February 6, 2018 Volume 64 Issue 22

Andrea Mitchell, a 1967 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and one of the most recognizable figures in television news, will be Penn’s Commencement Speaker at the 2018 Commencement on Monday, May 14. She and seven other individuals will each receive an honorary degree from Penn.

Penn’s Vice President and University Secretary Leslie Laird Kruhly announced the 2018 honorary degree recipients and the Commencement Speaker for the University of Pennsylvania. The Office of the University Secretary manages the honorary degree selection process and University Commencement.

The 262nd Commencement begins at 10:15 a.m. on May 14 and will be preceded by student and academic processions through campus. The ceremony will feature the conferral of degrees, the awarding of honorary degrees, greetings by University officials and remarks by the Commencement Speaker. It will be streamed live on the Penn website. For University of Pennsylvania Commencement information, including historical information about the ceremony, academic regalia, prior speakers and honorary degree recipients, see www.upenn.edu/commencement

Commencement Speaker

Andrea Mitchell, a 1967 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and one of the most recognizable figures in television news, is chief foreign affairs correspondent for NBC News and host of “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” weekdays on MSNBC. With NBC since 1978, she has covered seven presidential administrations and offered news reports from across the world. Ms. Mitchell, who also appears regularly on “Meet the Press” and other NBC programs, has been recognized for her incisive interviews and reporting, including coverage of the Reagan/Gorbachev arms control summits, the Iran nuclear negotiations, exclusive interviews with Fidel Castro and assignments in Iraq, Afghanistan, and North Korea along with other conflict zones. Raised in New Rochelle, New York, she studied English literature and was a reporter and program director at Penn’s radio station WXPN. A Penn Trustee Emerita, Ms. Mitchell joined the board in 1992 and served as Vice Chair of the board and on its Executive Committee. She was also Co-Chair of Penn’s record-breaking Making History campaign, a founding member of the Trustees’ Council of Penn Women, and chair of the Annenberg School for Communication Alumni Advisory Board. Ms. Mitchell currently chairs the Board of Overseers of Penn’s School of Arts and Sciences. In 2017, she and her husband, Alan Greenspan, endowed the Andrea Mitchell Center for the Study of Democracy. They have also endowed two Penn Integrates Knowledge professorships, and supported Penn’s Music Department Performance Fund and the Kelly Writers House. A recipient of Penn’s Alumni Award of Merit, Ms. Mitchell’s many awards include: the 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Women’s Media Foundation; the Goldsmith Career Award for Excellence in Journalism from Harvard’s Kennedy School; and the Society of Professional Journalists Lifetime Achievement Award. Ms. Mitchell’s 2005 memoir, Talking Back: …to Presidents, Dictators, and Assorted Scoundrels (2005), recounts her experiences as one of the first women in broadcast news.

Ms. Mitchell will be receiving an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters.

Honorary Degree Recipients

Named a “Living Legend” by the U.S. Library of Congress, Dr. Sylvia Earle is a pioneer of marine ecosystems research, logging over 7,000 hours underwater in more than 100 expeditions. A marine biologist, oceanographer, explorer, and author, Dr. Earle is the founder of Mission Blue and the Sylvia Earle Alliance. Having also founded Deep Ocean Exploration and Research, she heads its science advisory board, and is an Explorer-in-Residence at the National Geographic Society, a position she has held since 1998. Dr. Earle chairs the Advisory Council for the Harte Research Institute and led the Google Ocean Advisory Council in development of the Ocean in Google Earth. Dr. Earle’s research encompasses exploration, conservation, and the development and use of new technologies for access and effective operations in the deep sea and other remote environments. She has focused much of her work on developing a global network of “hope spots,” unique and significant places across the world’s oceans needing attention and protection. A native of New Jersey and a graduate of Florida State University, with master’s and doctorate degrees from Duke University, Dr. Earle is a former chief scientist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the author of nearly 200 scientific and popular publications and 13 books, the most recent 2014’s Blue Hope. She has lectured in more than 90 countries, and is the subject of the Emmy Award winning Netflix documentary, “Mission Blue.” In 1998, Time named Earle their first “Hero for the Planet.” Her many international awards and honors include the United Nations Environment Champion of the Earth, National Geographic’s Hubbard Medal, the Royal Geographical Society’s Patrons Medal, the Dominican Republic’s Medal of Honor, Netherlands Order of the Golden Ark, Australia’s International Banksia Award, Italy’s Artiglio Award, and medals from the Philadelphia Academy of Sciences, Lindbergh Foundation, National Wildlife Federation, and the Society of Women Geographers. 

Dr. Earle will be receiving an honorary Doctor of Sciences.

Freeman Hrabowski has served as president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) since 1992. Named the nation’s number one “Up and Coming” university from 2009-2014 by U.S. News & World Report and for the last three years to its list of the top 10 most innovative national universities, UMBC has become a leading source of African-American students going on to seek Ph.D.s in science and engineering. Growing up in the segregated city of Birmingham, Alabama with educator parents, Dr. Hrabowski was an early activist, participating at age 12 in Martin Luther King, Jr.’s 1963 Children’s Crusade. He completed undergraduate studies in mathematics from now Hampton University in 1970, and earned his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Hrabowski’s research has focused on science and math education, particularly minority participation and performance. From his arrival in 1987 as UMBC’s Vice Provost and then Executive Vice President, Dr. Hrabowski has worked to support African-American students pursuing science and engineering careers, where they are traditionally underrepresented. President Obama named Dr. Hrabowski as chair of the President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans. He also chaired the National Academies committee that produced the 2011 report on expanding underrepresented minority participation in science and technology careers.  The author of many books and articles, Dr. Hrabowski’s most recent work, Holding Fast to Dreams: Empowering Youth from the Civil Rights Crusade to STEM Achievement, describes how his own youthful activism played a central role in his development as an educator and leader. Dr. Hrabowski is the recipient of the TIAA-CREF Theodore M. Hesburgh Award for Leadership Excellence and the Carnegie Corporation of New York’s Academic Leadership Award. In 2012, he received the Heinz Award and was named one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People.

Dr. Hrabowski will be receiving an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters.

Sociologist and media scholar Elihu Katz, Distinguished Trustee Professor Emeritus of Communication at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School, is a founding father of communication research. In a career spanning seven decades, he has sought to further understanding of the public sphere of interaction among media, conversation, opinion, and action. Dr. Katz rose to prominence early when, as a graduate student at Columbia University, he coauthored (with his mentor, Paul Lazarsfeld) the defining work Personal Influence: The Part Played by People in the Flow of Mass Communication. The book’s focus on the juncture of mass media and interpersonal communication would become a prime emphasis of research throughout Dr. Katz’s career. His work has included groundbreaking studies ranging from the secularization of leisure, to the diffusion of innovations, to bureaucracy and the public. In the 1960s, Dr. Katz taught at both the University of Chicago and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and continued to work both in Israel and the United States throughout his career. A member of Penn’s faculty since 1992, Dr. Katz directed the Annenberg School’s experimental Scholars program for postdoctoral study. In the 1970s, inspired by peace-making initiatives in Israel, he and colleague Daniel Dayan began a 15-year collaboration assembling broadcasts of historic occasions, which culminated in their 1992 work, Media Events. At Hebrew University, Dr. Katz founded the university’s Communications Institute. He also served as Director of the Israel Institute of Applied Social Research. He headed the team that introduced television broadcasting to Israel, served as consultant to the BBC and, thereafter, traced the spread of television in the third world. An American Academy of Arts and Sciences member, Dr. Katz is author or coauthor of many of his field’s most influential books and articles. His awards include the 1989 Israel Prize for social sciences, the UNESCO-Canada McLuhan Prize. Retiring from Penn in 2014, Dr. Katz resides in Jerusalem and continues his research and writing.

Dr. Katz will be receiving an honorary Doctor of Sciences.

One of the most celebrated musical conductors of our time, Yannick Nézet-Séguin enjoys professional relationships with two of the world’s preeminent artistic organizations. Mr. Nézet- Séguin is the Philadelphia Orchestra’s Music Director and Walter and Leonore Annenberg Chair, confirmed to lead the orchestra through its 2025-2026 season. Music Director Designate of the Metropolitan Opera in New York, he will become the third Music Director in the company’s history in the 2018-2019 season. Globally recognized for his tremendous energy, collaborative style and deep musical curiosity, Mr. Nézet-Séguin has been Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal since 2000 and is in his final season as the Rotterdam Philharmonic’s Music Director. A Montreal native, he studied piano, conducting, composition, and chamber music at Montreal’s Conservatory of Music, and with Choral Conductor Joseph Flummerfelt of Westminster Choir College and Italian Maestro Carlo Maria Giulini. At 19, he was appointed Director of the Chœur Polyphonique de Montréal. The following year, he founded the Ensemble Orchestral de Montréal; at 22, he became Assistant Conductor and Choir Master at the Opéra de Montréal. Following his operatic international debut with “Roméo et Juliette” at the 2008 Salzburg Festival, Mr. Nézet-Séguin has conducted at legendary opera houses from Teatro alla Scala to Covent Garden. Principal Guest Conductor of the London Philharmonic from 2008 to 2014, he has made critically-acclaimed guest appearances with the world’s most revered ensembles, including the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Boston Symphony, and the Staatskapelle Berlin. During his tenure, the Philadelphia Orchestra has grown its community engagement, working to champion music education, foster wellness, and eliminate barriers to access. Mr. Nézet-Séguin’s honours include Musical America’s 2016 Artist of the Year, Royal Philharmonic Society Award, National Arts Centre Award, Prix Denise-Pelletier, and Prix Oskar Morawetz. He is a Companion of the Order of Canada and the Order of Arts and Letters of Québec, and an Officer of the Order of Québec, and the Order of Montreal. 

Mr. Nézet-Séguin will be receiving an honorary Doctor of Music.

Since 2000, columnist and author Peggy Noonan has offered her perspective on American politics, history, and culture in her weekly editorial column “Declarations” in The Wall Street Journal. For her work chronicling the 2016 American presidential election, Ms. Noonan was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Journalism for Distinguished Commentary. In an exceptional career spanning government service and journalism, Ms. Noonan garnered particular recognition as a special assistant and speechwriter for President Ronald Reagan for her contributions to many memorable speeches, including his remarks following the 1986 explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger. She also worked with President Reagan on his January 1989 farewell address, and with President-elect George H. W. Bush on his inaugural address given just nine days later. At present, Ms. Noonan is also a political analyst for NBC News. Born in Brooklyn, New York, and a graduate of Fairleigh Dickinson University, she began her journalism career working overnight at the Boston all-news radio station WEEI and later as a producer and writer at CBS News in New York. Ms. Noonan has taught at New York University and at Yale University, and was a fellow at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy Institute of Politics. She is the best-selling author of nine books, her first a memoir of the Reagan era, What I Saw at the Revolution. Her most recent work is a collection of her writings, The Time of Our Lives. She has also written biographies of President Reagan and Pope John Paul II. Ms. Noonan’s awards include the 2010 Award for Media Excellence, bestowed by the living recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor. Named a Literary Lion of the New York Public Library, she serves as a Trustee of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute. 

Ms. Noonan will be receiving an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters.

Laurel Thatcher Ulrich is the 300th Anniversary University Professor at Harvard University. A scholar of early American history and the history of women, Dr. Ulrich often focuses on “the silent work of ordinary people” and the stories revealed by everyday objects. Her most famous book, A Midwife’s Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812, offered insight into the lives of early American women through study of the journal of an obscure medical practitioner in rural Maine. Among many awards, including the Bancroft Prize, A Midwife’s Tale received the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for History, the first work of women’s history to be so awarded, and was the subject of a documentary on PBS’s “American Experience.” A native of Idaho, Dr. Ulrich earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Utah and an M.A. in English from Simmons College. In 1980, she received a Ph.D. in history from the University of New Hampshire, remaining on the faculty there until joining Harvard in 1995. Dr. Ulrich’s life as both a committed Mormon and a feminist informs her most recent work, A House Full of Females: Plural Marriage and Women’s Rights in Early Mormonism, 1835-1870. In the 1970s, Dr. Ulrich penned the phrase “Well-behaved women seldom make history” within a scholarly article. To her surprise, it has since become a focus of popular culture, appearing on commonplace objects from mugs to bumper stickers across the globe. A past president of the American Historical Association and a former Guggenheim and MacArthur Foundation Fellow, the National Endowment for the Humanities recognized Dr. Ulrich for outstanding contributions to public understanding of the humanities. She has also received the Ernesta Drinker Ballard Award. Dr. Ulrich is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society.

Dr. Ulrich will be receiving an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters.

Hamdi Ulukaya is founder, Chair, and CEO of Chobani, one of the fastest growing food companies of the last decade and a pioneer for the natural food movement. Raised in a dairy farming family in eastern Turkey, Mr. Ulukaya came to the United States in 1994. He launched Chobani in 2007 with the mission and vision of making better food more accessible. In less than five years, Chobani was the top selling Greek yogurt brand in the United States, with annual sales exceeding $1 billion. Giving back to the community has always been a priority for his company. From its beginning, Chobani has donated a portion of its profits to charitable causes, many in Idaho and New York where its products are made. An advocate of reducing income and wealth inequality nationwide, in 2016 Mr. Ulukaya announced a groundbreaking profit-sharing program for Chobani’s 2,000 employees, and took the rare step in manufacturing of implementing six weeks of paid parental leave for all parents employed there. In 2016, Mr. Ulukaya also launched the Chobani Food Incubator to empower and mentor socially responsible food entrepreneurs. Mr. Ulukaya is the founder of the Tent Foundation, which seeks to mobilize the private sector to improve the lives and livelihoods of the more than 20 million refugees around the globe. He also signed the Giving Pledge, committing the majority of his wealth to addressing the global refugee crisis. Mr. Ulukaya has been named an Eminent Advocate by the United Nations Refugee Agency, UNHCR, and has received Save the Children’s Humanitarian Award. In 2017, he was named one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People. Earlier this year, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change presented Chobani with its Salute to Greatness Award, one of its highest honors.

Mr. Ulukaya will be receiving an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters.

Multiple credible reports emerged in the national press detailing pervasive and decades-long acts of sexual harassment and intimidation by Steve Wynn, former Penn Trustee and College alumnus.  The nature, severity, and extent of these allegations, and the patterns of abusive behavior they describe, involve acts and conduct that are inimical to the core values of our University.

While Mr. Wynn has denied the allegations, the reputational impact of what has been reported is so significant that Mr. Wynn resigned from his position as finance chairman for the Republican National Committee. Further, the board of directors of Wynn Resorts has formed a special committee to investigate the allegations of sexual misconduct made against him. And gaming regulators in both Nevada and Massachusetts are also investigating.

In the wake of the substantive and detailed press reports, and of consequent actions by fiduciary and regulatory bodies, we felt it was imperative to examine Mr. Wynn’s recognized presence on Penn’s campus. We hold as a sacred commitment our responsibilities of stewardship of our University’s reputation. As chair of the Trustees and president of the University, we have a leadership responsibility and must always think and act on behalf of what is best for Penn and our core values.  Perhaps nowhere is the need for clarity of purpose and action more important than in matters with such potential impact on the ethos of our society and our University community.

To that end, we convened a small group composed of trustees, alumni, deans, and faculty who deliberated carefully on the nature of the charges made against Mr. Wynn and the correct course of action the University should take in response. That group made recommendations to the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees, which unanimously accepted them on behalf of the Board, and which will result in the following immediate actions.

First, we will remove the name Wynn Commons, named for Mr. Wynn, from the centrally located outdoor plaza bounded by Houston Hall, Claudia Cohen Hall, College Hall and Irvine Auditorium. Second, Mr. Wynn’s name will be removed from a scholarship fund established by a donation from him. The scholarships will continue to be awarded. Third, we will revoke Mr. Wynn’s honorary degree.

At the same time we are taking these actions, we will also revoke the honorary degree awarded to Bill Cosby, who has similarly been accused by multiple parties of sexual assault. 

It has been a century since the University of Pennsylvania last revoked an honorary degree, and we do not take that decision—or the decision to remove Mr. Wynn’s name from the Commons and from the scholarship fund he created—lightly.  We view these as extraordinary and essentially unique circumstances that call for an immediate, decisive, and clearly ethical response. The decision to remove the name Wynn Commons could not be made independently of considering the other ways in which the University had previously recognized Mr. Wynn. It became necessary, therefore, to consider the appropriateness of Mr. Wynn’s honorary degree and any other honorifics Penn had previously bestowed. Upon careful consideration, when it became clear that the Wynn name should be removed from visible public recognition on Penn’s physical campus, it was no less incumbent on the Trustees to remove that name from the roster of those holding the University’s highest symbolic honor. That decision in turn made it also clear that the multiple and highly credible charges involving Bill Cosby warranted the same action.

Our nation is currently undergoing a profound reckoning regarding the role and extent of sexual misconduct in all areas of our society. It is incumbent on all of us to address these issues wherever and whenever we find that they affect our extended community. As a University, we have always been, and will always continue to be, looked to by our alumni and neighbors, our faculty, and most of all by our students, for moral leadership. We must not —we cannot—fail to provide it.

—David L. Cohen, 

Chair, Penn Board of Trustees 

—Amy Gutmann, 

President

Jeffrey Rowland has been appointed Executive Director for Staff and Labor Relations in Penn’s Division of Human Resources, effective February 1.

In this role, Mr. Rowland will lead the Staff and Labor Relations department in developing, implementing and administrating the university’s comprehensive employee relations program, which includes performance management, workplace issue resolution and labor-management relations.

“I look forward to Jeff continuing the leadership success of Penn’s Staff and Labor Relations department. He inherits a very strong team and I have great expectations for his future,” says Jack Heuer, Vice President for Human Resources.

Mr. Rowland has been with Penn since 2007. As the Associate Director for Staff and Labor Relations, he acted as the Chief Labor Negotiator for seven contracts with five unions at Penn.

Before arriving at Penn, Mr. Rowland served as Manager of Corporate Labor Relations for Hertz Corporation, where he was responsible for 150 labor agreements and served as HR support for 5,000 employees. His experience includes service with GlaxoSmithKline and Capital Blue Cross in Harrisburg.

He began his career as a Business Representative for UNITE, a large national labor union. Mr. Rowland earned a Bachelor of Science degree in human resource management and a Master of Arts degree in industrial and labor relations from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

The University Research Foundation (URF) is now accepting applications before the 5 p.m., March 16 deadline for the Spring 2018 Awards.

The URF is an intramural program that provides three funding mechanisms: Research and Conference Support, Impact Seminar Grants and Research Opportunity Development Grants. The program has moved to an online submission system. Complete details are available on the website.

URF Research Grants and Conference Support provides up to $50,000 in project support and up to $3,000 for conference support. Its objectives are to:

• help junior faculty undertake pilot projects that will enable them to successfully apply for extramural sources of funding and aid in establishing their careers as independent investigators;
• help established faculty perform novel, pioneering research to determine project feasibility and develop preliminary data to support extramural grant applications;
• provide support in disciplines where extramural support is difficult to obtain and where significant research can be facilitated with internal funding;
• provide limited institutional matching funds that are required as part of a successful external peer-reviewed application.

URF Impact Seminar Grants will make awards up to $20,000 for support for a cross-school, cross-disciplinary large scale event to be held on Penn’s campus within a year of the award. Funding for this award can be used to augment an already scheduled University event. Priority will be given to new unscheduled events that are still in the planning stage. The event—which can be a symposium, forum or conference—should occur over one to two days and be open to the entire Penn community. It should highlight the scholarship of Penn faculty and bring distinguished scholars to Penn’s campus, with a particular focus on the University’s distinguishing strength in integrating knowledge. Documented school/department or external sponsor matching funds are required.

URF Research Opportunity Development Grants (RODG)

The Research Opportunity Grant program (Phase 1 and Phase 2) was designed to facilitate the intersection of the forward trajectory of Penn’s research frontiers with the trajectory of the national and global research priorities.   RODG Applications should map on to emerging research areas with new opportunities for support. Awards from these programs should be used to develop preliminary information and data for new applications in emerging research areas where Penn can stake out a leadership position. The two programs are described below.

Research Opportunity Development Grants: Phase 1

With an identified new research area in mind, Phase 1 grants enable a team to articulate the research focus, map Penn’s intellectual assets in the new area, coalesce the appropriate group of scholars, identify Penn’s potential contributions in the area  in the context of national and international research initiatives and identify a funding target. Typically a Phase 1 proposal would lead to a Phase 2 application. Applications up to $10,000 will be considered.

Research Opportunity Development Grants: Phase 2

Phase 2 grants offer extensive support for up to two years to enable specific outcomes in support of a multi -investigator proposal in an emerging research topic in the context of national or international research initiatives or grand challenges from external sponsors in which Penn can stake out a leadership position. Activities include research workshops, preliminary studies, networking in the relevant research community, etc.  Specific outcomes are expected. Documented matching department and/or school funds will be considered positively. Applications with requests between $50,000 to $200,000 will be considered.

Note that Phase 2 grants are not intended to support the development of proposals that respond to regular solicitations such as those for NIH RO1 grants or NSF Division programs.

Disciplines for all award programs: Biomedical Sciences, Humanities, Natural Sciences and Engineering, Social Science and Management.

Undergraduate Participation: As part of the University’s commitment to providing research opportunities to scholars across our campus community, URF applicants are encouraged to include undergraduate student participants within the framework of their proposals.

Budget: Each URF program has separate budget requirements.

Eligibility for all award programs: Eligibility is limited to Penn assistant, associate and full professors in any track. Instructors and research associates must provide a letter from their department chair establishing that the applicant will receive an appointment as an assistant professor by the time of the award. Emeritus and adjunct faculty are not eligible to apply. Awards must be expended on University of Pennsylvania facilities, equipment and/or associated University technical staff and undergraduate students.

Detailed information including application materials can be found at http://www.upenn.edu/research/smarts/university_research_foundation/

In the recent Fall 2017 cycle of Penn’s internally-funded University Research Foundation, URF Conference and Impact Seminar Support (noted with *), the Office of the Vice Provost for Research has announced awards to the following members of the faculty for the projects listed below.

Masoud Akbarzadeh, Design; Ultra Lightweight, High Performance Structural Elements: Innovative Design, Analysis, and Fabrication Using 3D Graphic Statics

*Erol Akcay, SAS; The unreasonable ineffectiveness of mathematics in biology

Melpo Christofidou-Solomidou, PSOM; Novel anti-inflammatory strategy: Myeloperoxidase activity inhibition by a small molecule

Cynthia Connolly, Nursing; Nurses and Human Experimentation: A Twentieth Century History

*Eva Del Soldato, SAS; Strategies of Authority in Medieval and Renaissance Europe

*Ivan Dmochowski, SAS; XeMAT 2018

Ivan Drpic, SAS; Gold in Medieval Serbian Painting

*Chenoa Flippen, SAS; Mini-Conference on The Future of Immigration Scholarship

Scott Francis, SAS; Scandal and Adiaphora in Marguerite de Navarre

Feng Gai, SAS; Development of Amino Acid-Based Fluorescence Probes for Biological Microscopy

*Geoff Goodwin, SAS; The Psychology of Sustainable Consumption: Perception, Purchasing, Policy, and Promotion

David Grazian, SAS; The Culture of Coworking in the New Economy

Ronald Harty, Veterinary Medicine; Regulation of Tight Junction Integrity by Ebola Virus VP40

Daniel Hopkins, SAS; Understanding Voters in the Trump Era: A 13-Wave Panel Survey

Sara Jacoby, Nursing; Way to Recovery: Assessing the acceptability and feasibility of a technology-assisted remote monitoring intervention for injury recovery in trauma patients

Thomas Jongens, PSOM; Brain insulin signaling in an Alzheimer’s disease model

*Ada Kuskowski, SAS; Gothic Arts: An Interdisciplinary Conference

*Zachary Lesser, SAS; Reading, Writing, Printing: A Conference in Honor of Peter Stallybrass

*Lin Li, PSOM; Second Britton Chance International Symposium on Metabolic Imaging/Spectroscopy

*Benjamin Lockwood, Wharton; Conference on Normative Ethics and Welfare Economics

Holly Lynch, PSOM; Evaluating IRB Quality: Identifying Goals and Measures

Monica Mainigi, PSOM; The Role of the Microbiome on Uterine Lymphocytes and Fertility

Marc Meredith, SAS; Who Votes Without Photo Identification?

Foteini Mourkioti, PSOM; Trf2 in heart development and disease

Projit Mukharji, SAS; Casting Genetics: History of Genetic Researches into Caste in India c. 1918-84

Carol Muller, SAS; The Faith of Our Fathers: Archiving the Religious Underground in Apartheid South Africa

*Holly Pittman, SAS; Cities in the Ancient World

Alain Plante, SAS; Environmental fate of dissolved pyrogenic and geogenic carbon

Kevin Platt, SAS; Subvention for Global Russian Cultures, forthcoming at University of Wisconsin Press

Alex Rees-Jones, Wharton; A method for testing reference points

Celia Reina, SEAS; Towards a data-driven coarse-graining strategy out of equilibrium

*Megan Robb, SAS; Unstable Objects in South Asia: Gender, Digital History and What to do with Things

Lawrence Rome, SAS; How swimbladder hyperinflation helps midshipman fish’s superfast muscle generate continuous 100 Hz hour-long mating calls

Jennifer Ruger, SP2; Research Opportunity (RODG)—Phase 2 Global and Domestic Health Equity, Policy and Law

Florian Schwarz, SAS; Building a Comprehensive Library for Online Experiments in IBEX

*Emily Steinlight, SAS; NVSA 2018: Unfinished Victorians

*Deborah Thomas, SAS; Muslim Masculinities: A Symposium on Gender, Religion, and the Everyday

John Trueswell, SAS; Cognitive Connections between Spoken Sentence Comprehension and Learning to Read

Charles Yang, SAS; The linguistic basis of natural numbers

*Barbie Zelizer, Annenberg; Center for Media at Risk Launch Conference

Alan G. Levy, architect and former professor at Penn’s Graduate School of Fine Arts (now known as PennDesign), died on January 24 due to heart failure. He was 85 years old.

Mr. Levy grew up in South Philadelphia and graduated first in his class from South Philadelphia High School for Boys in 1950. He attended the University of Pennsylvania on a full scholarship, and enrolled in the architecture program. Following graduation in 1955, he served in the Army until 1957.

After his service, Mr. Levy worked for a number of architecture and urban design firms in Philadelphia, including the offices of Vincent Kling and Louis Kahn. While in Kahn’s office he worked on the Salk Institute in La Jolla, CA, and government buildings in Bangladesh.

Mr. Levy partnered with John Murphy and Richard Saul Wurman to form Murphy Levy Wurman Architects and Urban Planners in 1963. Their projects included Penn’s Landing; private homes in Long Beach Island, NJ; and urban renewal plans for Society Hill, Queen Village and parts of University City. The office was deeply committed to serving local communities and highly involved in bringing environmental education and architecture to the public schools. In 1993, Mr. Levy partnered with Adèle Naudé Santos to form Santos Levy & Assoc. They worked on an office building in Tokyo, a redevelopment plan for Camden, NJ, a natatorium for Albright College; Yerba Buena community center in San Francisco and prepared campus plans for Penn, Temple and Drexel.

Mr. Levy had taught at Penn part-time until 1967. In 1972, he returned to teaching at Penn and continued until his retirement in 1997. He served as chair of the department of architecture in 1987. He enjoyed teaching design, construction and detailing. In 1981, he brought his community-related design work from his practice into the University creating the GSFA-based Center for Environmental Design and Planning, which developed Penn’s Campus Master Plan (Almanac May 17, 1988) and served numerous Philadelphia neighborhoods.

In 2006, he won the AIA John Frederick Harbeson Award from the American Institute of Architects, Philadelphia Chapter.

He is predeceased by his sons, Andrew E. and Paul A., and survived by his wife of 63 years, Barbara, Ed’54, daughter Anne Levy Pugh, CAS’84 (Marlon Pugh), and grandchildren, Maxwell and Anisa Pugh.

Memorial donations may be made in Mr. Levy’s name to the PennDesign Annual Fund, providing fellowships and financial aid to current students.Visit www.design.upenn.edu/support/penndesign-annual-fund

At the January 31 University Council meeting, the majority of the time was devoted to a presentation and discussion on Diversity and Inclusion. It was led by Senior Vice President for Institutional Affairs and Chief Diversity Officer Joann Mitchell, who began by noting that this is the first pillar of the Penn Compact 2020 (soon to be 2022); see http://president.upenn.edu/penn-compact

Ms. Mitchell explained that while Penn wants to be able to ascertain what progress has been made in the past several years concerning diversity and inclusion, some reporting is voluntary such as veteran’s status or disability. The University has to rely on what people choose to disclose. Since 2009 there have been some gains but there is still more to do to in certain areas, such as staff diversity. The percentage of minorities and women has held steady whereas the faculty is now 33.7 percent women compared to 29.4 percent in 2011. The Action Plan for Faculty Diversity and Excellence was a five-year plan (Almanac September 6, 2011).

It was followed by the Faculty Inclusion Plan which was published March 21, 2017 (https://almanac.upenn.edu/uploads/media/Faculty_Inclusion_Report.pdf).

Provost Wendell Pritchett said that the deans are now starting new plans.

Penn’s Diversity website has other resources that can be found at https://diversity.upenn.edu

The Sexual Harassment Policy as well as the Sexual Violence, Relationship Violence and Stalking Policy were both revised in 2016  (https://almanac.upenn.edu/archive/between/2016/070116-supplement.pdf).

Ms. Mitchell explained that Penn has numerous confidential and other resources in place to deal with instances of sexual harassment and related issues but said that the goal is to get to zero problems. One of the challenges, she said, is to educate people about what constitutes consent and to clearly communicate standards.

The executive director of the Weingarten Learning Resources Center Myrna Cohen said that Penn has had a solid record of offering comprehensive services ever since an external review was done in 2000-2001. They have sponsored a Disability Symposium since 2002.  The office was established at that time and was named Weingarten in 2003 (Almanac April 8, 2003). In the 2016-2017 school year, 14 percent of Penn students interacted with the office. Seven percent of Penn students self-identified as having one or more disabilities. While some disabilities are temporary, such as a broken dominant arm, others, like autism spectrum disorders and learning disabilities, are more permanent.

Susan Shapiro, director of Student Disabilities Services, said that there has been an increase of students who self-identify with Student Disability Services for services related to housing, dining, learning and campus accessibility to buildings and walkways. Amrou Ibrahim, Student Disability Services’ assistive technology specialist, demonstrated how he provides assistance to students. Students with disabilities can get books from the library that have been scanned with OCR (optical character reader) so that the material can be read to them while they use a ‘read and write’ program on their computer.

Provost Wendell Pritchett indicated the disposition of the topics raised at the earlier Open Forum last semester. He indicated that in most of the instances meetings have been held with those who had raised concerns and they have been addressed. In  the case of the health insurance coverage request, that has been put on the agenda of  next year’s Personnel Benefits Committee.

The next Open Forum will be held at the University Council’s  February 21 meeting.  Individuals who want to be assured of speaking at Council must inform the Office of the University Secretary (ucouncil@pobox.upenn.edu) by 5 p.m. on Monday, February 12. For more details about the format for the Open Forum, see (Almanac January 30, 2018).

The University’s Tax and International Operations Office will again utilize ADP W-2 Services for year-end 2017.

Services Available:

1. Access W-2 form information for tax years 2015 and later

2. Opt out of printing W-2 (must elect by 12/31 of the current year)

3. Receive email notification when a new statement is available to view (must enter email address into ADP)  

4. Upload W-2 form information directly into tax software

5. Online help and FAQ

To Access:

1. Login to ADP W-2 Services from the following U@Penn secure web site: https://medley.isc-seo.upenn.edu/penn_portal/u@penn.php

2. Click on “My Tax Info” (enter additional security information)

3. Click on “Click here for W-2 information for tax years 2015 and later”

4. Enter your birthday and the last four digits of your SSN and click “Continue”

Please note that W-2 Forms were mailed to employees’ permanent addresses as it appeared on the Payroll/Personnel File (Employee Database).

If the permanent address was not completed on the Payroll/Personnel File, the W-2 Form was mailed to the current address.

W-2 forms for 2012 and prior will still be accessible under “My Tax Info.” 

Contact the Tax Office for W-2 forms for tax years 2013 & 2014 at (215) 898-6291 or send a request through the Tax Helpdesk at: https://www.finance.upenn.edu:44301/apps/TaxHelpDesk/

An explanation of the contents of the various boxes on the W-2 Form is as follows:

Box a: Employee’s social security number.  This is your Social Security Number.  It should match the number on your social security card. If the number is incorrect, please provide your Social Security card to the Tax Department. The Tax Department will update and issue a corrected W-2 Form.

Box b: Employer identification number (EIN).  This is your employer’s identification number assigned by the IRS.

Box c: Employer’s name, address, and ZIP code.  This identifies the name, address, city, state, and zip code of your employer. 

Box d: Control number.  This is a code that identifies this unique W-2 Form document in your employer’s records. It is an optional field and may be left blank.

Box e: Employee’s name. This identifies your full name (first name, middle initial and last name).  Your name must match the name on your social security card.  If the name is incorrect, please provide a copy of the Social Security card to the Tax Department. The Tax Department will update and issue a corrected W-2 Form.

Box f: Employee’s address. This identifies your address, city, state and zip code. 

Numbered Boxes on W-2 form:

Box 1: Wages, tips, other compensation. Box 1 reports your total taxable wages or salary for federal income tax purposes.  This figure includes your wages, salary, tips reported bonuses and other taxable compensation.  Any taxable fringe benefits (such as group term life insurance) are also included in your Box 1 wages.  Box 1 does not include any pre-tax benefits such as savings contributions to a 401(k) plan, 403(b) plan, health insurance, or other types of pre-tax benefits.

Box 2: Federal income tax withheld. Box 2 reports the total amount withheld from your paychecks for federal income taxes.  This represents the amount of federal taxes you have paid-in throughout the year.

Box 3: Social security wages. Box 3 reports the total amount of wages subject to the Social Security tax for 2017.  The Social Security tax is assessed on wages up to $127,200 (for 2017).  This limit is called the Social Security wage base.

Box 4: Social security tax withheld. Box 4 reports the total amount of Social Security taxes withheld from your paychecks.  The Social Security tax is a flat tax rate of 6.2% on your wage income, up to a maximum wage base of $127,200 (for 2017).  Wages above the Social Security wage base are not subject to the Social Security tax. Accordingly, the maximum figure shown in Box 4 should be $7,886.40 ($127,200 maximum wage base times 6.2%).  If you have two or more jobs during the year and your total Social Security wages (Box 3) exceeds $127,200, you may have paid-in more Social Security tax than is required.  You claim the excess Social Security tax withholding as a refundable credit on your Form 1040.

Box 5: Medicare wages and tips. Box 5 reports the amount of wages subject to the Medicare tax.  There is no maximum wage base for Medicare taxes.

Box 6: Medicare tax withheld. Box 6 reports the amount of taxes withheld from your paycheck for the Medicare tax. The Medicare tax is a flat tax rate of 1.45% on your total Medicare wage under $200,000. Employees whose Medicare wages are over $200,000 will be subject to an additional withholding for the additional Medicare Tax at a rate of 0.9% on Medicare wages over the $200,000.  This is a rate of 2.35% on all Medicare wages over $200,000.

Box 10: Dependent Care benefits. Shows the total dependent care benefits under a dependent care assistance program paid or incurred by the employer for the employee and amounts paid or incurred for dependent care assistance in a section 125 (cafeteria) plan. It may include the amounts paid directly to a daycare facility by the employer or reimbursed to the employee to subsidize the benefits, or benefits from the pre-tax contributions made by the employee under a section 125 dependent care flexible spending account.  Any amounts over $5,000 are also included in boxes 1, 3 and 5. 

Box 12: Deferred Compensation and Other Compensations. There are several types of compensation and benefits that can be reported in Box 12.  Box 12 will report a single letter or double letter code followed by a dollar amount. A complete list of the codes can be found on the box instructions on the W-2 Form.  These are the most common codes found on Penn’s W-2 Form:

       Code C: Taxable cost of group term-life insurance over $50,000. This amount is included as part of your taxable wages in Boxes 1, 3, and 5.

       Code E: Non-taxable elective salary deferrals to a 403(b) retirement plan.

       Code G: Non-taxable elective salary deferrals and employer contributions (including non-elective –deferrals) to a Section 457(b) retirement plan.

       Code M: Uncollected Social Security or RRTA tax on taxable group term life insurance over $50,000.

       Code N: Uncollected Medicare tax on taxable group-term life insurance over $50,000.

       Code P: Excludable moving expense reimbursements paid directly to employee (not included in Box 1, 3 or 5).

       Code T: Employer paid adoption benefits.  This amount is not included in Box 1 wages.  Use form 8839 to calculate the taxable and non-taxable portion of these adoption benefits.

       Code W: Employer and employee contributions to a Health Savings Account  (HSAs).

       Code Y: Salary deferrals under a Section 409A non-qualified deferred compensation plan. 

       Code Z: Income received under 409A non-qualified deferred compensation plan.  This amount is included in taxable wages in Box 1.  This amount is subject to an additional tax reported on the employee’s Form 1040.

       Code BB: After-tax contributions to a Roth 403(b) retirement plan. 

       Code DD: Reports the cost of employer-sponsored health coverage. The amount reported with Code DD is not taxable

Box 13: Checkboxes. There are three check boxes in Box 13.  The only box that may be checked off that applies to you as an employee of the University is the Retirement Plan. Retirement plan means that you participated in your employer’s retirement plan. If the “Retirement plan” box is checked, special limits may apply to the amount of traditional IRA contributions you may deduct. See Pub. 590, Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs).

Box 14: Other Tax Information.  Your employer may report additional tax information in Box 14.  If any amounts are reported, they will have a brief description of what the amounts are for. For example, SUT represents the amount of State Unemployment Tax which was withheld from your earnings during the year.

Box 15: State and State Employer’s Identification.  Box 15 reports  the state and your employer’s state tax identification number.

Box 16: State wages. Box 16 reports the total amount of taxable wages earned in that state. You may have multiple state W-2 forms if you worked in other states during the year.

Box 17: State income tax withheld. Box 17 reports the total amount of state income taxes withheld from your paychecks for the wages reported in Box 16.

Box 18: Local wages. Box 18 reports the total amount of wages subject to local income taxes. You may also have multiple local W-2 forms if you worked in more than one locality during the year.

Box 19: Local income tax withheld. Box 19 reports the total amount of taxes withheld from your paychecks for local income taxes.

Box 20: Locality name. Box 20 provides the name of the locality where the tax is being paid.

2018 Payroll Tax Updates

Federal Taxes: The federal withholding tax tables for 2018 can be found in the IRS Publication 15 at: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p15.pdf

Social Security Wage Rate: The 2018 Social Security wage base is $128,400.

Social Security Tax Rate: The 2018 tax rate remains at 6.2% and the maximum tax that an employee would pay will be $7,960.80.

Supplemental Pay Withholding: Withholding on payments less than $1 million in a calendar year has been reduced to 22% for 2018 from 25% in 2017 and withholding for payments in excess of $1 million in a calendar year has been reduced to 37% for 2018 from 39.6% in 2017.

Medicare Tax Rate: The Medicare tax rate remains at 1.45% in 2018 for wages under $200,000. Wages in excess of $200,000 are taxed at 2.35%.

PA State Unemployment Insurance Employee Rate: The tax rate decreased from at 0.07% in 2017 to 0.06% for 2018.

PA State: The tax rate for 2018 remains at 3.07%.

Philadelphia City: As of July 1, 2017, the Resident Rate is 3.8907% and Non Resident Rate is 3.4654% and remains the same for the beginning of 2018.

—Victor Adams, 

Tax and International Operations

The Lunar, or Chinese, New Year is also known as the Spring Festival and is a time to wish one another luck and prosperity for the upcoming year. International House Philadelphia will welcome the Year of the Dog at 7 p.m. with their annual celebration that has typically seen sell-out crowds and is among their most popular and sought after events. The evening includes an exhilarating Lion Dance and show of traditional music and dance performances and martial arts demonstrations, followed by a reception featuring tastings of traditional Chinese cuisine. To buy tickets, see http://www.ihousephilly.org/calendar/cultural-celebrations/lunar-new-year3

On Saturday, February 17, 1-3 p.m., visitors are invited to bring their families to Morris Arboretum for a day of outdoor fun and garden exploration. Follow the prepared scavenger hunt map to discover more than 70 varieties of colorful and fragrant witchhazels growing in the garden. Ranging in color from yellow and orange to pink and red, witchhazels are some of the first harbingers of spring, and the Arboretum’s witchhazel collection is unparalleled in the area.

The scavenger hunt offers visitors a chance to compare the different varieties’ beautiful flowers and to take in their heady scent. After the hunt, guests may stop back at the Visitor Center to make a witchhazel related craft and to enjoy a sample of freshly cut  witchhazels. An Arboretum expert will be on hand in the Upper Gallery from 1-3 p.m. to answer questions on the variety and cultivation of witchhazels.  This event is included with regular admission and registration is not required.

Back by popular demand –Winter Witchhazel Tours! On four Saturdays, February 17 & 24, and March 3 & 10 at 2 p.m., knowledgeable guides will lead visitors on tours throughout the garden, searching for brilliant witchhazels. These tours start from the Widener Visitor Center, are included with garden admission and registration is not required.

Brighten your winter with a trip to the garden to delight in blooming witchhazels. The scavenger hunt map will be distributed at the Visitor’s Center every day in February and March and is also available to download from the Arboretum’s website on the witchhazel page: http://www.morrisarboretum.org/pdf/map-witchhazel.pdf

Morris Arboretum is a 92-acre horticultural display garden that features a spectacular collection of mature trees in a beautiful and colorful landscape.  The official arboretum of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, effective 1988, Morris Arboretum is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and accredited by the American Association of Museums.  For more information, visit: morrisarboretum.org

Exhibit

8      [Re]Imagining Science; six projects, collaborations draw inspiration images, ideas and theories to illustrate ideas found in science, while others use art making to clarify ways that science can inform the visual; Esther Klein Gallery. Opening reception: February 8, 5-7:30 p.m. Through March 24.

Special Event

10     Printmaker Pop-Up Market; Philly printmakers selling works; noon-3 p.m.; Arthur Ross Gallery.

Talks

6      Engineering Additive Manufacturing Materials Across Length Scales for Future Wearable and Implantable Devices; Sebastian W. Pattinson, MIT; noon; rm. 1200 B, Colket Translational Research Building (CHOP).

8      Understanding Copyrights; Science & Technology Commercialization Speaker Series; noon; 102 Chemistry Building (PCI).

        Orienting Corporate Governance to Generate Sustainable Growth; Leo E. Strine, Delaware Supreme Court, and Jay Clayton, US SEC; 4:30 p.m.; rm. 245A, Silverman (Penn Law).

13    Cancer Cell Migration in 3D; Denis Wirtz, Johns Hopkins University; noon; Sarah and Matthew Caplan Auditorium, Wistar (Wistar).

        IP Protections for the On Campus Innovator; Lou Lieto, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati; noon; 133 Collaborate Seminar rm., Pennovation Center (Penn Center for Innovation).

AT PENN Deadlines

The February AT PENN calendar is online.

The deadline for the March AT PENN is February 13.

A Raging Wit: The Life and Legacy of Jonathan Swift opened yesterday and will be on exhibit through May 16 in the Goldstein Family Gallery in the Kislak Center on the sixth floor of the Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center.

In honor of the 350th anniversary* of Jonathan Swift’s birth, this exhibition, based on the collections of the Penn Libraries, will explore the many facets of Swift’s life and legacy through an examination of his many voices; his complicated relationships with both men and women; his ever-evolving politics; his many travels, whether by foot, horse, or ship, or in solely his imagination; and his views on the role of religion in society. It will examine how these influences manifested themselves in his writings and in the world’s reaction to his words.

The Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries holds a number of collections relating to Jonathan Swift, including the Teerink Collection (early editions of Swift’s works), the Denison Collection (illustrated editions of Gulliver’s Travels), and a collection of books known to have been read by Swift or been part of his library. The Swift’s Library and Reading Collection, as well as an oil portrait of Swift and various Swift-related manuscripts and publications, including many Dublin imprints, were the gift of the independent Swift scholar Archibald Elias.

Gallery hours: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, by prior arrangement, call (215) 898-7088 or rbml@pobox.upenn.edu Free and open to the public (please show photo ID at entrance).

*Swift was supposedly born on November 30, 1667. Since the English calendar during Swift’s lifetime (and until 1752, when the British government adopted the Gregorian calendar) began on March 25th (the Feast of the Annunciation, also known at Lady Day), the exhibition will open and the conference will take place during the official anniversary “year” of Swift’s birth.

The 2018 Jay I. Kislak Symposium, Jonathan Swift in the 21st Century, will take place on February 22-24 in the Class of 1978 Orrery Pavilion, on the sixth floor of the Van Pelt-Dietrich Library.

Jonathan Swift was a traveller, in his imagination as well as in life, regularly making his way, by ship and by foot, back and forth between Ireland and England during major periods of his life. Swift also travelled through genres and voices, among men and women, and between politics and religion. His works have travelled as well, through space and time, in numerous editions, along with translations, responses, adaptations, abridgements, continuations and illustrated versions.

This conference seeks to reconsider Swift and his works through a contemporary lens, exploring how they have travelled across three centuries and around the world.

If you have and questions, contact: Lynne Farrington at (215) 746-5828 or lynne@upenn.edu

For the Conference Schedule and Registration, visit: http://www.library.upenn.edu/exhibits/swift_conf.html

This year’s 2017-2018 Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies & the Herbert D. Katz Center Distinguished Fellow’s Lecture in Jewish Manuscript Studies: No Longer Alien Residents: Italian Jewish Texts in the Late Renaissance; by professor Alessandro Guetta, Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales, Paris, will be held on Tuesday, February 27, at 5 p.m.

By considering the manuscript evidence, professor Guetta will consider the significance of the 16th-century phenomenon of translation of Hebrew texts into Tuscan, the literary language of Italy. What motivated this small and largely unstudied endeavor, one not seen in other European Jewish communities of the time? Was it “just for fun,” as one of these translators declared? Or, given that Tuscan would become a vital element of cultural and national cohesion, did it belong to a strategy of acculturation?

This lecture is sponsored by the Jewish Studies Program at the University of Pennsylvania.

The Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies & the Herbert D. Katz Center Distinguished Fellowship in Jewish Manuscript Studies is funded in part by the David Ruderman Distinguished Scholar Fund.

Registration: http://www.library.upenn.edu/exhibits/guetta.html

The lecture will be held in the Class of 1978 Pavilion in the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, sixth floor, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center, free and open to the public (please show photo ID at entrance).

Thomas Evans and Félix Nadar is on exhibit through April 16 at the Leon Levy Dental Medicine Library, in the Schattner Building.

Thomas W. Evans (1823-1897) was the preferred dentist to the Royal Courts of Europe. Dr. Evans, a Philadelphia native, left his estate to the University of Pennsylvania (Almanac July 14, 2015) to create and maintain a dental school that would be “second to none.”

A previous exhibition explored Thomas Evans’s relationships, during the American dentist’s years in Paris, with writers, especially Stéphane Mallarmé. Dr. Evans was interested in more than writers alone, however, as can be seen in one of Penn’s most interesting and visually arresting documents of nineteenth-century French cultural history. That document may survive only because Dr. Evans brought it to Philadelphia when he returned to the United States. It was an album (Ms. Coll. 21), whose contents date from 1853 through 1875. They represent many aspects of nineteenth-century French artistic, political, social and scientific life. Adam Begley’s very recent The Great Nadar: The Man Behind the Camera (New York, 2017) describes the album as “a livre d’or, one of several guest books or autograph albums” its owner possessed. That owner was Gaspard-Félix Tournachon (1820-1910), more commonly (and much more famously) known as Nadar. He was, among other things during his long life, a photographer, caricaturist and balloonist. “If you came to sit for a portrait (or a caricature)” in Nadar’s Paris studio, Begley writes, “and if you were an artist or a celebrity or preferably both,” then Nadar “would pester you to sign and leave a memento: a quip, a sketch, a poem, a few bars of music.”

The album illuminates both Nadar himself and many other figures active or interested in nineteenth-century French culture. On display are selected scans from the album, their captions from Begley (with additions italicized and in square brackets), that suggest some of the richness and variety of Nadar’s universe, which Thomas Evans subsequently preserved.

Gallery hours: Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Free and open to the public (show photo ID).

This summary is prepared by the Division of Public Safety and includes Crimes Against Persons, Crimes Against Society and Crimes Against Property reported and made known to the University Police Department between the dates of January 22-28, 2018. View prior weeks' reports. —Ed.

The University Police actively patrol from Market St to Baltimore Avenue 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.

1/23/18           10:54 AM        4200 Sansom St            Items taken from an unsecured vehicle

1/23/18           4:24 PM           220 S. 40th St               Merchandise taken without payment/Arrest

1/23/18           5:31 PM           3744 Spruce St             Employee took cash from register

1/24/18           3:40 AM          3400 Spruce St              Offender took cash from newsstand/Arrest

1/24/18           10:00 AM        118 S. 36th St                Unsecured cameras taken

1/24/18           10:23 AM        3601 Walnut St               Female wanted on warrant/Arrest

1/24/18           3:34 PM           3333 Walnut St              Unsecured schoolbag taken

1/24/18           5:26 PM           3720 Walnut St              Unsecured computer equipment taken

1/25/18           9:33 AM          3900 Delancey St           LG phone taken from automobile

1/25/18           11:31 AM        305-307 S. 40th St         Unsecured packages taken from lobby

1/25/18           1:48 PM           101 S. 39th St               Package taken

1/25/18           6:17 PM           4012 Walnut St             Unsecured iPhone 7 taken

1/26/18           8:56 AM          3700 Spruce St              Fraudulent credit card purchase

1/26/18           8:59 PM           3731 Walnut St             Unsecured cell phone stolen

1/28/18           2:17 AM          3800 Spruce St             DUI arrest

1/28/18           5:35 PM           3744 Spruce St            Unsecured cell phone stolen

1/28/18           7:10 PM           3100 Chestnut St         Cell phone stolen

18th District

Below are the Crimes Against Persons from the 18th District: 6 incidents (1 assault, 1 aggravated assault, and 4 robberies) with 1 arrest were reported between January 22-28, 2018 by the 18th District covering the Schuylkill River to 49th Street & Market Street to Woodland Avenue.

1/22/18           6:41 PM           424 S. 47th St                               Robbery

1/26/18           12:29 AM        S. 48th St and Springfield Ave       Robbery

1/26/18           2:45 PM           4435 Baltimore Ave                       Aggravated Assault/Arrest

1/26/18           6:10 PM           3813 Chestnut St                          Assault

1/27/18           3:03 AM          4810 Regent St                              Robbery

1/28/18           11:51 PM         4314 Locust St                              Robbery