February 20, 2018 Volume 64 Issue 24

Ezekiel J. Emanuel, Penn’s Vice Provost of Global Initiatives and chair of the department of medical ethics and health policy in the Perelman School of Medicine (PSOM) at Penn, has been named a 2018 Dan David Prize Laureate. Dr. Emanuel will receive the award at a ceremony on May 6 at Tel Aviv University in Israel.

The Dan David Prize recognizes and encourages innovative and interdisciplinary research and achievements having an outstanding scientific, technological, cultural or social impact on our world.

The Dan David Foundation, headquartered at Tel Aviv University, annually awards three prizes of $1 million (U.S.) in three time dimensions: Past, Present and Future. Dr. Emanuel will receive the 2018 Prize for the Present Time Dimension in the field of bioethics. This is the first time in its 17-year history that the Prize has been awarded for bioethics. The Present prize “recognizes achievements that shape and enrich society today.” Dr. Emanuel will share the bioethics prize with Baroness Mary Warnock, UK, and Jonathan Glover, King’s College London, UK. The Past  award focused on history of science and the Future on personalized medicine.

The Dan David Prize laureates donate 10 percent of their prize money to postgraduate students in their respective fields, thereby contributing to the community and fostering a new generation of scholars. It is also unique in its outreach efforts in the wider community.

Dr. Emanuel’s contributions to bioethics are wide ranging, covering topics as diverse as end-of-life care, the ethics of research with human participants, the allocation of scarce resources, the physician-patient relationship, as well as health policy. Unique among bioethicists, he has been both an empirical and conceptual researcher and has worked to implement his ideas in public policies.

Dr. Emanuel, a globally renowned bioethicist,  is a Penn Integrates Knowledge (PIK) University Professor, the Diane v.S. Levy and Robert M. Levy University Professor, professor of health care management and professor of medical ethics and health policy with appointments in PSOM and the Wharton School.

Warren Breckman has been named the Sheldon and Lucy Hackney Professor of History. Dr. Breckman is a leading intellectual and cultural historian of modern Europe. He is the author of three books, Marx, the Young Hegelians, and the Origins of Radical Social Theory: Dethroning the Self; European Romanticism: A Brief History with Documents; and Adventures of the Symbolic: Post-Marxism and Radical Democracy. He was the executive co-editor of the Journal of the History of Ideas from 2006-2016 and a founding editor of Zeitschrift für Ideengeschichte.

Dr. Breckman has been a fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung and a member of the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study, and has served as visiting scholar at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris and the American Academy in Berlin. He has also received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Mellon Foundation and the Social Sciences and Research Council of Canada. At Penn, Dr. Breckman has served as Faculty Director of the Penn Graduate Humanities Forum, Topic Director of the Penn Humanities Forum, and as a member of the University Graduate Council.

The Sheldon and Lucy Hackney Professorship in History was created in 1993 by the University’s Board of Trustees in honor of Dr. Sheldon Hackney, then the outgoing president of Penn, and his wife, Lucy, for their many years of devoted service to Penn. The late Dr. Hackney  (Almanac September 24, 2013) served as University president from 1981-1993 and went on to become Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities from 1993-1997 before returning to Penn’s history faculty until his 2010 retirement.

The Penn Center for Inherited Cardiovascular Disease has received a $5 million commitment from Mark Winkelman and his family. The generous donation from Mr. Winkelman, a former chair of the Penn Medicine Board, will help support and build upon the center’s personalized, family-based approach to care and strengthen its research efforts.

The Center, which was created in 2015, aims to better treat and understand cardiovascular diseases caused by genetic abnormalities. Changes in the blueprint of the body, or the DNA, can lead to various types of heart disease including an abnormal heart muscle (cardiomyopathy), abnormal heart rhythm (arrhythmia) or enlarged aorta. Although many changes in the genetic code have been identified, there is much to learn about which changes later cause disease, posing a major challenge in patient care.

“For us, in the early stages of the Center, this generous donation from the Winkelman family is a real game-changer,” said Anjali Tiku Owens, medical director of the Center and an assistant professor of medicine in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. “It will strengthen our ability to offer the patient-oriented, detailed and personalized level of care needed to treat patients with these diseases. It will also allow us to conduct cutting-edge research that may not have been funded through the traditional channels.”

The gift from the Winkelman family will be spread out over five years, starting in 2018, and will help support clinical care, additional faculty and fellows, outreach and education and much-needed laboratory and clinical research for inherited cardiovascular diseases. The Penn Center for Inherited Cardiovascular Disease is one of only a few in the country to address the unique needs of not only individuals with hereditary heart conditions, but also their families who may be at risk by providing genetic counseling and testing as well as appropriate follow-up care. Early recognition and treatment of these conditions can prevent heart failure or sudden death.

“I’m delighted that Mr. Winkelman shares our vision, and I’m incredibly grateful and excited to see what this gift will allow us to accomplish,” Dr. Owens added.

Mr. Winkelman, a member of the Board of Directors at Goldman, Sachs & Co, has a longstanding relationship with the University of Pennsylvania. Serving most recently as chair of the board at Penn Medicine for five years, and graduating with an MBA from Penn’s Wharton School, he is also a Trustee Emeritus of University’s Board of Trustees. “This cause is very near to our family and we are proud to make a gift to support the Penn Center for Inherited Cardiovascular Disease,” Mr. Winkelman said. “We are confident that the Penn Medicine team will advance the field through research discoveries and clinical applications. Our hope is that this gift will help provide resources for the team to continue their mission and change the lives of patients for generations to come.”

The Center takes an interdisciplinary approach to care and research that involves physicians and researchers from departments across Penn Medicine and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, including cardiology, genetics, surgery, radiology and obstetrics/gynecology. The center evolved from Penn’s Familial Cardiomyopathy Program, which began in 2011 when Dr. Owens joined the faculty at Penn with a vision for creating a multidisciplinary family-based clinic to treat inherited cardiomyopathies, including hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy and dilated cardiomyopathy. Since then, the Center has expanded its clinical and research scope to include a wider variety of inherited cardiac diseases. For many patients with these diseases, earlier detection through genetic sequencing and testing could enable earlier monitoring and treatment with medications, devices and lifestyle changes.

The Center aims to improve the tools used to find early disease and to prevent it from progressing. In many cases of inherited heart disease, there is a 50 percent chance of passing on an abnormal genetic change from a parent with disease to a child, although not all individuals who inherit the abnormal genetic change will go on to develop the disease. One focus of the newly funded research will be to identify genetic, environmental or lifestyle factors that trigger onset of disease.

“With the Winkelman family’s partnership, the Penn Center for Inherited Cardiovascular Disease will not only take major steps to unravel which genetic changes cause heart disease, it will begin to demonstrate a model of truly personalized genetic medicine, focused on heart disease,” Dr. Owens said. “Once realized, this unique model would begin to transform the standard of care.”

 The Orphan Disease Center (ODC) at the University of Pennsylvania and the Loulou Foundation are pleased to announce the 2018 Pilot Grant Program for CDKL5 Deficiency Disorder (CDD). CDD is a monogenic, orphan condition characterized by treatment-resistant epilepsy and severe cognitive and motor disability. The Loulou Foundation and the ODC will provide a one-year grant for $150,000 (total cost) to support research related to CDD—the number of awards may vary.

They encourage researchers to review application materials and share this funding opportunity with those holding a faculty-level appointment who may be interested in this area of research. All applicants must first submit a letter of interest (LOI) to be reviewed for consideration of a full application submission. LOIs are due no later than Thursday, March 8, at 5 p.m. (EST). 

LOIs can be submitted on the center’s website, http://orphandiseasecenter.med.upenn.edu/ which contain full application guidelines including the Loulou Foundation Patent Policy.  

 The ODC  is seeking grant applications that progress the discovery or development of treatments or cures for CDD. They recognize, however, that many gaps exist in the basic understanding of CDKL5 and its role in neurologic development.  Therefore, basic science projects that address these gaps are welcome, as long as they are tethered to the development of a potential therapy. While the RFA is broad in scope, priority will be given to grants that cover the following areas: 

1) Novel therapeutic approaches for CDKL5 Deficiency Disorder (CDD), including but not limited to techniques in genome editing, RNA-based mechanisms, biologics and small molecule repurposing.

2) Approaches to validate phenotypes in CDKL5 function or disease pathophysiology through rescue of phenotypic deficits with pharmacological or genetic/gene therapy techniques.  Phenotypic reversal in rodent models will focus on the use of adult (2 months of age or older) animals.  In particular, approaches are encouraged that allow the identification of individual CDKL5 protein isoforms (arising from alternative splicing, alternative promoter usage, or post-translational modifications) which can rescue these phenotypes.

3) Systems biology and computational modeling approaches to provide a deeper understanding of CDKL5 function, downstream effectors, signaling, protein: protein interactors, or modifiers, including regulators of CDKL5 gene expression (transcriptional, post-transcriptional/RNA processing, translational, post-translational).

4) Novel imaging and functional approaches to phenotyping CDD in pre-clinical models or the clinical setting.  A non-exclusive list of topics that would be responsive to this RFA is listed below:

• Functional/structural MRI; diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)
• Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS)
• Stimulus-induced event-related potentials: impact of CDKL5 genetic/gene therapy or pharmacological interventionson deficits  in stimulus-induced event potentials (visual, auditory, or other) in CDD disease models

5) Discovery and validation of CDKL5 biomarkers and their translation to the clinical setting.

Salvatori Research Fund: March 20

The Center for Italian Studies at Penn offers annual research grants endowed by the late Henry Salvatori, EE’23, to support Penn students and faculty whose research investigates Italian culture and society. The deadline for submissions is March 20 and awards will be announced by April 5.

This year’s Salvatori awards sponsor three specific types of research projects devoted to Italian topics.

• For graduate students:

Up to $3,000, for travel for dissertation or pre-­dissertation research, conducted outside the United States (with exceptions) from May 1, 2018 to April 30, 2019.

• For standing faculty:

Assistant professors: up to $1,000, to support supplemental research expenses, in particular, incidental publication costs. To be used between May 1, 2018 and April 30, 2019.

Associate and full professors: up to $2,500, to support the initial or exploratory phase of a research or curatorial project. Examples are: monograph, edited book, article, digital project, library cataloguing project, faculty research group, study day, grant application, outreach initiative, exhibition, performance, installation and video (the last five must include a research component). Preference is given to projects involving collaboration with other faculty members, at Penn or outside Penn. The fund needs to be used between May 1, 2018 and April 30, 2019. Requirements are: one public presentation at Penn during the spring 2019, and a report to be published electronically by the Center within the Penn Scholarly Commons platform by August 1, 2019.

As funds are limited, requests below the upper limit are encouraged. It is not possible to apply for two consecutive years. Applications are evaluated by a committee of at least three faculty members plus the director of the Center.

Applications (Word or PDF) should include: a two-page proposal (ca. 6,000 characters no spaces), an estimate of expenses and a timetable. Graduate students need to provide one letter of support from a standing faculty member in the most relevant department or program. Applicants and recommenders should send an e­mail with the subject “Salvatori Awards 2018” to Mauro Calcagno, director, Center for Italian Studies, at mauroca@sas.upenn.edu by the March 20 deadline. The next call for applications will be in spring 2019.

Amici Prize: Undergraduate Research in Italian Studies: March 10

The Center for Italian Studies at Penn awards the Amici Prize, established in 1993, for a research project in Italian Studies to be conducted in Italy by a Penn undergraduate student, this year between May 1 and December 31, 2018.

The awarded sum is up to $1,500. The deadline for applications is March 10, 2018.

Applicants can propose a project in any field of Italian Studies with the support of their instructor/advisor who will advise and supervise the student. The project can originate from a class or be independent from it; it can be developed during an independent study but can also be pursued outside it. The outcome, which can take a variety of forms (paper, video, blog, etc.) will be shared with other Penn undergraduates, in ways arranged and coordinated by the Undergraduate Chair in Italian, together with the advisor. The Prize cannot be awarded to the same student in two consecutive years.

Applicants should send, via e-mail, a detailed project proposal (600 to 1,200 words) including a title, a description, an approximate budget, and a rough timeline for completion. The instructor/advisor will send, separately, his or her confidential letter of recommendation. Please submit these documents by March 10 as Word or PDF files attached to a message with subject “Amici Prize 2018” and addressed to Mauro Calcagno, director, Center for Italian Studies, at: mauroca@sas.upenn.edu

Richard “Dick” A. Gibboney, professor emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education (GSE), died in Indianapolis, Indiana on January 24. He was 90.

He graduated from Altoona High School in 1945, then served in the U.S. Navy. He received a bachelor’s degree from Pennsylvania State University in 1951. He then taught at a progressive public elementary school in Jackson, Michigan where his love of education took off, and he met his wife Roberta. He earned his master’s degree in education from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan in 1955 and his doctorate of education at George Peabody College, now Vanderbilt Peabody, in 1957. 

Before coming to Penn, he served in the Pennsylvania Department of Education as director of curriculum development and then as Pennsylvania Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction from 1957 to 1965. He was the Vermont Commissioner of Education from 1965 to 1967.

Dr. Gibboney was appointed visiting professor at GSE in 1967. He was then appointed associate professor. Two years later, Dr. Gibboney was awarded the Lindback Foundation Award for Distinguished Teaching (Almanac May 1969). He served on the Faculty Senate Executive Committee in 1994-1995. He joined Penn’s Twenty-five Year Club (Almanac November 3, 1992) and taught here until 1999 when he became professor emeritus (Almanac May 18/25, 1999).

Dr. Gibboney was founder and president of the consulting firm Richard A. Gibboney Associates, Inc. in the 1970s. He was a strong proponent of John Dewey’s philosophy of education and an active member of the John Dewey Society, Phi Delta Kappa and other professional and honorary organizations.

He published three books, Toward Intellectual Excellence: Some Things to Look for in Classrooms and Schools (1981); The Stone Trumpet: A Story of Practical School Reform, 1960-1990 (1994); and What Every Great Teacher Needs to Know: Practical Principles for Effective Teaching (1998) and many other written works.

He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Roberta “Bobbie”; children, Richard, Jr. and Diane G. Carr; grandchildren, Megan and Emily Carr; and sister, Phyllis Hultman.

Ezra Simon Krendel, professor emeritus of statistics and operations research at the Wharton School, died February 1. He was 92.

Mr. Krendel attended Townsend Harris High School and earned a BA in physics from Brooklyn College in 1945. He went on to earn multiple masters degrees—one in physics from MIT in 1947, and one in social relations from Harvard University in 1949.

He became an active participant in the development of the fields of human factors, ergonomics, engineering psychology and human engineering. His first job in 1949 was at the Franklin Institute Research Laboratories. These laboratories emerged in early 1942 in response to pressing requirements for military research and development facilities. Mr. Krendel’s combination of graduate work in both physics and social relations provided the combination of skills needed for an Army project with both human engineering and systems engineering components underway at the laboratories.

He became heavily involved in a major Air Force study that had a purpose to develop useful engineering models to describe the way pilots flew aircraft. This project grew and became the basis for many of his major career contributions to the emerging discipline which was then called engineering psychology. 

In 1959, he and Duane T. McRuer, president of Systems Technology, Inc., published an extensive joint research on pilot models in the Journal of The Franklin Institute and were recipients of the Louis E. Levy Gold Medal awarded when merited in a given year for the best contribution to the journal.

While working on or directing a large number of research projects for the Departments of Defense and of Transportation, Mr. Krendel made contributions to many other aspects of this emerging discipline, including visual search, electroencephalograms, communications, vehicle design and safety, human capability for physical work, training techniques and visual display design and evaluation.

Mr. Krendel began teaching at Wharton in 1966. He remained a professor until he retired in 1989. He was shortly given a secondary appointment in the Moore School of Electrical Engineering, soon to be incorporated into the School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS), and he taught both undergraduate and graduate courses in Human Factors Engineering.

While a professor at The Wharton School, he was the director of the Management Science Center, where he both contributed to and directed a variety of projects relating to productivity in a variety of industries. He also maintained a consulting practice in which he contributed to post office procedures, the measurement of the effects of alcohol on driving skills and behavior, criminal justice procedures, aviation safety, air traffic control procedures, the sources of human error and other human factors related problems.

In 1975 he became interested in Labor Management policies and was engaged by the National Office of Naval Research to examine the implications of the evolving unions in the uniformed services of Sweden, Norway, Austria, Holland and Germany and in the U.S. Armed Forces. This resulted in a book published by The University of Pennsylvania Press and in Mr. Krendel becoming an occasional arbitrator in labor management disputes on the panels of both the American Arbitration Association and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.

He became professor emeritus in 1990, but for many years continued to teach systems engineering one semester a year in SEAS.

He received the rank of Fellow in The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers; The Association for Psychological Science; The American Psychological Society; the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society; and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

He is survived by his wife, Janet; children, Tamara, Jennifer and David; and grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

A memorial is planned for later this spring at the Swarthmore Friends Meeting, on the Swarthmore College campus.

The following topics have been submitted for the Open Forum at tomorrow’s Council meeting in Bodek Lounge, Houston Hall.

1. The role of fraternities/sororities in campus life, submitted by Ilan Gold, C’18

2. Improving policies around reporting sexual harassment and assault, submitted by Chloe Kannan, GRD’22

3. All assignments have written instructions, submitted by Ethan Friedson, C’18

4. Proposal for improving mental health services on Penn’s campus, submitted by Esther Jou, C’18

5. Quechua language program, submitted by Américo Mendoza-Mori, lecturer, department of Spanish and Portuguese

6. Penn’s Sexual Violence Policy and her experience going through Penn’s SVIO Process, submitted by Carolyn Kearney, Eng’18

7. Future divestment options for the University with regard to its holdings in the fossil fuel industry, submitted by Jacob Hershman, C’20

Two Penn faculty, Angela Duckworth, and Marybeth Gasman, have ranked in the top ten most influential scholars on the 2018 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings. The Ranking chooses among thousands of possible scholars and compiles a list of academics who have the most real-world impact.

Dr. Duckworth, the Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Psychology in the College of Arts and Sciences, faculty co-director of the Penn-Wharton Behavior Change For Good initiative and faculty co-director of Wharton People Analytics, was placed third on the list. She is well known for her popular book, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, which is a number one New York Times best-seller. She is a 2013 MacArthur Fellow (Almanac October 1, 2013), and has advised the World Bank, NBA and NFL teams, Fortune 500 CEOs and the White House.

Dr. Gasman, the Judy and Howard Berkowitz Professor of Education in the Graduate School of Education, was placed eighth on the list, and is ranked highly for coverage of her work in mainstream newspapers. She is the founding director of the Penn Center for Minority Serving Institutions (Almanac January 21, 2014), which strengthens, supports and amplifies the contributions of Minority Serving Institutions. Dr. Gasman is the author or editor of 23 books, including Educating a Diverse Nation and Envisioning Black Colleges.

Penn Nursing’s Eileen T. Lake, the Jessie M. Scott Endowed Term Chair in Nursing and Health Policy, associate professor of nursing, associate professor of sociology and the Associate Director of the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research, has been named the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Research in Nursing & Health (RINAH). RINAH, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, is a top-tier, peer-reviewed journal that publishes a wide range of research to inform the practice of nursing and other health disciplines.

“My vision is to elevate RINAH internationally, and with it, nursing science. By enhancing the journal’s reputation, its impact will increase, attracting the attention of practitioners and policy makers who read it. Increased readership will speed the translation of research evidence into practice and policy,” said Dr. Lake.

Penn Nursing is a natural fit for the RINAH editorship, with the School’s reputation as an intellectual and transformative force for improving health through nursing. Dr. Lake’s research centers on how the organizational context of care, including the work environment, nurse staffing and nurses’ educational preparation, influence quality of care and outcomes.

Vandana Gopikumar, co-founder of The Banyan and The Banyan Academy of Leadership in Mental Health, will receive the 2018 Penn Nursing Renfield Foundation Award for Global Women’s Health for her work in helping women with mental health problems in India. She co-founded both organizations with Vaishnavi Jayakumar. Dr. Gopikumar will receive the award—which comes with a $100,000 cash prize—during an event at Penn’s Perry World House. See Special Events in the March AT PENN calendar for more details.

“Dr. Gopikumar embodies the very essence of The Renfield Award, which is given to an individual who demonstrates leadership in improving women’s health,” said Penn Nursing Dean Antonia Villarruel. “Over the past 25 years, she and her team have helped more than 10,000 people with mental health issues in India to reintegrate into society. Her devotion to helping this community is steadfast and tireless. We are happy to recognize her and The Banyan with this much-deserved award.”

“It is my honor to have nominated Dr. Gopikumar for the Renfield Award owing to her landmark contributions to the field of mental health and social vulnerabilities in India,” said Nachiket Mor, director of the India Country Office of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. “Her determination has been instrumental in The Banyan’s journey. It is because of her innovative spirit that new models of mental health care have been created, myths have been erased, and stigmas have been shattered.”

Emily Steiner, professor of English in SAS at the University of Pennsylvania, won the CARA Award for Excellence in Teaching from the Medieval Academy of America’s Committee for Centers and Regional Associations (CARA). Dr. Steiner has transformed medieval studies at Penn. Through her intellectual vibrancy and careful close-readings she has guided undergraduate and graduate students through some of the most challenging aspects of the English canon. Her teaching explores the nexus of literary, devotional, legal, polemical and academic writing that shaped literary production during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries and its reception.

Dr. Steiner has also been an outstanding graduate teacher, advisor and mentor, demystifying the profession for her students just as she carefully demonstrates how a piece of writing works.

PennDesign has been named the Top School for Landscape Architecture by AZURE magazine. PennDesign is recognized for its renowned faculty and for its wealth of subspecialties in areas like global biodiversity, urban ecology and advanced digital modeling.

With $9.3 million in awards from the National Institutes of Health (NIH),  Penn Nursing took the lead for research funding for the 2017 fiscal year, among other schools of nursing.

“This designation demonstrates our School’s commitment to being a national leader in advancing health and health care through innovative research solutions to modern problems, said Penn Nursing Dean Antonia Villarruel. “Our research helps shape policy, promotes better healthcare, helps prevent disease, improves quality of life, eliminates health disparities, and develops new knowledge that drives practice.”

Therese Richmond, associate dean for research & innovation, added that “every product and process that touches a patient goes through a nurse. Penn Nursing conducts research that spans the lifespan and all aspects of life and is committed to developing novel approaches to advance and improve the health and well-being of individuals, families and communities.”

Composer Anna Weesner, the Dr. Robert Weiss Professor of Music at Penn, has won the Virgil Thomson Award in Vocal Music. The award, endowed by the Virgil Thomson Foundation and administered by the American Academy of Arts and Letters, recognizes an American composer of vocal works. Candidates were nominated by the Academy’s members, and the winner was chosen by a special jury of composers. The award will be given at the annual Ceremonial in mid-May.

Ms. Weesner is the recipient of a 2009 Guggenheim Fellowship, a 2008 Arts and Letters Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and a 2003 Pew Fellowship in the Arts. Recent performances of note include the Daedalus Quartet’s performance of The Space Between at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in 2017 and the Riverside Symphony’s performance of Still Things Move in Alice Tully Hall in 2016. Cygnus Ensemble will be playing My Mother in Love for voice and six instruments at Symphony Space on April 30, 2018, with soprano Tony Arnold.

Her music has been recorded on CRI and Albany Records. She has been commissioned by Open End, violist Melia Watras, Network for New Music, the MATA festival, the Cypress Quartet, Dawn Upshaw, Sequitur and Orchestra 2001, among others.

As our entire region continues to bask in the glow of Super Bowl victory, we are pleased to announce Penn’s own staff champions, the 2018 Models of Excellence honorees. This year, the Models of Excellence Program will recognize 97 outstanding staff members who have made remarkable contributions to the University’s standing as a global leader in education, research and public service.

The awards are presented in three categories: Models of Excellence, Pillars of Excellence and Model Supervisor. Each winner, whether individual or a team member, will receive $500 and a symbolic award. Each staff member who has earned an Honorable Mention will receive $250 and a symbolic award.

On Wednesday, April 4, President Amy Gutmann, Provost Wendell Pritchett, Executive Vice President Craig R. Carnaroli and Vice President Jack Heuer will present staff members from schools and centers across the University with awards for their exemplary service at a festive ceremony in Irvine Auditorium.

The entire Penn Community is invited to join the 19th annual Models of Excellence Award celebration on April 4 at 4 p.m. Visit www.hr.upenn.edu/models for more information about Penn’s phenomenal staff honorees, the spectacular Models of Excellence ceremony and to learn how you can nominate a worthy staff member for this prestigious award.

We would like to thank the 23-member 2018 Selection Committee of people from across the Penn community: administrators, faculty, weekly-paid staff, supervisors and past Models of Excellence honorees for their thoughtful efforts. This year, the Selection Committee carefully reviewed the dozens of nominations received. All nominees merit recognition for their noteworthy work. Honorees were selected based on their distinguished efforts and impact above-and-beyond expectation.

Congratulations to this year’s Models of Excellence honorees, finalists and nominees!

—Division of Human Resources

Models of Excellence

The Models of Excellence Award recognizes staff member accomplishments that reflect initiative, leadership, increased efficiency and a deep commitment to service.

The Intercultural Leadership Team, Charity Payne, and the Working Group for LGBTQ Student Health will be presented with the Models of Excellence award this year.

Intercultural Leadership Team

• Shaina Adams-El Guabli, Provost’s Center
• Rodolfo (Rudie) Altamirano, Penn Global
• Katie Bonner, Student Services
• Batsirai Bvunzawabaya, Student Services
• Valerie De Cruz, Student Services
• Yuhong He, Student Services
• Umi Howard, Wharton School
• Matthew LeRoy, Student Services
• Soumya Madabhushi, Student Services
• Sarvelia Nonantzin Peralta-Duran, Wharton School
• Julianne Reynolds, Student Services
• Charquinta Sullivan, Student Services
• Ryan Villanueva, Penn Global

Charity Payne, School of Engineering and Applied Science

Working Group for LGBTQ Student Health Team

• Melissa Bottiglio, Student Services
• Cyndy Boyd, Student Services
• Julia M. Burton, Student Services
• Laura Kay Collins, Student Services
• Erin G. Cross, Student Services
• David Glassman, Student Services
• Ashlee Halbritter, Student Services
• Heather Hersh, Student Services
• Sigrid Larson, Student Services
• Elizabeth Manai, Student Services
• Judith Max Palmer, Student Services
• Joyce McNeill, Student Services
• Daniel Meyer, Student Services
• Julie M. Mullany, Student Services
• Giang T. Nguyen, Student Services
• Perri Stella, Student Services
• Meghan Sullivan, Student Services
• Amanda Finegold Swain, Student Services
• Erin Taylor, Student Services
• Leslie Thompson, Student Services

Models of Excellence Honorable Mentions

The Faculty Life and Professional Development Team, Institutional Risk Committee (IRC) Information Security Program and Gayle Joseph will receive Models of Excellence Honorable Mentions.

Faculty Life and Professional Development Team

• Vivian Fisher, Perelman School of Medicine
• Karen Grasse, Perelman School of Medicine
• Kimberly Haebel, Perelman School of Medicine
• Rorie Leahy, Perelman School of Medicine
• Dorothy L. Leung, Perelman School of Medicine
• Victoria Mulhern, Perelman School of Medicine
• Chelsea Patrick, Perelman School of Medicine
• Karen Shala, Perelman School of Medicine
• Stephanie Taitano, Perelman School of Medicine
• Jane Waltman, Perelman School of Medicine

Institutional Risk Committee Information Security Program Team

• Dan Alig, Wharton School
• R. Joy Azikiwe, Human Resources
• Jeffrey Ballentine, ISC
• Joshua Beeman, ISC
• John J. Breen III, ISC
• James Brewer, ISC
• Robert Brower, Human Resources
• Sean Burke, President’s Center
• Richard Cardona, Annenberg School for Communication
• James Choate, ISC
• Caroline Couture, ISC
• Donna Milici Dacey, ISC
• Robert Desilets, ISC
• Catherine DiBonaventura, School of Design
• Darlene P. Dziomba, ISC
• David James Earley, ISC
• Ryan Hastings, ISC
• Paul Herrmann, ISC
• Michael Herzog, Graduate School of Education
• Bryan Hopkins, ISC
• Samuel Jenkins, ISC
• Sarah Katz, ISC
• Denise Mancuso Lay, ISC
• Naila Machado, ISC
• Sherry Michael, ISC
• Melissa Muth, ISC
• John W. O’Brien, ISC
• Warren Petrofsky, School of Arts and Sciences
• Magida Phillips, Business Services
• Jacqueline Koury Raynor, ISC
• Charles Rumford, ISC
• Michael Sanker, ISC
• Scott D. Schafer, Audit Compliance and Privacy
• Kevin Secrest, Audit Compliance and Privacy
• Joseph Shannon, Division of Finance
• Lauren Steinfeld, Audit Compliance and Privacy
• Matthew Sullivan, ISC
• David Tarampi, ISC
• Vivin Varghese, Facilities and Real Estate Services
• Mark Wehrle, ISC
• Paul Weidner, Division of Finance
• Barry Wilson, Wharton School
• Ira Winston, School of Engineering
• Wiam Younes, ISC
• Jennifer Yuan, ISC

Gayle Joseph, School of Veterinary Medicine

Pillars of Excellence

The Pillars of Excellence Award recognizes the important support Penn’s weekly-paid staff members provide to promote the University’s mission. This year’s Pillars of Excellence awardees:

Kim Bowers, Student Services

Deidre Wood, FRES

Pillars of Excellence Honorable Mentions

Honorable Mention:

• Materials Library & Shared Shelf Team
• Elizabeth W. Beck, University Library
• Constance Mood, University Library
• Christal Springer, University Library

Model Supervisors

The Model Supervisor Award honors supervisors who are effective and productive leaders for the University.

Rodolfo (Rudie) Altamirano, Penn Global

Model Supervisors Honorable Mentions

This year’s Honorable Mention awardees:

Amy Ashbridge, Perelman School of Medicine Karen Di Maria, FRES

The 2018 Souls of Du Bois Conference will take place Friday, February 23 through Saturday, February 24 hosted by Penn’s Du Bois College House. The annual conference celebrates W.E.B. Du Bois’s 150th birthday and legacy of innovation in education through the arts, scholarship and the social media of his time. The Souls of Du Bois Conference brings modern day scholars and activists whose work continues Dr. Du Bois’s legacy, highlighting the beauty and struggles of Diasporan Black people through their life’s work.

Dr. Du Bois was an American scholar and activist. He was the first African American to earn a PhD from Harvard University. He accepted a position at Penn in 1896 (Almanac February 7, 2012). The research he gathered was the foundation for his groundbreaking book, The Philadelphia Negro.

Established in 1972, the University of Pennsylvania W.E.B. Du Bois College House at the University of Pennsylvania hosts students, faculty, and staff that are committed to a Penn experience that advances the legacy of Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois in a college house setting (Almanac February 17, 1981).

This year’s conference has the theme “Lift Every Voice: Innovation and Education.” Dr. Du Bois was innovative educator himself. He celebrated the arts, produced scholarship, and produced content in the most cutting-edge ways, all to bring attention to the beauty and struggles of Black people. The conference coordinators would like to invite the community to be part of this event to learn how other change-makers in the Black diaspora are continuing Dr. Du Bois’s innovative legacy through their work.

The three areas of focus are:

• Social Media as the new age “The Crisis” publication and how it serves as an innovative tool for black advancement
• Performing Arts as a tool to spread messages of the plight and beauty of Black people
• Scholarship as a ladder to success

Friday, February 23

• Opening Reception; 7:30-9:30 p.m.

A Networking Reception for students, professionals, and scholars. Beer and wine will be available for those 21 and over along with light hors d’oeuvres. The keynote address will be delivered by Howard Stevenson, the Constance Clayton Professor of Urban Education, Professor of Africana studies, in the Human Development & Quantitative Methods Division in GSE at Penn.

Saturday, February 24

• Breakfast 10-11 a.m.
• Session 1 (Choose 1) 11 a.m.-noon

Slam Poetry with Jasmine L. Combs: Jasmine L. Combs is a  poet, performer, educator and event organizer from Philadelphia, PA. She was the 2015 Grand Slam Champion of The Philly Pigeon Poetry Slam, a 2015 National Poetry Slam semi-finalist, and a winner of the 2016 College Union Poetry Slam Invitational. In 2015 she won the Apiary Magazine STUNG Writing Contest and her winning piece “Night Child” was turned into an animation. Her work has also been published in Vagabond City Lit, Luna Luna, and her performances have been featured on Button Poetry, Slamfind, Blavity, and The Huffington Post. In 2014 she published her first chapbook Universal Themes. Currently, she works as an educator and co-organizes The Philly Pigeon.

Black Business Boom: Using Social Media to Level the Field with Morgan A. Brown: In the Black Business Boom workshop, Morgan Brown shows current and potential business owners how to use social media to build, thrive and advertise in innovative and creative ways. Many businesses use methods innovated in the social media era—popular hashtags, YouTube reviews, and Facebook fan pages—to bring potential customers to their products. The options are unlimited, and this workshop will provide people all the knowledge they need to choose what works for their business.

Black Scholars Classical Music with Guthrie Ramsey: Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Term Professor of Music, University of Pennsylvania

• Lunch noon- 1:30 p.m.
• Session 2 (Choose 1) 1:30-2:30 p.m.

Black Twitter: What has it done for you lately? with Feminista Jones, Robin Stevens, Taylor-Rae Collins-Headley, and Ernest Owens: This panel sheds light on the ways African Americans in the U.S. utilize social media as an innovative tool to challenge racial bias, strengthen communities, and influence culture. Just as many African Americans assert that Black culture is pop culture, many members of the “Twitterverse” would contend that; right, wrong or indifferent, there is no Twitter without Black Twitter. Discussions will cover everything from Critical Race and Feminist theories to how social media can be used as a voice for Black people on social and political issues. Panelists also discuss social media, specifically Twitter, as a tool for Black women and men to (re)construct their bodies and identities, challenging the “control images” widespread in mainstream media and society at large.

The Institute of Hip Hop Entrepreneurship with Tayyib Smith: The Institute of Hip Hop Entrepreneurship emphasizes a new way of teaching fiscal literacy, one that is much more accessible than formal business school to the people which it serves. By understanding the deep-rooted history of Hip- Hop’s relationship with entrepreneurship, the Institute of Hip Hop Entrepreneurship toils to manifest the best aspects of hip-hop culture in comprehensive business education for its students.

Du Bois and Nkrumah: Lessons of Pan-Africanism for Scholarship and Activism Today with Krystal Strong: In 2018, we celebrate the 150th birthday of W.E.B. Du Bois and the 75th anniversary of Kwame Nkrumah’s degree from Penn’s Graduate School of Education. The lives of Mr. Nkrumah and Dr. Du Bois, whose paths brought them both to the University of Pennsylvania and Mr. Nkrumah’s native Ghana, represent “innovation” in scholarship and, most importantly, the struggles of Black people to overturn from white supremacy, empire, and capitalism. With reference to her scholarship on youth activism in Africa and organizing work in Philadelphia, this talk, by Dr. Strong, touches on the importance of their legacies for the present moment, and what we can learn from their commitments to Pan-Africanism and the liberation of Africa and all people of African descent.

• Closing Keynote 3:30-5 p.m. at Penn Law School;

Elijah Anderson, the William K. Lanman, Jr. Professor of Sociology and Professor of African American Studies, Yale University

Reserve free tickets by visiting: https://souls-of-dubois-conference.ticketleap.com/

Former Ghanaian Prime Minister and President Kwame Nkrumah came to Penn as a graduate student in 1939, after obtaining his bachelor’s degree in sociology from Lincoln  University. After receiving his master’s degree from Penn’s Graduate School of Education in 1943, Mr. Nkrumah began another program of study with the department of philosophy on a University Scholarship. His advisor Glen Morrow noted that he satisfied the requirements for a master’s degree in philosophy in 1943, and by 1944 it appears that he had passed his preliminary exams for a doctorate. He then began working as a Twi instructor for Zellig Harris in a new African studies graduate group, and in 1945 he left the U.S. for London and Manchester. He returned to the Gold Coast, now known as Ghana, in 1947.

After Ghana broke free from British colonialism in 1957, Mr. Nkrumah became the country’s first prime minster and then its first president. He modernized Ghana in his first few years in office and promoted political unity in Africa, suggesting a “United States of Africa.”

Controversial legislation and declaring himself as president for life eventually led to him being overthrown in military coup. Exiled in Guinea, where he was named honorary co-president, he died in 1972. His remains rest at a mausoleum at Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park.

On Tuesday, February 27, at 7 p.m., Little Stones will be shown in the  Harold Prince Theatre, at the Annenberg Center. Little Stones weaves together the personal narratives of four women from across the world using art to empower females and survivors of gender-based violence. The women contribute a stone to the mosaic of the women’s rights movement through their art.

Directed by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Sophia Kruz and cinematographer Meena Singh, Little Stones was produced over a period of 18 months in Senegal, Kenya, Brazil, Germany, India and the United States. The film and accompanying education initiative strive to raise awareness about global women’s rights issues, and to celebrate creative, entrepreneurial and arts-therapy based solutions to the most pressing challenges facing women all over the world. The film won Best Documentary at the Vail Film Festival, Best Foreign Documentary at the Female Eye Film Festival, and an Award of Excellence from Impact Docs.

Content Advisory: Please note that this film deals with different forms of gender-based violence. The content may be triggering to survivors and generally upsetting to others.

The On Screen/In Person Film Series offers a handpicked selection of six independent American films throughout the 2017-2018 season. The filmmaker(s) will do a Q&A following each screening, providing an in-depth look at the films and their respective topics and issues.

For tickets and information, see: http://www.annenbergcenter.org/events/OSIPfilmseries.php

On Stage

23    00S7ren; Penn Sirens spring show; Class of 1949 Auditorium, Houston Hall; tickets and info: http://www.dolphin.upenn.edu/sirens/#/ (Penn Sirens). Also February 24.

        NEC & NEC; Penn Glee Club’s 156th annual production; 7 p.m.; Zellerbach Theatre, Annenberg Center; info and tickets: https://www.annenbergcenter.org/event/nec-nec Also February 24, 1 and 7 p.m.

        The Heist; Penn Dhamaka’s 15th anniversary show; 7:30 p.m.; Iron Gate Theatre; tickets and info: https://tinyurl.com/yczvrqen (Penn Dhamaka). Also February 24.

Talks

21    Beyond the Pitch Deck: Strategies for Winning Funding; Adam Moskow, Pivotal Business Solutions; 8 a.m.; rm. 129, Pennovation Center; register: https://tinyurl.com/ydary6o6 (PCI Ventures).

22    Setting up your Startup for Success; Jenifer Fang, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati; noon; rm. 10-146, Smilow Center for Translational Research; register: https://tinyurl.com/y9484b8b (Penn Center for Innovation).

27    Pancreatic Cancer Biology and Medicine; David Tuveson, Cold Spring Harbor Labratory; noon; Sarah and Matthew Caplan Auditorium, The Wistar Institute (Wistar).

Click here to visit the latest AT PENN calendar. The Tuesday, February 27 issue which will contain the March AT PENN calendar. There is no issue of Almanac on Tuesday, March 6, during Spring Break. Almanac will resume weekly publication on Tuesday, March 13. The deadline is Tuesday, March 6.

Professional and Personal Development Programs

Open to faculty and staff. Register at http://knowledgelink.upenn.edu/

Participating in Performance Appraisals for Staff; March 1; 12:30-1:30 p.m.; free. With SparkHire Video Interviews growing in popularity at the University, we want you to be prepared! Recruitment and Staffing welcome you to learn from our experts on how to best use the SparkHire Video Interview tool as a candidate.

STEP UP Introduction: First Steps to Excellence; March 6; 9 a.m.-noon.; $150 for entire course. First Steps to Excellence is part one of STEP UP, Penn’s self-paced seven-part leadership development program. By the end of the First Steps to Excellence, you’ll have a deeper understanding of your five signature strengths and discover additional ways to take charge of your career at Penn. Other STEP UP sessions focus on developing skills to manage oneself, such as communications, getting work done, dealing with change and managing up.

Conducting Performance Appraisals for Supervisors; March 13; 12:30-1:30 p.m.; free. Do you supervise or manage other employees and want to learn more about how to prepare for and conduct performance appraisals? This is the course you’ve been looking for! Join us to find out best practices for this important annual procedure.

Learning with Lynda: Communicating with Empathy; March 15; 12:30-1:30 p.m.; free. In this course, communication expert Sharon Steed explains the principles of empathetic communication and shares specific strategies to help improve your approach to difficult conversations. Get ready to learn how to converse empathetically to improve your one-on-one conversations and team interactions.

How to Make Yourself Indispensable; March 20; noon-1 p.m.; $75. Your organization may be filled with good—even great—employees. But great employees aren’t necessarily indispensable. They are valuable, yes. But to be indispensable, employees need to be better than great. They need to perform with a mindset that drives them to think, act and behave differently. In this brown bag, learn how to: take ownership of your responsibilities and results, take initiative to go above and beyond what is expected of you, expand your sphere of influence, perform well under pressure, adapt to changing situations, be someone others want to work with, help others improve their performance, avoid being “irreplaceable”—locked into your role and unwilling to share your knowledge.

TED Talk Tuesday: Susan Colantuono, the Career Advice You Probably Didn’t Get; March 27; 12:30-1:30 p.m.; free. You’re doing everything right at work, taking all the right advice, but you’re just not moving up. Why? In this TED Talk screening, Susan Colantuono shares a simple, surprising piece of advice you might not have heard before quite so plainly. This talk, while aimed at an audience of women, has universal takeaways—for men and women, new grads and midcareer workers.

Quality of Worklife Workshops

Open to faculty and staff. Register at www.hr.upenn.edu/myhr/registration

Vanguard Live Webinar: Getting on Track for Retirement; February 21; noon-1 p.m; or 6-7 p.m. free. This webinar is intended for employees 10 to 20 years from retirement. Learn how to estimate if you’re on track for retirement by using an online calculator, and get practical solutions on how to get back on track if needed.

Vanguard Live Webinar: Timeline to Retirement; February 21; 3-4 p.m; free. This is intended for participants three  to 10 years from retirement and will review the key benefits and decision points from ages 55 to 70. It focuses on two federal entitlement programs, Social Security and Medicare, as well as major milestones associated with employer-sponsored retirement plans that can help participants avoid significant tax penalties on withdrawals.

Penn Family Night Basketball: Women’s Basketball vs. Yale; March 2; 7 p.m.; $3.50. The Division of Human Resources and Penn Athletics invite benefits eligible faculty and staff to cheer on the Penn Men’s and Women’s basketball teams at the Palestra. Family night tickets include a discounted game ticket, compliments of Penn Athletics and a $5 concession coupon redeemable for food and beverage compliments of the Division of Human Resources. Order tickets before Februay 26 at the Penn Athletics website, http://www.pennathletics.com, with the promo code FAMILY or purchase at the Penn Athletics Ticket Office located at Weightman Hall, 235 S. 33rd Street between Walnut and Spruce.

Guided Meditation: Take a Breath and Relax; March 6; 12:30-1:30 p.m.; free. Practice mindful breathing that focuses your attention on the present moment with kindness, compassion and awareness. Self-massage and gentle mindful movements that promote relaxation and reduce stress may also be included in the workshop. No experience necessary.

New and Expectant Parent Briefing; March 7; 12:30-1:30 p.m.; free. This is an introductory resource briefing designed for expectant parents and those who are new to parenting or child care. Participants will learn about local and university childcare and parenting resources including breastfeeding support and the nursing mothers program, childcare locators, back-up care, adjusting to new schedules, flexible work options, among other topics. This session will also cover Penn’s short-term disability (STD) and related sick leave policies.

Mindfulness Monday: From Mind Full to Mindful; March 12; 12:30-1:30 p.m.; free. Mindfulness is “paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally,”  according to Jon Kabat-Zinn. Mindfulness practice develops awareness of your present thoughts and feelings to help you manage different situations. In this once-a-month experiential workshop, you’ll see how mindfulness can help you become more engaged and effective both at home and in the workplace. No prior meditation experience necessary.

Guided Meditation: Take a breath and relax; March 20; noon-1 p.m.; free. See March 6 listing for program details.

Webinar: Substance Abuse and Your Loved Ones; March 21; noon-1 p.m.; free. Substance abuse doesn’t just impact those that are addicted to substances, but can also have devastating effects on those around them—especially their loved ones. This session will explain symptoms of drug abuse and an overview of withdrawal symptoms of substances such as alcohol, opiates and others. We will review what addiction is and how it is a chronic brain disease. Enabling a loved one will be discussed but also what you can and should do for yourself. It is important to know that as a loved one of someone who is addicted to substances, you are not alone.

Behavior Issues Workshop for Parents and Caregivers; March 29; noon-1 p.m.; free. Join us for a Behavior Issues Workshop with Alison Zisser, a clinical child and pediatric psychologist at CHOP. You will get professional support on young children’s behavioral difficulties and learn how to promote their behavioral well-being. This workshop is tailored for parents and caregivers of toddlers and preschoolers. Lunch will be provided. Please be sure to register in advance.

Healthy Living Workshops

Open to faculty and staff. Register at www.hr.upenn.edu/myhr/registration

Know Your Numbers Workshop; February 22; noon-1 p.m.; free. Celebrate American Heart Month with AREUFIT Health Services! Define and discover the impact of important heart health terms—including cholesterol, glucose, blood pressure, heart disease, and metabolic syndrome.

Metabolism Mystery vs. Makeover Workshop; March 8; noon-1 p.m.; free. Do you eat healthy and exercise and still aren’t reaching your weight goals? Do you feel tired all the time? Your metabolism plays a big role in your weight and energy levels. A Family Food Registered Dietitian will teach you how to eat to increase your metabolism and energy.

Be in the Know Biometric Screenings; March 15, 16 and 19; free for benefits-eligible faculty and staff. Free on-campus biometric screenings provide you with key indicators of your health status, such as blood pressure, cholesterol levels and blood sugar. Participants receive immediate feedback on their results—plus points toward Be in the Know cash incentives. You can earn up to $300 this campaign year! Visit www.hr.upenn.edu/beintheknow for details about the 2017-2018 Be in the Know wellness campaign.

INDOOR March Wellness Walk; March 16; noon-1 p.m.; free. March is National Nutrition Month: Meet the Center for Public Health Initiatives staff inside the Palestra and walk a one-mile or two-mile route while chatting about nutrition and how you can develop a mindful eating pattern that includes nutritious and flavorful foods. We hope you will be able to join us. Bring your water bottle and don’t forget your sneakers!

—Division of Human Resources

The University of Pennsylvania Police Department Community Crime Report

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 February 5-11, 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.

2/6/18              1:10 PM            3730 Walnut St           Unsecured laptop taken

2/6/18              1:49 PM            3919 Baltimore Ave    Unauthorized charges made to student credit union account

2/6/18              8:29 PM            3925 Walnut St           Merchandise taken without payment/arrest

2/6/18              9:54 PM            51 N. 39th St              Complainant assaulted by patient

2/6/18              9:24 PM            51 N. 39th St              Patient intentionally sprayed blood on medical personnel

2/9/18              1:21 PM            425 University Ave     Camera taken from locked cabinet

2/9/18              3:52 PM            23 Ludlow St              Complainant threatened by homeless male

2/10/18           12:31 AM           200 S. 40th St            Male took property from UPS box/Arrest

2/10/18           9:21 PM             3700 Walnut St          Phone taken by unknown males

2/11/18           4:52 AM            3820 Locust Walk       Disturbance between persons dating

2/11/18           12:35 PM          4000 Spruce St           Male robbed complainant/Arrest

2/11/18           4:37 PM            3420 Sansom St          Purse taken and credit cards used

2/11/18           7:12 PM            3400 Spruce St            Complainant struck by male/Arrest

2/11/18           8:25 PM            3701 Walnut St            Property taken from unsecured locker

18th District

Below are the Crimes Against Persons from the 18th District: 8 incidents (1 assault, 2 domestic assaults and 5 robberies) with 3 arrests were reported between February 5-11, 2018 by the 18th District covering the Schuylkill River to 49th Street & Market Street to Woodland Avenue.

2/5/18            9:36 PM           48th & Locust               Robbery/Arrest

2/5/18            9:36 PM           48th & Locust               Robbery/Arrest

2/6/18            5:41 PM           828 S. 49th St              Robbery

2/8/18            2:12 PM           3000 Market St            Assault/Arrest

2/10/18          8:49 PM           415 S. 49th St              Robbery

2/11/18          5:43 AM          3820 Locust Walk         Domestic Assault

2/11/18          12:38 PM         4017 Baltimore Ave      Robbery

2/11/18           7:42 PM           3400 Spruce St           Domestic Assault

Those who missed The David & Lyn Silfen University Forum People and Policy Adrift: A 21st Century Framework for Asylum Seekers, Refugees and Immigration Policy on February 15 can still watch the discussion online by visiting https://silfenforum.upenn.edu/webcast

A distinguished panel of experts, including Joe Biden, Jeb Bush, Michael Doyle, Dau Jok and Anne Richard, joined Penn President Amy Gutmann in discussing ideas for new approaches to the global refugee crisis and tackled questions that touched on the challenging and dynamic policy decisions.

The Forum was generously endowed  to foster conversation and debate regarding important contemporary issues.

IRS Form 1095-C includes information about the health insurance coverage offered to you by Penn as well as information for each of your family members enrolled under your Penn benefits plan.

The 1095-C forms will be mailed and available online on or before February 28, 2018. To access your form online, go to the My Pay section of the secure U@Penn portal at www.upenn.edu/u@penn, then select “My 1095-C form.”

If you receive a Form 1095-C from Penn, keep it for your records. While you do not need to attach your 1095-C to your tax return when filing, you do need to indicate on your tax return if you had qualifying health coverage. Form 1095-C provides proof of that coverage.

If you have questions about your form, call Equifax at 855-823-3728. When prompted for your employee ID number, enter your social security number.

For general information about Form 1095-C, visit www.irs.gov/form1095c or the IRS Affordable Care Act & Taxes at a Glance webpage.

In addition to the numerous programs and camps in the January 30 supplement, here are two more.

KWHS Global Young Leaders Academy: Session I: June 2-16; Session II: June 16-June 30; Session III: July 7-21; Session IV: July 21-August 4. A two-week intensive summer experience at Wharton.  It adopts an entrepreneurial theme to give students a taste of accounting, marketing, management and finance knowledge. Students are required to develop a team-based business plan at the end. Cost: $5,110. Apply:  http://wharton.braingainmag.com/#the-global-young-leaders-academy

Teen Research and Education in Environmental Science (TREES): June 25-August 13. A free camp where students receive hands-on instruction in basic laboratory skills and conduct an independent research project. Through their projects, students learn to take a scientific approach towards an environmental problem, conduct in-depth library research, train in scientific methodology, carry out hands-on bench science, and do fieldwork when possible.  Deadline: March 1, 5 p.m. Students must live in the greater Philly area and have completed 9th, 10th or 11th grade.  Apply: https://tinyurl.com/y7wuhaup