope in all of you.

We’re happy you’re here with us. We’re excited to see where you’ll go. And we can’t wait to get started.

Welcome to your University. Welcome to Penn!

Make Penn Your Lab

Interim Provost Beth Winkelstein

As Interim Provost—Penn’s chief academic officer—it’s my great pleasure to welcome you this evening.

Some years ago I was a first year at Penn, too. Probably like you, I was very excited, a bit jittery, and not sure what to make of this object called a cheesesteak. Spoiler alert: they’re delicious, including the vegan ones.

For the last two-and-half years, we’ve lived through one of the most challenging times in modern human history. High school was, I’m sure, far from what you imagined. Yet tonight is a celebration: You’re here! You made it to Penn! Through all the discarded masks, the vaccines and the boosters, the remote learning and the dreaded “hybrid” schedule, you pivoted and adjusted. You made it work.

Are you still the same person who entered 9th grade? Yes. And also, no. During this pandemic experiment, you’ve undergone some major alterations. You adapted, because your environment changed. You found new paths to success. If I’m starting to sound like a scientist, that’s ok: I’m a bioengineer. Which leads me to propose a project for you: Make Penn your lab.

Consider everything you’ve already accomplished—which is a lot. You’re at Penn, after all. That’s your base, and it’s solid. Then, treat each new opportunity as a way to learn something new, about the world, and about yourself. Our university offers countless options to grow, as a scholar and as a person. I urge you to take classes outside your comfort zone: a growth mindset will serve you very well here, and will help you become not just well-educated but well-rounded. Be intellectually curious. Calculate, but don’t be overly cautious. Learn what brings you joy. In short: Experiment.

Join one of the hundreds of clubs and student groups on campus. Try a sport or activity that’s totally new. And if you don’t find one you like, start your own. We Quakers are a spirited bunch, and we love to cheer for our teams, especially when they’re winning, which is—with all humility—pretty often. Please join us on the sidelines or in the stands, consider a club sport, or just get outside with a frisbee.

It goes without saying that experiments can be challenging, and Penn is no different.

And I’m not speaking only of your courses or professors. You will be challenged to think and to learn in new ways. Penn’s greatest strength is our diversity, in every meaning of that word. You will meet new people with different ideas, backgrounds, and experiences. One of the critical skills you will hone is how to synthesize differing opinions. Free and open debate and dialogue are at the center of everything we do here.

You won’t always agree—but please don’t be disagreeable. Respect difference, and learn from it.

In the lab, things don’t always go as planned. Sometimes, that’s a good thing. But it can also be frustrating. Should you ever need support, of any kind, please reach out: to an advisor, instructor, staff member, RA, or friend. Your well-being is our top priority, and we are dedicated to your health, happiness, and success.

In closing, let me note that experimentation here is nothing new. After all, one of history’s greatest inventors, Ben Franklin, is our founder. Penn was the nation’s first university, its first secular institution of higher learning, and the first school to instruct in English as well as Latin. Our university has been made and remade countless times across nearly three centuries by all of you, our students. As times and norms have changed, we’ve changed. We haven’t always been perfect, but we always strive to be better. And the improvements will continue. For the first time in two decades, our university has a new leader. We are just thrilled to welcome President Magill as our bench partner in this grand experiment.

Members of the Class of 2026: I cannot imagine a more exciting time to be entering our great university, and to take advantage of all the discoveries to come. Welcome to Penn.

A historic occasion, the Presidential Inauguration of Liz Magill will take place on Friday, October 21, 2022. A string of events will unitethe Penn family and draw guests to campus from across the city, state, and country in celebration of the University’s ninth president.

In announcing the Inauguration festivities, Trustees Chair Scott L. Bok said President Magill is “a leader of proven strength and a person of unquestionable principle to lead Penn into the future.” In his message, Mr. Bok continued, “Her upcoming Inauguration will reflect both the solemnity of this historic moment for our centuries-old University, as well as the wonderfully festive spirit that we all have come to know and love about Penn.”

Following tradition, an academic procession through campus will depart from the Annenberg Center at 9:30 a.m., just before the Inauguration ceremony. Participants will process down Locust Walk and through Penn Commons, ending at Irvine Auditorium. All are invited to cheer on the procession.

The Inauguration ceremony begins at 10 a.m. at Irvine Auditorium. Once Irvine’s capacity is met, faculty, staff, students, and alumni are encouraged to view a livestream of the event together in a tent on Penn Commons. Those interested in watching but unable to be present in person will have the option of viewing via webcast.

After the Inauguration ceremony, College Green will be the base for a fun-filled picnic from noon to 2 p.m. for the Penn community, showcasing Philadelphia food from CookNSolo restaurants (Zahav, Federal Donuts, Goldie, and more) and desserts including a special Penn-augural Berry Chocolate Chunk flavor from Bassetts Ice Cream. A concert will feature musical guests Jeff Tweedy and Sheryl Crow—two of President Magill’s favorites.

At 2:30 p.m., back at Irvine Auditorium, an engaging academic symposium, featuring President Magill in conversation with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, will take place. Like the Inauguration ceremony, the symposium will be livestreamed under a tent at Penn Commons and online.

President Magill’s inauguration also coincides with Homecoming Weekend, highlighting a mix of traditional alumni events including QuakerFest and the Homecoming football game on Saturday, October 22, and a surplus of specially curated arts and cultural activities, featuring a gallery hop, band slam, arts fair, sculpture tour, and much, much more.

At 8 a.m. on the morning of October 22, before the annual Penn Relays 5K around Penn Park, which begins and ends at the iconic Franklin Field, President Magill and her Goldendoodle Olive—along with the Quaker mascot, the Penn Band, student athletes, and members of the Division of Public Safety and the Penn Vet Working Dog Center—will lead a walk through campus (starting at 38th and Locust Walk) to Franklin Field, where she will help kick off the 5K.

During the Inauguration and throughout this year, President Magill also intends to shine a spotlight on service. In addition to celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Netter Center for Community Partnerships in the days leading up to Inauguration ceremony, President Magill will highlight service opportunities and organizations in the coming academic year.

Visit the Penn Inauguration website for a detailed schedule of hap- penings and event registration links, which will be continuously updated in the months ahead. Also find information about President Magill, how to view the Inauguration ceremony and academic symposium online, and more.

Adapted from a Penn Today article by Lauren Hertzler, August 26, 2022.

Fitness & Learning

8          Show & Tell; introduce yourself, share your research topics, and get to know colleagues in Korean Studies at Penn; noon; room 623, Williams Hall (Korean Studies).

9          Civic and Community Engagement Panel and Fair; will introduce a wide range of opportunities for Penn students to become involved with the local community; panel: 3:30 p.m.; Café 58, Irvine Auditorium; fair: 4-6 p.m.; Penn Commons (Netter Center, Civic House, Paideia Program, Class Boards).

13        Penn Nursing's Back to School Welcome Event; fun, food, and giveaways, with a theme of Philly style; wear your best Philly (sports) gear; open to Penn Nursing faculty, staff and students; 1-3 p.m.; Legacy Walk; register: https://tinyurl.com/nursing-welcome-sep-13 (Penn Nursing).

Readings & Signings

8          Book Launch: Wild Experiment; Donovan Schaefer, religious studies; 3:30 p.m.; Zoom webinar; register: https://tinyurl.com/schaefer-launch-sep-8 (Religious Studies).

Talks

6          Mechanics Design in Cellulose-Enabled High-Performance Materials toward a Sustainable Future; Teng Li, University of Maryland; 10 a.m., Wu and Chen Auditorium, Levine Hall (Mechanical Engineering & Applied Mechanics).

            The World Today: Digital Assets and the Future of Global Financial Stability; Rostin Behnam, Commodity Futures Trading Commission; 4 p.m.; Perry World House; register: https://tinyurl.com/behnam-talk-sep-6 (Perry World House).

7          Instant-Instant Noodles: How Algorithmic Platforms Transform Food, Taste and Reproduction in Cities; Noopur Raval, University of California, Santa Cruz; noon; room 330, Fisher-Bennett Hall (Cinema & Media Studies).

            mTOR Hyperactivation in Pulmonary Vascular Remodeling; Susan Lin, PSOM; noon; room 213, Stemmler Hall (Penn-CHOP Lung Biology Institute).

8          Mending the Landscape; Kate Orff, SCAPE; 6 p.m.; Kleinman Energy Forum, Fisher Fine Arts Library (Landscape Architecture).

            Pet Prosthetics & Beyond: The Digital Interface; Richard Martin, Oral and Facial Surgery of North Texas; 6 p.m.; online webinar; info: https://cde.dental.upenn.edu (Penn Dental).

9          Urbanization, Quality of Life, and Affordable Housing; Kyung-Hwan Kim, Sogang University; noon; upper gallery, Meyerson Hall; register: https://tinyurl.com/kim-talk-sep-9 (Penn Institute for Urban Research).

12        The Durable Impacts of Historical Racial Institutions on Contemporary Family Policing and Family Separation; Frank Edwards, Rutgers University; noon; room 309, McNeil Building (Population Studies Center).

            Bidirectional Interactions Between the Small Intestinal Microbiota and Bile Acids in Health and Disease; Elliot Friedman, gastroenterology; 4 p.m.; room 209, Johnson Pavilion, and BlueJeans webinar; join: https://tinyurl.com/microbiology-fall-2022 (Microbiology).

13        Nuns, Chant, and the Voice of God in New Spain; Cesar Favila, University of California, Los Angeles; 5:15 p.m.; room 101, Lerner Center (Music).

Economics

In-person events. Info: https://economics.sas.upenn.edu/events.

13        Addiction and Bright-Line Rules; Miaomiao Dong, Penn State University; 4 p.m.; room 101, PCPSE.

Mathematics

In-person and online events. Info: https://www.math.upenn.edu/events.

6          Computational Modeling of Ion Concentration Dynamics in Brain Tissue; Marte Julie Sætra, Simula Research Laboratory; 4 p.m.; room 2C2, DRL, and Zoom webinar.

This is an update to the September AT PENN calendar, which is online now. The deadline to submit items for our October AT PENN calendar is Monday, September 12. To submit an event, email the salient details to almanac@upenn.edu.

Penn is in the process of reaccreditation with the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE).

The theme of Penn’s self-study is “Inclusively and Effectively Educating the Whole Person for the 21st Century.” Dr. Idna Corbett, MSCHE Lead Vice President, Institutional Field Relations, will virtually visit Penn on Thursday, September 15, 2022. All members of the Penn community are invited to an open session with Dr. Corbett from noon to 1 p.m. on that day.

Please email PennMSCHE2024@pobox.upenn.edu for the Zoom link to this event.

University of Pennsylvania Police Department Crime Report

Below are the Crimes Against Persons, Crimes Against Society and Crimes Against Property from the campus report for August 22-28, 2022. View prior weeks’ reports. —Ed.

This summary is prepared by the Division of Public Safety and includes all criminal incidents reported and made known to the University Police Department for the dates of August 22-28, 2022. The University Police actively patrol from Market St to Baltimore and from the Schuylkill River to 43rd St in conjunction with the Philadelphia Police. In this effort to provide you with a thorough and accurate report on public safety concerns, we hope that your increased awareness will lessen the opportunity for crime. For any concerns or suggestions regarding this report, please call the Division of Public Safety at (215) 898-4482.

18th District

Below are the Crimes Against Persons from the 18th District: 6 incidents (3 assaults, 1 aggravated assault, 1 domestic assault, and 1 robbery) was reported for August 22-28, 2022 by the 18^th District, covering the Schuylkill River to 49th St & Market St to Woodland Avenue.