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University of Pennsylvania’s 264th Commencement

This message was sent out to the Penn Community on May 13, 2020. 

Since 1757, Penn’s Commencement has served as a wonderful opportunity to gather together to share and applaud the impressive accomplishments of our students. In recognition of their achievements and the extraordinary circumstances the Class of 2020 has faced, we are committed to celebrating Commencement like we have never done before. On behalf of the Trustees, Officers, and Deans and their faculties, we would like to invite all members of the Penn community to join us in a very special – and fun – online celebration of the Class of 2020 at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, May 18, 2020. (See Virtual Commencement article for highlights).

Monday’s online celebration will mark their graduation and the official conferring of degrees. For complete information and links to individual School ceremonies as well, visit: https://commencement.upenn.edu

But this is just the beginning. Mark your calendars now for the weekend of May 22 & 23, 2021 when we all plan to be together again, taking the traditional march down Locust Walk to the Class of 2020 Commencement Celebration in Franklin Field.

—Amy Gutmann, President

—Wendell Pritchett, Provost

—Medha Narvekar, Vice President and University Secretary

Faculty Senate Leadership 2020-2021

caption: Steven Kimbroughcaption: Kathleen Hall Jamiesoncaption: William W. Braham

The Faculty Senate has announced its new leadership for the upcoming year: Past Chair: Steven Kimbrough (Wharton); Chair: Kathleen Hall Jamieson (Annenberg); Chair Elect: William W. Braham (Weitzman). See Faculty Senate Actions in this issue. See next week’s issue for the Annual Reports of the Faculty Senate.

$5 Million to Wharton for AI (Artificial Intelligence) for Business

caption: Tao ZhangThe Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania recently announced the establishment of Wharton AI for Business (Artificial Intelligence for Business), which will inspire cutting-edge teaching and research in artificial intelligence while joining with global business leaders to set a course for better understanding of this nascent discipline. The launch of AI for Business is made possible by a new $5 million gift from Tao Zhang (WG’02) and his wife Selina Chin (WG’02), which greatly expands Wharton’s analytics capabilities, a major focus of Wharton’s More Than Ever campaign.

“The advances made possible by artificial intelligence hold the potential to vastly improve lives and business processes,” said Wharton Dean Geoff Garrett. “Our students, faculty and industry partners are eager to join in our AI knowledge creation efforts to more deeply explore how machine learning will impact the future for everyone. We are deeply grateful to Tao and Selina for so generously enabling us to explore this opportunity and get AI for Business underway.”

caption: Kartik HosanagarOperating within Analytics at Wharton and led by faculty member Kartik Hosanagar, John C. Hower Professor of Operations, Information and Decisions, AI for Business will explore AI’s applications and impact across industries. Planned activities include:

  • Course Instruction: Wharton AI for Business faculty will lead the development of new coursework for Wharton undergraduates, MBAs, Executive MBAs as well as working professionals worldwide through Executive Education. Courses will touch on numerous concepts, from the implications of AI on competitive strategy to its impact on society. Earlier this year, Dr. Hosanagar launched one of the leading online courses in the AI space, the highly popular Artificial Intelligence for Business, offered by Wharton Online.
  • Guest Speaker Series: Wharton AI for Business will showcase the leading global AI thinkers at Wharton San Francisco and Philadelphia campuses, as well as at events worldwide.
  • Student Engagement: Wharton AI for Business will provide active support to students’ co-curricular interests through events, committees and club activities. By facilitating dialogue within the Wharton community and across Penn’s 11 other Schools, the initiative will build bridges between AI focused students and AI employers.

Dr. Hosanagar is renowned for his AI research and instruction. He is the author of the book A Human’s Guide to Machine Intelligence: How Algorithms Are Shaping Our Lives and How We Can Stay in Control, and he created the first Wharton online courses on AI: Artificial Intelligence for Business. Dr. Hosanagar has also founded or advised numerous startups in online marketing and retail, including Yodle and Milo.

“Our students and professors are energized by the idea that AI is influencing nearly every aspect of humanity and our efforts to understand it can make a difference for years to come,” said Dr. Hosanagar. “I’m very excited to help lead AI for Business since the future of machine learning is happening now—there are unlimited entry points for experiential learning to explore the topic.”

Tao Zhang is a Wharton MBA alumnus from the class of 2002. He previously served as co-chairman and co-CEO of Meituan-Dianping, a leading internet company and platform in China. He was the founder and CEO of Dianping.com prior to its merger with Meituan and held positions in American Management Systems, an IT consulting firm. In addition to his generosity toward AI for Business, he has spoken at and supported Wharton Global Forums in Beijing and Shanghai.

Selina Chin is a Wharton MBA alumna from the class of 2002. She served as the China chief financial officer and vice president of finance for Goodyear Tires & Rubber Co. She currently runs the Blue Hill Foundation based in Singapore.

From the President: United by a Common Good

In a video message delivered on May 7, Penn President Amy Gutmann praised how quickly and how selflessly the Penn community has adapted for the common good in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Following is a transcript. Visit https://penntoday.upenn.edu/news/united-common-good to view the video.

Hello, Quakers. The other night, I watched a hundred drones light up the sky above Franklin Field as their flashing red and blue lights spelled the message, “Thank you Heroes.” 

In the street below, more lights flashed in response, with Penn, Drexel and Philadelphia police vehicles lining the road outside our hospital.

A cloudy night brightened—with an amazing display of gratitude to our doctors, nurses and first responders. I so wish that all of you could have been there with me to bear witness to it.

Even after 16 years as Penn’s president, my capacity for amazement still gets a daily workout. And even in these times, we’ve had no shortage of uplifting surprises.

There was the day when Grammy winner and all-around rock star Lizzo delivered lunch and a fantastic thank you video to our Penn Medicine heroes. Players from the Eagles and the Flyers followed her lead and donated meals of their own. And because we’re all adapting to virtual instruction, who just proudly completed an online Penn course in ancient philosophy? None other than the music icon Shakira.

Penn transformed almost overnight to respond to this pandemic. The health system upended itself, radically increasing our emergency capacity in order to save as many lives as possible. And pop stars from afar are studying Socrates and boosting morale—with a sandwich and a side of mayo.   

All of you have proven how quickly and how selflessly Penn can adapt for the common good. I am so proud. It takes grit and courage to run toward challenges rather than away; to set aside how we’ve always done things in order to do the most good for others.

I’ve been thinking about how we are guiding Penn through these trying times, and these three R’s sum it up.

Penn people are Resourceful. They’re ensuring public health, supporting frontline healthcare workers, and deploying our resources to meet both the demands of the hour and the future.

Penn people are Resilient, teaching and learning online while physically apart, finding new ways of being more connected, and conducting life-saving research under the strictest protocols and the greatest time pressure.

Above all, we are Responsive, caring for patients, caregivers, workers, community partners whose lives and livelihoods are at risk while at the same time supporting the needs of our amazing students.

As those drones brightened the night sky above Franklin Field, I wondered: Just a couple of months ago, did our doctors and nurses imagine dropping everything to do this heroic work? Did any of us expect to move more than 4,000 courses online for Penn students around the planet?

Did Lizzo imagine she’d be sending sandwiches and love to our caregivers?

We all have pivoted our immediate priorities to serve a common good. Each of you has demonstrated that by being Resourceful, Resilient and Responsive, Penn students, faculty and staff will get through this—with flying red and blue colors—together.

I may not have a fleet of drones handy today, or a Grammy on my shelf, but immense gratitude—that I do have. I am enormously grateful for all of you. We are a caring and compassionate community, united by a common good.

This is Amy Gutmann.

Stay strong. Stay safe. Stay in touch.

Deaths

Richard Tannen, PSOM

caption: Richard TannenRichard L. Tannen, emeritus professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, died February 22 in New York City. He was 82. 

Dr. Tannen was born in Brooklyn, and his family later moved to Memphis, Tennessee. He earned his undergraduate degree in 1957 from Vanderbilt University and received his medical degree in 1960 from the University of Tennessee, completing residency and fellowship in nephrology at the Brigham Hospital. 

During the Vietnam War, Dr. Tannen was a major in the Army at Walter Reed Hospital. Later, together with a colleague, Dr. Tannen started the department of nephrology at the University of Vermont and was also a professor and division chief there. In 1978, he accepted a position as division chief of nephrology at Michigan and director for the Kidney Research Center. In 1988, he moved to Los Angeles to serve as chair of medicine at University of Southern California. 

In 1995, he joined the University of Pennsylvania as vice dean in facilities management as well as a professor at the medical school in the division of renal-electrolyte and hypertension. In 1997, he became a senior vice dean. In 2008, he retired and became a professor emeritus.

Dr. Tannen co-authored several textbooks on nephrology, published numerous articles in scientific journals and received research support from the NIH. He served as president of the American Society of Nephrology and also served on the Board of American Heart Association. He and several associates were invited by Pope John Paul II to the Vatican to discuss the Church’s support of organ donations. Upon retirement, he focused on biostatistics, investigating the utility of computerized ambulatory medical record databases to inform medical practices and the efficacy of clinical trials. 

He is survived by his wife, Vivien; children, Bradford (Iris), Jennifer Geiling (Greg), Julie Art (Jonathan), Whitney Jones (Walter) and Alison McMillan; and nine grandchildren.

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To Report A Death

Almanac appreciates being informed of the deaths of current and former faculty and staff members, students and other members of the University community. Call (215) 898-5274 or email almanac@upenn.edu

Governance

Coverage of Trustees May Meetings

The Budget & Finance Committee and the Executive Committee of the University of Pennsylvania Trustees met (virtually) on May 14. There were presentations at the B&F Committee meeting on the Academic Component and Consolidated University financial results for the nine months ended March 31, 2020, as well as a presentation on the Health System’s financial results for the same time period.  

Vice President of Finance and Treasurer MaryFrances McCourt reported that Penn entered this crisis period in a financial position of great strength, a sentiment that Vice President of Budget and Management Analysis Trevor Lewis echoed. He said that, thanks to strong growth in sponsored research from industry and federally-funded projects, there was an increase in net assets. There was, however, a decline in net assets from operations due to the disruption to room & board and the extraordinary expenses the University incurred. 

Ms. McCourt noted that more of the market volatility occurred after the end of the third quarter and would be more evident when the fiscal year ends in June.

Penn Medicine Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Keith Kasper gave the UPHS report in which he noted that the health system created the capacity for a potential surge of COVID-19 patients by postponing non-urgent and elective cases to conserve the PPE supply. He too said that the budget was not yet showing the effects of the downturn but that in April there was a 72% decline in surgical cases.

Trustee Chair David L. Cohen described the 120 rooms that were completed ahead of schedule in the new Pavilion (Almanac April 7, 2020)  as an incredible team effort which involved 24/7 construction crews. Those rooms could be used as regular rooms or as ICU rooms. One reason those rooms have not been used yet is that Penn Medicine has used home care and getting people out of the hospital when possible to preserve ICU capacity.

President Amy Gutmann said that the level of care provided has been heartwarming, with a low mortality rate; the ability of patients to get out and resume their normal life is a model for health systems everywhere. 

At the Executive Committee meeting, Mr. Cohen encouraged the Penn community and trustees to join in the virtual commencement ceremony. President Gutmann said that Penn Medicine and the University have met the pandemic with a strong response. She noted that more than 4,000 classes were moved online very quickly and Penn’s dedicated staff has kept the campus safe and operational for the essential workers. 

President Gutmann presented the resolution to appoint Russell Di Leo as comptroller (Almanac April 21, 2020), which the Trustees passed along with three B&F resolutions. 

One authorized the incurrence of long-term indebtedness (bonds) for the University—up to $300 million, since, as Ms. McCourt explained, low rates are available at this time. 

Another resolution authorized $18.2 million for the final phase of upgrades and reheat system repairs to BRB II, which is now over 20 years old. 

The final resolution for $12.35 million is to replace windows and improve ventilation in the iconic Palestra. 

EVP Craig Carnaroli gave the financial report, which he underscored does not fully reflect the impact of the pandemic. 

From The Senate Office: Faculty Senate Executive Committee Actions

The following is published in accordance with the Faculty Senate Rules. Among other purposes, the publication of SEC actions is intended to stimulate discussion among the constituencies and their representatives. Please communicate your comments to Patrick Walsh, executive assistant to the Senate Office, either by telephone at (215) 898-6943 or by email at senate@pobox.upenn.edu

Faculty Senate Executive Committee Actions

Wednesday, May 13, 2020

Chair’s Report. Faculty Senate Chair Steven Kimbrough reported on recent discussions with University leaders and applauded their embracing the role of faculty in conversations concerning the planning for Penn’s future. He also reminded SEC members of an important resource offered by Penn Libraries: Upon request, Library staff are able to procure e-books for access by students who are enrolled in Penn classes.

Past Chair’s Report. Faculty Senate Past Chair Jennifer Pinto-Martin reported that the Senate Ad Hoc Committee on Planning for Post-Pandemic Penn (P4) will hold its first meeting on May 19.

Get Out the Vote Update. SEC member and Professor of Communication, Psychology and Marketing Emily Falk, reported on progress made on the Get Out the Vote initiative since the previous SEC meeting. A University-wide email was distributed to all faculty on May 13 with information about registering to vote.

Issues Requiring a Vote. SEC members voted to endorse a “Resolution on the Individual and Institutional Responses of Faculty in the University of Pennsylvania to the Global Climate Emergency.” The resolution is published in full in this issue of Almanac (click here to read). SEC members also ratified the slate of four faculty representatives on the 2020-2021 University Council Steering Committee.

Update from the Office of the Vice Provost for Research. Vice Provost for Research Dawn Bonnell reported on two research-related matters. First, Vice Provost Bonnell discussed national security concerns related to Penn faculty collaborations with international research partners following on cases in which US-funded intellectual property has been obtained by some international entities in inappropriate ways. A resource hub launched in partnership with Penn Global can be located on the Vice Provost for Research website: https://research.upenn.edu/resources/international-partners/ Second, Vice Provost Bonnell shared a Research Resumption Strategy Master Plan with SEC members, which consists of three phases that gradually increase research on campus with structures that ensure social distancing and safety. The plan and additional resources can also be located on the Vice Provost for Research website: https://research.upenn.edu/resources/resumption/

Senate Committee Reports. SEC heard and briefly discussed reports given by the chairs of the Senate’s Standing Committees. Reports from all of the Senate’s committees, including interim reports from its ad hoc committees, will be published as a supplement of the May 26, 2020 issue of Almanac.

Passing the Torch. Dr. Kimbrough recognized Dr. Pinto-Martin for her three years of service as a Tri-Chair to the Faculty Senate and introduced Dr. William Braham as 2020-2021 Chair-Elect of the Senate. He also recognized the service of the chairs of the Senate’s Standing Committees: Peter Cappelli, Jorge Gálvez, Carol Muller and Ani Nenkova. Dr. Kimbrough yielded the floor to Dr. Kathleen Hall Jamieson, and SEC members welcomed her as Chair of the Faculty Senate for the 2020-2021 year.

From the Senate Office: Resolution on the Individual and Institutional Responses of Faculty in the University of Pennsylvania to the Global Climate Emergency

Whereas climate scientists reliably and unmistakably inform us that our global climate system has been undergoing potentially catastrophic disruption due primarily to the large-scale human production and release of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide;

Whereas the global mean atmospheric temperature has increased approximately 1.0°C since the Industrial Revolution, resulting in significant actual and predicted harm to human beings and other life through heat waves, wildfires, droughts, famines, flooding, melting ice, sea level rise, mass migration, pandemics, and war;

Whereas the international community represented by 195 nations agreed in the Paris Agreement  (signed April 22, 2016 and entered into force November 4, 2016) to hold the increase in global temperature to “well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels” and to pursue efforts to “limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels;”

Whereas scientists estimate that limiting global heating to below 2°C would require reductions in greenhouse gas emissions of 25% from 2010 levels by 2030, and net zero emissions by 2070;

Whereas scientists estimate also that the 1.5°C limit would require a 45% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 2010 levels by 2030, and net zero emissions by 2050;

Whereas current trends following a business as usual approach would result in an unacceptable increase of global mean temperature of between 3.7° and 4.8°C by 2100, and perhaps as high as 7.8°C;

Whereas risk assessment and adaptation will be required as well as mitigation efforts to address various specific geophysical consequences of the global climate disruption that has already and will continue to occur;

Whereas the US National Climate Assessment has found that “climate change creates new risks and exacerbates existing vulnerabilities in communities across the United States, presenting growing challenges to human health and safety, quality of life, and the rate of economic growth;” 

Whereas climate change increases the likelihood of outbreaks of zoonotic viruses such as the catastrophic outbreak of COVID-19 around the world in 2020, as well as the geographic spread of vector-borne diseases and other adverse health effects;

Whereas climate scientists collectively warn that we must act now because we are in a state of planetary emergency and both the risks and urgency of the situation are acute;

Whereas the Paris Agreement affirms “the importance of education, training, public awareness, public participation, public access of information and cooperation,” and recognizes that  “sustainable lifestyles and sustainable patterns of consumption and production . . . play an important role in addressing climate change;”

Whereas we cannot rely exclusively on national and international regulatory efforts and climate pledges to address the global climate challenge adequately; 

Whereas the University of Pennsylvania has been committed as an institution to address the climate challenge since the adoption of its first Climate Action Plan in 2009 and continues to address the climate challenge in other institutional forms and activities;

Whereas, in recognition of the escalating climate crisis, the Senate Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate of the University of Pennsylvania established a Committee for an Institutional Response to the Climate Emergency in 2019;

Now we, the Senate Executive Committee and the undersigned Faculty of the University of Pennsylvania, therefore resolve that we acknowledge the scientific reality that a climate emergency threatens our University, our city, our state, our nation, our civilization, and humanity and the natural world as a whole.

We resolve further to act in our individual capacities as faculty members and citizens to address the global climate emergency by undertaking, without limitation:

     (1) to support and encourage relevant teaching and research initiatives in our respective schools and departments, and centers and initiatives;

     (2) to reduce our personal carbon footprints with respect to our air travel (including the purchase of reliable offsets when such travel is necessary) and our energy use at work, at home, and in transportation between work and home;

     (3) to examine our personal retirement investment portfolios in order to align them as closely as possible with our values favoring a radical reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and new business solutions to the climate challenge;

     (4) to encourage our Schools, departments, Centers, and other administrative units to become active in the Green Office Program, including certification for reducing energy use, greening supply purchases, and adopting green catering options;

     (5) to work within our academic and professional societies to find pathways to a less carbon-intensive future—in particular to create alternatives to conference travel.

We resolve further to call on the Board of Trustees, the President and the Provost to improve the institutional response to the climate emergency, and to work with faculty in their individual roles as well as with the Committee for an Institutional Response to the Climate Emergency.

We resolve, finally and most importantly, to teach, encourage, and support our students and future generations of students in all matters pertaining to the climate emergency:  for they will bear the greatest burden of living with, learning about, and effectively addressing the climate emergency that previous generations, including ours, have imposed upon them.

Drafted and endorsed by 

Faculty Senate Ad Hoc Committee on the Institutional Response to the Climate Emergency:

  • William Braham (Professor of Architecture), Chair
  • Herman Beavers (Professor of English and Africana Studies)
  • Anne Berg (Assistant Professor of History)
  • Alison Buttenheim (Associate Professor of Nursing and Assistant Professor of Health Policy)
  • Daniel Aldana Cohen (Assistant Professor of Sociology)
  • Thomas Daniels (Professor of City and Regional Planning)
  • Kathleen Hall Jamieson (Faculty Senate Chair-Elect and Elizabeth Ware Packard Professor of Communication)
  • Steven Kimbrough (Faculty Senate Chair and Professor of Operations, Information and Decisions)
  • Howard Kunreuther (James G. Dinan Professor Emeritus of Operations, Information and Decisions)
  • Irina Marinov (Associate Professor of Earth and Environmental Science)
  • Michael McGarvey (Associate Professor of Neurology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania)
  • Eric Orts (Guardsmark Professor, Professor of Legal Studies & Business Ethics, Professor of Management)
  • Benjamin Pierce (Professor of Computer and Information Science)
  • Simon Richter (Class of 1942 Endowed Term Professor of German)
  • Misha Rosenbach (Associate Professor of Dermatology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania)
  • Eric Stach (Professor of Materials Science and Engineering)
  • Franca Trubiano (Associate Professor of Architecture)
  • Michael Weisberg (Professor and Chair of Philosophy)
  • Bethany Wiggin (Associate Professor of German and Director, Penn Program in Environmental Humanities)

Non-voting members: 

  • Jane Dmochowski (Senior Lecturer of Earth and Environmental Science)
  • William Fleming (Wilks Family Director, The McHarg Center)
  • Andrew Huemmler (Senior Lecturer of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering)

Endorsed:  Faculty Senate Executive Committee, May 13, 2020

To add your signature as a member of the Penn Faculty, please visit: https://upenn.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_79utZRE4WXSFNWe

Honors

The Newly Retired Faculty

The following faculty retired during the 2019-2020 academic year. The year each one joined the Penn faculty ranks is noted in parentheses.

Peter Adamson, Professor C-E Emeritus, Pediatrics, PSOM (’99)

Michael Bennett, Professor C-E Emeritus, Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, PSOM (’04)

Charles Bernstein, Professor, English, SAS (’03)

Mark Brown, Professor Emeritus, Neurology, PSOM (’74)

Gershon Buchsbaum, Professor Emeritus, Bioengineering, SEAS (’79)

Rebecca Bushnell, Professor Emerita, English, SAS (’82)

Linda Chen, Associate Professor C-E Emerita, Anesthesia, PSOM (’80)

Timothy Corrigan, Professor Emeritus, English, SAS (’03)

Peter Davies, Professor Emeritus, Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, PSOM (’95)

Anthony Dean, Professor C-E Emeritus, Emergency Medicine, PSOM (’01)

Roman De La Campa, Professor Emeritus, Romance Languages, SAS (’06)

P. Leslie Dutton, Professor Emeritus, Biochemistry and Biophysics, PSOM (’68)

David Eckmann, Professor Emeritus, Anesthesia, PSOM (’96)

Fabio Finotti, Professor, Romance Languages, SAS (’01)

Martin Franklin, Associate Professor C-E Emeritus, Psychiatry, PSOM (’99)

Urs Giger, Professor Emeritus, Clinical Sciences & Advanced Medicine, Vet (’95)

Larry Gladney, Professor Emeritus, Physics and Astronomy, SAS (’85)

Michael Golden, Associate Professor C-E Emeritus, Surgery Administration, PSOM (’90)

Joseph Gorman, Professor Emeritus, Surgery Administration, PSOM (’92)

John Hansen-Flaschen, Professor Emeritus, Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care, PSOM (’77)

Brian Harding, Professor C-E Emeritus, Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, PSOM (’09)

Joan Hendricks, Professor Emerita, Clinical Sciences & Advanced Medicine, Vet (’74)

Renata Holod, Professor Emerita, History of Art, SAS (’72)

Steven Horii, Professor C-E Emeritus, Radiology, PSOM (’92)

John Hutchinson, Professor Emeritus, Marketing, Wharton (’94)

Robert Inman, Professor Emeritus, Finance, Wharton (’70)

John Kimberly, Professor, Management, Wharton (’82)

Howard Kunreuther, Professor Emeritus, Operations, Information and Decisions, Wharton (’72)

Alan Laties, Professor Emeritus, Ophthalmology, PSOM (’60)

Caryn Lerman, Professor Emerita, Psychiatry, PSOM (’01)

Michael Levine, Professor C-E Emeritus, Pediatrics, PSOM (’08)

Mitchell Marcus, Professor Emeritus, Computer and Information Science, SEAS (87)

Richard Marston, Professor Emeritus, Finance, Wharton (’72)

Leo McCluskey, Associate Professor C-E Emeritus, Neurology, PSOM (’85)

William McCool, Associate Professor Emeritus, Family and Community Health, Nursing (’95)

Sarah Millar, Professor Emerita, Dermatology, PSOM (’99)

Harvey Nisenbaum, Associate Professor C-E Emeritus, Radiology, PSOM (’93)

Stephen Paridon, Professor C-E, Pediatrics, PSOM (’94)

Bruce Pawel, Associate Professor C-E Emeritus, Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, PSOM (’02)

Peter Phillips, Professor C-E Emeritus, Neurology, PSOM (’91)

Anthony Rostain, Professor C-E Emeritus, Psychiatry, PSOM (’83)

Anil Rustgi, Professor Emeritus, Gastroenterology, PSOM (’98)

Mary Sammel, Professor C-E Emerita, Biostatistics and Epidemiology, PSOM (’97)

Mark Schreiner, Associate Professor C-E Emeritus, Anesthesia, PSOM (’78)

Bernard Shapiro, Professor Emeritus, Biomedical Sciences, Vet (’73)

Suzanne Shepherd, Professor C-E Emerita, Emergency Medicine, PSOM (’95)

Tony Smith, Professor, Electrical and Systems Engineering, SEAS (’66)

Karin Sorenmo, Professor Emerita, Clinical Sciences & Advanced Medicine, Vet (’12)

James Steven, Associate Professor C-E Emeritus, Anesthesia, PSOM (’87)

Robert Stine, Professor Emeritus, Statistics, Wharton (’79)

Lawrence Tom, Associate Professor C-E Emeritus, Otorhinolaryngology, PSOM (’86)

Bruce Turetsky, Associate Professor C-E Emeritus, Psychiatry, PSOM (’91)

Vaclav Vitek, Professor, Materials Science and Engineering, SEAS (’78)

A. Joshua Wand, Professor Emeritus, Biochemistry and Biophysics, PSOM (’98)

Alan Wasserstein, Associate Professor C-E Emeritus, Renal-Electrolyte and Hypertension, PSOM (’74)

Eric Weinberg, Professor Emeritus, Biology, SAS (’79)

Takashi Yonetani, Professor, Biochemistry and Biophysics, PSOM (’64) (Deceased; Almanac May 5, 2020)

Laura Dember: National Kidney Foundation Award

Laura Dember, a professor of medicine and epidemiology at PSOM, received the National Kidney Foundation’s 2020 J. Michael Lazarus Award, which recognizes individuals whose research has yielded novel insights related to renal replacement therapy.

Abigail Dym, Ava Kikut, Sophie Maddocks: Provost’s Graduate Academic Engagement Fellowships

caption: Abigail Dymcaption: Ava Kikutcaption: Sophie MaddocksAbigail Dym from the School of Arts & Sciences and GSE, Ava Kikut from the Annenberg School and Sophie Maddocks also from Annenberg were recently named the 2020-2022 Provost’s Graduate Academic Engagement Fellows.

PGAEF at the Netter Center is an opportunity for PhD students across all schools and fields at the University of Pennsylvania. Fellows are outstanding students whose scholarship significantly involves Academically Based Community Service (ABCS) and related activities, including locally based community problem-solving, engaged scholarship, service learning and learning by teaching in public schools. The fellowship involves participation in an interdisciplinary faculty-student seminar on community-engaged research and teaching, the opportunity to design and teach an ABCS course or engage in other kinds of research and teaching in connection with the Netter Center, a $5,000 research fund for each fellow, additional support to attend and present at conferences, and a full fellowship in the students’ second year.

The 2020-2022 fellows will both build on existing work with local public schools and, through the fellowship, will design and teach new ABCS seminars.

Ms. Dym, a doctoral student in political science in the School of Arts & Sciences and education policy in Penn GSE, hopes to collaborate with Philadelphia and Penn students to study and co-produce a survey related to youth political knowledge and civic engagement. Together they will aim to foster mutual growth of content knowledge in politics and civic education, research experience in survey design and implementation, and student self-awareness of and self-confidence in their essential role as civic agents in Philadelphia and beyond. Her PGAEF faculty advisor is Michael Delli Carpini.

Ms. Kikut is a doctoral student in the Annenberg School for Communication. She is interested in youth-driven health campaigns and their role in facilitating youth advocacy, empowerment and health. Through this fellowship, she will collaborate with middle and high school students, along with Penn undergraduates, to develop media messages pertaining to health needs and inequalities in Philadelphia. Her PGAEF faculty advisor is Robert Hornik.

Ms. Maddocks, also a doctoral student at Annenberg, intends to pilot a program of teaching and research that addresses the issue of digital abuse. Through an ABCS course, she hopes to co-develop with students a collection of ‘digital rights’ resources advocating for young peoples’ prosocial, safe and critical engagement online. Through participatory research, she seeks to investigate alongside students their lived experiences of digital abuse precarity and their reception of existing e-safety guidance. Her PGAEF faculty advisor is Julia Ticona.

Rebecca Hubbard: ASA Mid-Career Award

The Health Policy Statistics Section (HPSS) of the American Statistical Association selected Rebecca Hubbard, an associate professor of biostatistics, as a winner of its 2020 Mid-Career Award. The award recognizes leaders in health care policy and health services research who have made outstanding contributions through methodological or applied work and who show a promise of continued excellence at the frontier of statistical practice.

Hongzhe Li: Research Excellence Award

Hongzhe Li, PSOM professor of biostatistics and vice chair for integrative research in the department of biostatistics, epidemiology and informatics, has won the 2020 American Statistical Association’s Philadelphia Chapter Award in Research Excellence.

Bomyi Lim: KIChE President Young Investigator Award

Bomyi Lim, assistant professor in the department of chemical biomolecular engineering in Penn Engineering, has been selected by the US Chapter of the Korean Institute of Chemical Engineers (KIChE) as the recipient of the KIChE President Young Investigator Award. As a recipient of this Award, Dr. Lim will be invited to present a research talk at the KIChE Open Forum during the AIChE Conference.

KIChE is an organization that aims “to promote constructive and mutually beneficial interactions among Korean Chemical Engineers in the US and facilitate international collaboration between engineers in the US and Korea.”

Dr. Lim is interested in the regulation of chemical kinetics in biological systems, especially in understanding how inherently stochastic gene expression dynamics are “tamed” to produce reliable cellular outcomes. Precise control of dynamic gene activity is important in preventing mis-regulation that could cause serious developmental defects. The Lim Lab uses a combination of molecular experiments, quantitative live imaging, kinetic modeling and other fundamental engineering principles to obtain spatio-temporal control of gene activity. These interdisciplinary studies will provide important insights into general gene-expression phenomena that underlie development, metabolism, and disease.

Jessi Ali Lin, Valentina Soto: Dedalus Foundation Fellowships

Each year the Dedalus Foundation awards Master of Fine Arts Fellowships in Painting and Sculpture to four artists who are completing their graduate studies at MFA programs from across the United States. This year two of the four artists, Jessi Ali Lin and Valentina Soto, are from Weitzman’s department of fine arts.

Created by the modernist painter Robert Motherwell in 1981, the Dedalus Foundation is one of the leading artist-endowed foundations in the United States.

Ms. Lin was born in Taiwan and came to the United States as a teenager. Her work combines performance, the language of Minimalist sculpture and her Taiwanese-American identity to “create seemingly unobtrusive situations that allow people to heighten their awareness.” For Ms. Lin, the “politeness of minimalism” runs parallel with the expectations she encounters as a Taiwanese-American woman. This pairing can manifest itself in her work to a degree where, as she put it, “everything is very still and in control to a point that it suggests suffocation.”

Ms. Soto was born and raised in Santiago,  Chile and came to the United States to study at Penn. She creates clay and plaster sculptures that examine how the histories of exploitation of natural resources, colonization and current sociopolitical conditions can be understood and conveyed through art. Her work often draws on the writings and research of early ethnologists, naturalists and archeologists who documented life in the Americas during the Spanish conquest.

Paul Lin: Udall Scholar

caption: Paul LinUniversity of Pennsylvania junior Paul Lin has been selected as a Udall Scholar by the Udall Foundation, which awards scholarships of as much as $7,000 each to college sophomores and juniors for leadership, public service and commitment to issues related to Native American nations or to the environment.

Mr. Lin, from Clarksville, Maryland, is pursuing a major in earth science with a concentration in environmental science and minors in computer science and Chinese in the College of Arts & Sciences. He was one of 55 Udall Scholars chosen from 48 colleges and universities from 429 candidates nominated by 199 institutions. 

He is especially interested in the development of geospatial technologies for the study of vegetation and land-cover changes. Mr. Lin hopes to pursue a career in the defense sector and to research the implications of climate change on national security. He has been an intern at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. On campus, he studies leaf physiology and distributions and also volunteers to promote environmentalism in West Philadelphia schools.

Mr. Lin is the fifth recipient from Penn since Congress established the foundation in 1992 to honor Morris and Stewart Udall and their impact on the nation’s environment, public lands and natural resources, and support of the rights and self-governance of American Indians and Alaska Natives.

Mr. Lin applied to the Udall Scholarship with the support of Penn’s Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships (CURF).

Melanie Pellecchia, Edward Brodkin, Shinjae Chung: Eagles Austim Foundation Grants

The Eagles Autism Foundation funded three Penn Medicine projects for exploratory work in the field of autism. Each received a $400,000 grant for their project. Melanie Pellecchia, assistant professor of psychology in psychiatry with the Center for Mental Health, to study an evidence-based intervention for infants and toddlers with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Edward Brodkin, associate professor of psychiatry, for a randomized controlled trial of a cognitive-behavioral therapy program to improve social functioning in adults on the autism spectrum. Shinjae Chung, assistant professor of neuroscience, to study neural circuit and molecular mechanisms underlying sleep disturbances in ASD.

Four Men’s Squash Players: All-American Honors

Four members of Penn’s men’s squash team have received All-American honors from the College Squash Association (CSA). This is the most in school history. Junior Andrew Douglas and sophomores Aly Abou Eleinen and James Flynn are First-Team All-Americans, and junior Yash Bhargava is a Second-Team awardee.

For the first time in school history, the men’s squash team advanced all the way to the Potter Cup, the CSA men’s National Team Championships, where they lost to #1-ranked Harvard. 

Mr. Douglas, a co-captain from Brooklyn, New York, is the program’s first three-time First-Team All-American, and he was also a unanimous First-Team All-Ivy selection. Due to an injury, he did not take part in the CSA Individual Championships.

Mr. Eleinen, from Alexandria, Egypt, became the first men’s player since 1986 to advance to the A Division final of the CSA Individual Championships. He was also a unanimous First-Team All-Ivy selection.

Mr. Flynn, from Toronto, Canada, compiled a 14-3 record. In the A Division of the CSA Individual Championships, he defeated top seed and defending champion Victor Crouin of Harvard before falling to teammate Mr. Eleinen in the quarterfinals.

Mr. Bhargava, from Mumbai, India, won the Molloy Cup at the CSA Individual Championships, making him Penn’s first Molloy Cup champion since 2016.

Features

A Virtual Commencement: The First Celebration of the Class of 2020

caption: The Penn Band performed “Fight On, Pennsylvania” and “Cheer Pennsylvania” from many locations.caption: Duval Courteau (C’20) sang the National Anthem.

caption: Charles (Chaz) L. Howard, Penn’s chaplain, gave a poignant Invocation to the Class of 2020, encouraging them to see the moments to serve at this unprecedented time.caption: Penn President Amy Gutmann welcomed the Class of 2020 and visitors from around the world to this unique online Commencement celebration. caption: Graduates heard a brief message from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, who said she was moved by the sacrifices that the Class has had to make and looks forward to next year’s in-person Commencement. caption: Provost Wendell Pritchett announced the winners of the student awards as they were seen smiling and waving to their classmates. A special tribute video featured Penn graduates expressing their recollections and feelings about the value of their Penn experience. Some of their words were: incredible, amazing, enlightening.caption: President Gutmann conferred degrees to the 7,564 graduates after all of Penn’s deans presented their candidates from the 12 schools marking the first 264th Commencement. This includes over 2,700 undergraduate degrees. Members of the undergraduate Class of 2020 represent 116 foreign countries and all 50 states.caption: A special surprise came at the end of the ceremony, when John Legend (C’99, Hon’14, Almanac February 18, 2014) joined the seniors from Penn’s numerous a cappela groups in singing “The Red and the Blue.”

The 264th Commencement ceremony was archived following the event for students and families who are in different time zones—available on Penn’s Commencement and Facebook pages, and over social media. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qa-BJDCY-q0&

Recreating Penn’s Campus on Minecraft: Virtual Penn Community

caption: The Minecraft Franklin Field hosted the first-ever virtual Penn Relays on April 24.

When COVID-19 forced Penn students to leave campus, many Penn students were concerned about losing perennial Penn traditions like Hey Day, Quaker Days and Commencement. A small group of Penn students, including seniors Makarios Chung and Damian Owerko, junior Andrew Guo, and incoming Weitzman master’s student Michael Willhoit, got together (virtually) to recreate Penn’s campus in Minecraft, a popular game that allows users to create structures and terrain and “mine” resources.

Mr. Guo, who spearheaded the effort, got the idea to make a Minecraft of Penn’s campus from a Japanese elementary school whose students had recreated their school building in Minecraft and hosted a virtual graduation there. Mr. Guo recruited several friends and active Minecraft users in the Penn community, and the team set to work recreating Penn’s campus, building by building, block by block. Using Google Street View imagery and maps supplied by Penn Libraries as a guide, they began creating a faithful recreation of Penn’s campus in late March. They included intricate details as the brick patterns of Locust Walk and the topography of College Green, and they also added touches like programming a synthesizer-led rendition of “The Red and the Blue,” which plays automatically when Minecraft users walk around the area of Franklin Field.

After a Penn Today article in early April spread the word of the team’s efforts to build a virtual Penn campus, many University departments reached out to Mr. Guo with plans for collaborations, including using the Minecraft campus to provide prospective students with virtual campus tours. On April 24, the first-ever virtual Penn Relays took place in the Minecraft Franklin Field.

The builders plan to hold a virtual commencement ceremony on Penn’s Minecraft campus. All commentators agree that this virtual Penn campus has provided a much-needed sense of unity to members of the Penn community during a trying time.  

caption: This view of the Minecraft recreation of Penn Commons in the Perelman Quadrangle shows the Minecraft campus’s depth of landscaping detail.

caption: A faithful rendition of one of Penn’s most iconic buildings, College Hall.

caption: Penn’s Minecraft campus doesn’t just include building exteriors. The team also recreated the beautiful interior of Frank Furness’s Fisher Fine Arts Library.

Events

Update: May AT PENN

Children's Activities

20    At-Home Anthro Live: Humans and Their Houses; dig deeper into world cultures, archaeology, or anthropology with demonstrations of hands-on projects you can try at home; 11 a.m.; info: www.penn.museum/calendar/428/at-home-anthro-live (Museum).

Exhibits

       Frankenthaler on Paper; ARG Executive Director Lynn Marsden-Atlass discusses the exhibit in two Art Matters videos; https://youtu.be/BkCvErpa0Qg; https://youtu.be/7qEBRRqFhYY; Arthur Ross Gallery’s blog: http://www.arthurrossgallery.org/paths-of-subtle-resistence/ (ARG).

Fitness and Learning

22   Spotted Lanternfly-What You Need to Know; Luke Hearon, Plant Protection Intern; 1:30 p.m.; $8/members, $10/non-members; register: morrisarb.org/learn (Morris Arboretum).

26   How to Explore Career Options for Humanities PhDs; 10-11 a.m.; https://app.joinhandshake.com/events/493863 (Career Services).

Talks

19    How Will The National Leap into Remote Learning Change the Trajectory of Education?; Julie Young, Florida Virtual School; 2 p.m.; RSVP: https://bit.ly/W20RemoteLearn (GSE).

20    The Classic Maya Collapse: New Evidence on a Great Mystery; today we might finally be close to understanding what happened to the Mayans; 6 p.m.; info: www.penn.museum/calendar/43/the-classic-maya-collapse (Musuem).

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AT PENN Deadlines 

The Summer AT PENN calendar will be in the March 26 issue. The deadline to submit virtual events to be featured in an Update in the weekly issues in June, is the Monday of the prior week.

Crimes

Weekly Crime Reports

University of Pennsylvania Police Department Crime Report

Below are the Crimes Against Persons, Crimes Against Society and Crimes Against Property from the campus report for May 4-10, 2020. View prior weeks' reports. —Ed.

This summary is prepared by the Division of Public Safety and includes all criminal incidents reported and made known to the University Police Department for the dates of May 4-10, 2020. The University Police actively patrol from Market St to Baltimore and from the Schuylkill River to 43rd St in conjunction with the Philadelphia Police. In this effort to provide you with a thorough and accurate report on public safety concerns, we hope that your increased awareness will lessen the opportunity for crime. For any concerns or suggestions regarding this report, please call the Division of Public Safety at (215) 898-4482.

05/05/20

12:36 AM

3300 Walnut St

Male acting disorderly/Arrest

05/05/20

11:52 AM

3925 Walnut St

Merchandise taken without payment/Arrest

05/05/20

8:16 PM

3600 Sansom St

Male entered building without authority/Arrest

05/06/20

2:17 AM

3330 Market St

Complainant harassed by male

05/06/20

2:30 AM

3737 Market St

Male entered building without authority/Arrest

05/06/20

4:05 PM

Williams Plaza

Secured bike taken from rack

05/06/20

5:22 PM

3615 Civic Center Blvd

Secured bike taken from rack

05/08/20

1:09 PM

3451 Walnut St

Unauthorized payment made

05/08/20

2:19 PM

51 N 39th St

US currency taken from an unsecured desk drawer

05/09/20

5:40 PM

231 S 34th St

Bait bike taken/Arrest

05/10/20

2:50 PM

400 S 40th St

Complainant being harassed via electronic communications

05/10/20

3:48 PM

3900 Irving St

Unsecured cell phone taken

18th District

Below are the Crimes Against Persons from the 18th District: 2 incidents (1aggravated assault and 1 domestic assault) with 1 arrest were reported for May 4-10, 2020 by the 18th District covering the Schuylkill River to 49th Street & Market Street to Woodland Avenue.

05/05/20

3:58 PM

4601 Walnut St

Aggravated Assault

05/06/20

4:36 PM

4529 Spruce St

Domestic Assault/Arrest

Bulletins

Get Out The Vote

On Tuesday, June 2nd, Pennsylvania is scheduled to hold its primary election. There are many important down-ballot races, in addition to the national campaigns, that directly impact the entire Penn community and the broader Philadelphia community. Make sure you are informed and prepared before Election Day by visiting VotesPA, the PA Department of State’s voter-resource website. If you plan to vote in another state or territory, you should visit your local election website. 

Once you are registered, make sure the Philadelphia County Board of Elections receives your mail-in ballot application before 5pm EST on May 26th, 2020. Your completed mail-in ballot must be received by Philadelphia before polls close at 8pm EST on Election Day, Tuesday, June 2nd. To learn more about voting by mail in Pennsylvania, visit https://www.votespa.com/Voting-in-PA/Pages/Mail-and-Absentee-Ballot.aspx

In addition, the student-led Penn Leads The Vote (PLTV) has developed numerous tools and resources on voting guidance for PA voters, in coordination with guidelines from the PA Department of State, and for voters across the country. Click here to access PLTV’s voting resource folder, and visit pennvotes.org to learn more about registrationvoter educationmail-in votingin-person voting, and how COVID-19 is impacting elections across the country. For additional help, you are welcome to email pennvotes@upenn.edu

Please Share Almanac

Like the last two months’ issues, this edition of Almanac is digital-only. Please distribute to your colleagues and encourage them to subscribe to receive the E-Almanac by visiting https://almanac.upenn.edu/express-almanac The email will include links to the newly posted material. 

No issues were printed to distribute across campus because of COVID-19. Almanac is distributed electronically each Tuesday.

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