September 29, 2020 Volume 67 Issue 12

The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is pleased to announce a $2.5 million commitment from undergraduate alumni Bobby Turner (W’84) and Lauren Golub Turner (W’85) to sustain and strengthen the MIINT (MBA Impact Investing Network & Training) program, a collaboration between the Wharton Social Impact Initiative and the Bridges Impact Foundation. This commitment establishes the Turner MIINT Fund. 

“The MIINT program is an excellent experiential learning opportunity for students and this generous gift from Bobby and Lauren Turner will widen its potential for making impact through investing,” said Dean Erika H. James. “The Turners’ involvement with the Wharton Social Impact Initiative (WSII) over the years has served to amplify its mission and has greatly raised awareness of the work being done at Wharton. I am thrilled to have them so inextricably linked with the outstanding MIINT program.” 

The Turner MIINT Fund will support and enhance the 10-year-old MIINT program, which will now be re-named Turner MIINT. Turner MIINT is a learning program that trains MBA students in impact investing. Over the course of the academic year, more than 750 students from 35+ international and domestic business schools participating in Turner MIINT learn via an online learning platform and conduct due diligence on impact companies, learning skills like impact management, measurement practices, and early-stage valuation models. Students participate in a global competition to diligence and present for investment a seed-stage impact investment. The winning companies have the opportunity to receive up to a $50,000 investment. To date, 2,925 students from all over the world have participated in the program. Past winners include LearnSprout (acquired by Apple) and Edovo. Investment capital is provided through Impact Assets and has been made available by the Moelis Family Foundation and Liquidnet.  

“Bobby and Lauren have been dedicated advocates for WSII and have contributed greatly to its successes,” said Katherine Klein, vice dean of the Wharton Social Impact Initiative and Edward H. Bowman Professor of Management. “They share with WSII a vision for using business to address social and environmental challenges and this shows through their involvement and commitment that extends far beyond this gift.” 

A partnership between the Bridges Impact Foundation and Wharton Social Impact Initiative established in 2014, Turner MIINT is the premiere experiential education program for graduate students interested in learning about impact investing. “We value this relationship and believe that co-producing the MIINT brings together the best of Wharton’s academic rigor with the practitioner experience of the MIINT steering committee,” noted Brian Trelstad, a partner at Bridges Fund Management. “The contribution from the Turners comes at an important time in the program as we seek to find ways to include students from less traditional backgrounds who are underrepresented in the fields of impact investing and finance,” added MIINT Program Manager Adwoa Asare.

The Turners also founded the Lauren & Bobby Turner Social Impact Executive Speaker series, inviting celebrities and leaders who use their influence for social change to speak to the Penn community. Previous speakers included Andre Agassi, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Eva Longoria, Ashton Kutcher, Vincent Stanley, Bill Ackman, Valerie Jarrett, and Antony Bugg-Levine. Additionally, they launched and funded the Turner Social Impact Society, a select community of Penn and Wharton undergraduates who prioritize social impact in their years at Penn and beyond.

“We are happy to provide continuing support for this exceptional program that gives hands-on impact investing experience to future leaders,” said Bobby Turner. “Lauren and I believe strongly that businesses can help solve the most pressing issues we face as both a society and a global community. By continuing our investment in students through the work of WSII, we are creating a new generation of business leaders who are poised to face these challenges with innovation and expertise.” 

Mr. Turner received a BS in finance at Wharton and serves on the School’s Board of Overseers. Mrs. Turner received a BS in entrepreneurial management at Wharton. Together, they established the Turner Endowed Scholarship for minority Wharton undergraduate students from Los Angeles and other urban areas. Mr. Turner is responsible for launching several groundbreaking impact investing funds over the past two decades, including partnerships with Andre Agassi (focusing on the development of learning friendly, environmentally responsible charter school facilities) and with Earvin “Magic” Johnson (focusing on inner-city and urban real estate development). He is the CEO of Turner Impact Capital, LLC (Turner), one of the nation’s largest and fastest-growing social impact investment firms, positioned to invest up to $3 billion in real estate solutions to address daunting societal challenges across the U.S. Mr. Turner has been at the forefront of discussions on leveraging social impact investment to promote racial justice and community-building, and to improve healthcare outcomes and reduce disparities.

Provost Wendell Pritchett announced the appointment of Dawn Bonnell as senior vice provost for research. Dr. Bonnell, Henry Robinson Towne Professor in the School of Engineering & Applied Science, was appointed vice provost for research in 2013 and reappointed in 2017. 

“Dawn Bonnell has been an extraordinary leader of our research enterprise at Penn, especially during the challenges of the past year,” said Provost Pritchett. “She has guided our community in safely winding down research and then thoughtfully restarting it. At the same time, she has been an invaluable partner across our student and faculty portfolios, and she has never lost sight of our mission to further the global impact of Penn’s research, which is now helping the world address COVID-19. As vice provost for research, she has led our highly successful initiatives to advance innovation and diversify the University’s research portfolio—forging strong partnerships with industry, identifying the most exciting areas of emerging research, and encouraging startups and spinouts that can bring Penn research to a wide public audience. These efforts are embodied in our new Penn Center for Innovation, Pennovation Center, and Pennovation Works, which have become engines of innovation and entrepreneurial growth across our entire region. I greatly appreciate her deep experience and sage advice, which will benefit the entire University in the complex years ahead.” 

As senior vice provost for research, Dr. Bonnell develops and implements policies that promote research excellence across the University; manages key elements of the University’s research infrastructure, including grant administration and research compliance; and guides the strategic efforts of the University in advancing research commercialization. She also serves as a champion for the research enterprise at Penn, leading research collaborations across Schools, exploring new areas for research, and representing Penn to local, regional, and national constituencies. 

Carmen Maria Machado has been named Abrams Artist-In-Residence in the Penn Arts & Sciences Center for Programs in Contemporary Writing. Artists-in-residence are outstanding visual artists, musicians, writers, and other creative practitioners who work with students and faculty. Ms. Machado is the author of the bestselling memoir In the Dream House and the award-winning short story collection Her Body and Other Parties. She has been a finalist for the National Book Award and the winner of the Bard Fiction Prize, the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction, the Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ Nonfiction, the Brooklyn Public Library Literature Prize, the Shirley Jackson Award, and the National Book Critics Circle’s John Leonard Prize. Her essays, fiction, and criticism have appeared in the New Yorker, The New York Times, Granta, Vogue, This American Life, Harper’s Bazaar, Tin House, McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern, The Believer, Guernica, Best American Science Fiction & Fantasy, Best American Nonrequired Reading, and elsewhere. She holds an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and has been awarded fellowships and residencies from the Guggenheim Foundation, Yaddo, Hedgebrook, and the Millay Colony for the Arts.

David C. Abrams (C’83, PAR’12, PAR’15) and Amy L. Abrams (PAR’12, PAR’15) established the Abrams Artists-in-Residence Fund at Penn Arts & Sciences in 2018. Mr. Abrams is managing partner of Abrams Capital, LLC, an investment firm. He served as a Penn Arts & Sciences Overseer from 2010 until this year. The Abrams family has generously supported Penn Arts & Sciences priorities over the years.

September 19, 2020

Friday we lost one of the most respected, and most beloved, jurists of our time. A brilliant and barrier-breaking leader, Ruth Bader Ginsburg brought forth her fiery commitment to justice and equality with the truest grit possible. No one has ever worked more tirelessly and effectively to advance the equal status of women through the law. At the same time, Justice Ginsburg championed the ethical principles of equal liberty and human rights, advancing the cause of justice everywhere. Her quiet passion and relentless work broke through political as well as legal barriers previously unimaginable, but always warranted, including equal pay for equal work.

Justice Ginsburg was a pioneer and an inspiration. It was my honor to award her an honorary degree from Penn in 2007 (Almanac March 13, 2007), and just two years ago to have her back on campus at Penn Law to celebrate her 25 years on the Supreme Court. In response to a student’s question, Justice Ginsburg explained why it was that young people gave her optimism for the future. “It’s in your hands to see which way our country goes,” Justice Ginsburg said. Her greatest legacy is to inspire us all to continue breaking down barriers to equal justice.

—Amy Gutmann, President

The ad hoc Consultative Committee for the Selection of a Dean of the Wharton School was convened by President Amy Gutmann and Provost Wendell Pritchett on August 28, 2019. During its three months of work, the full Committee met on nine occasions and reported its recommendations to the President on December 10, 2019. The Committee members were:

Chair

J. Larry Jameson, Executive Vice President of the University for the Health System, Dean of the Perelman School of Medicine, and Robert G. Dunlop Professor of Medicine (PSOM)

Faculty

Gérard Cachon, Fred R. Sullivan Professor; Professor of Operations, Information and Decisions; Professor of Marketing; Vice Dean of Teaching and Strategic Initiatives (Wharton)

Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Professor of Population Health and Health Equity (PSOM, Nursing and Wharton)

Daniel A. Levinthal, Reginald H. Jones Professor of Corporate Strategy, Professor of Management (Wharton)

Michael R. Roberts, William H. Lawrence Professor, Professor of Finance (Wharton)

Nancy Rothbard, David Pottruck Professor, Professor of Management, and Chair, Management Department (Wharton)

Lisa Servon, Kevin and Erica Penn Presidential Professor, Professor of City and Regional Planning, and Chair, City and Regional Planning Department (Design)

Philip E. Tetlock, Leonore Annenberg University Professor in Democracy and Citizenship, Professor of Management, Professor of Psychology (SAS and Wharton)

Students

Maggie Browdy (W’21)

Anisha Mocherla (WG’20)

Alumni

Bonnie Bandeen (C’80, WG’85), University Trustee and Wharton Overseer

Marc Rowan (W’84, WG’85), University Trustee and Chair of the Wharton Board of Overseers

Ex Officio

Joann Mitchell, Senior Vice President for Institutional Affairs and Chief Diversity Officer

The search was supported by Adam P. Michaels, Assistant Vice President and Deputy Chief of Staff in the President’s Office, Seth Zweifler, Assistant to the Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff in the President’s Office, and Kenneth L. Kring and Vickie Antolini of the executive search firm Korn Ferry.

The Committee and its consultants conducted informational interviews and consultative meetings with individuals and groups throughout the Penn and Wharton communities, as well as many informal contacts, in order to better understand the scope, expectations, and challenges of the Dean’s position and the opportunities facing the University in the years ahead. These consultative activities included full Committee meetings with former Dean Geoffrey Garrett and members of the Wharton leadership team. In addition, the Chair and the Committee members held open meetings for faculty, staff, and students. The consultants interviewed administrators from the central administration and from Wharton and sought nominations from academics and practitioners across the nation and the world as well as from leaders in business, government, foundations, academic societies, and other organizations. Finally, members of the Committee engaged in extensive networking with Penn faculty and students, as well as colleagues at other institutions.  The Committee also solicited advice and nominations from all Wharton faculty, Deans, and senior administrators via email and reviewed a variety of documents about the school.

Based upon these conversations and materials, the Committee’s charge from the President, and the Committee’s own discussions, a comprehensive document was prepared outlining the scope of the position and the challenges a new Dean will face, as well as the qualities sought in a new Dean.  The vacancy was announced (and input invited from the entire Penn community) in Almanac.

Over the course of its three-month search process, the Committee and its consultants contacted and considered more than 300 individuals for the position. From this group, the Committee evaluated an initial pool of 39 nominees and applicants. The Committee then interviewed a group of 10 semi-finalists that included six men, four women, one African-American, and one Latino. The four individuals recommended for consideration to the President included two men, two women, and one person of color.

On February 26, 2020, President Gutmann and Provost Wendell Pritchett announced the selection of Dr. Erika James as Dean of the Wharton School. Dr. James previously served as Dean of the Goizueta Business School at Emory University. She is an award-winning scholar and teacher and a strong, proven leader deeply committed to meaningful cross-disciplinary collaboration, superb scholarship, passionate teaching, and excellence through diversity and inclusion. Dr. James assumed her new office on July 1, 2020.

Penn Vet recently announced that it has created and received approval for two dual degree programs, one with SP2 and one with SAS: the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (VMD)–Master of Social Work (MSW) and the VMD–Master of Environmental Studies (MES), will prepare future, multidisciplinary veterinarians to assume leadership roles within the environmental, social services, and public health sectors.

“Veterinarians have always played important roles in public health, human health, and welfare. Current events have only underscored the importance of our profession in interprofessional efforts to tackle these complex health challenges,” said Jennifer Punt, associate dean for One Health and professor of immunology. “Our new dual degrees join the visionary VMD-PhD, VMD-MPH, and VMD-MBA programs, and they reflect the novel need for veterinarians to engage in interdisciplinary problem solving at the critical juncture of human health, environmental health, and animal health and welfare.”

Veterinarians Trained as Human Healthcare and Social Service Providers

The training of veterinarians in human healthcare and social services, which Penn Vet deems One Health in Practice, is a new, nascent approach to achieve healthcare equity and access for vulnerable or underserved human populations. Veterinarians can be—or, in some cases are—the conduit to a wide range of human healthcare and social services. The VMD-MSW dual degree prepares students for the growing field of veterinary social work that supports the needs of humans that take care of animals of all kinds.

Veterinarians are uniquely privileged healthcare practitioners, interacting closely with both animal patients and their human clients through the veterinary-client-patient relationship. These interactions offer numerous rewards, but the medical and financial complexity of patient cases can engender situations that are emotionally challenging for caregivers of animals, as well as for the veterinarians that serve them. Training in social work enables veterinary medical professionals to better navigate human wellness triggers—such as emotional stress brought on by bereavement—and provide the needed support to clients or colleagues. Rural veterinarians and NGO veterinarians on the other hand, often working within underserved agricultural communities, can identify and facilitate healthcare access for farming clients, their families, or for migratory workers.

This unique, animal-human centric degree can be completed in less than six years, with a total of up to eight, cross-counted courses that fulfill requisites from both Penn Vet and SP2. VMD-MSW candidates will complete a field assignment at an animal-oriented or human healthcare institution whose scope includes social work.

“It has been no clearer than right now how essential the skills that both veterinarians and social workers provide during a crisis, and during the most vulnerable moments of individuals and animals,” said SP2 Dean Sara S. Bachman. “Combining these two professions and areas of expertise will not only prepare future change agents to understand the complex, parallel relationships between humans and their pets, but will also save lives. I so look forward to witnessing the imitable influence this collaboration will have on its students and budding practitioners, as well as the comfort, safety, and relief they will go on to provide for so many.”

“We are thrilled to participate in this interdisciplinary endeavor—one that, through rigorous training in classes and field education, will enhance understanding of human and animal interconnectedness and inform services and policies that support human and animal health in the current context and for years to come,” said Malitta Engstrom, SP2 associate professor and MSW program faculty director.

Veterinarians and Their Future Role in Environmental Sciences, One Health

Wildlife habitat and biodiversity, domestic animals, food production, humans, and the environment, are all inextricably linked through One Health. As evidenced by COVID-19, compromised environmental health is often a contributing factor to the spillover of viruses or other pathogens from animals to humans. Toxic minerals, chemicals, soil destruction, and climate change, erode the health of natural habitats for animal populations, and disproportionally impact vulnerable human populations.

The VMD-MES degree prepares veterinarians with a deeper understanding of the environmental context and related human dimension that drives animal population health. Graduates are well-qualified, for example, to pursue careers in regenerative and resilient agro-food production systems; the conservation of aquatic ecosystems; the management of free-ranging wildlife; and the development of environmental policy at the interface between urban and rural environments.

Designed to be completed in five years, the VMD-MES degree fulfills academic requirements from both Penn Vet and the School of Arts and Sciences. Students will select an independent capstone project related to veterinary medicine and the environment. MES Program Director Yvette Bordeaux notes the dual degree program is the natural next step in the evolution of the One Health perspective at Penn. 

“At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, veterinarians were aptly designated life-sustaining professionals given their role in prevention and treatment of life-threatening animal diseases, surveillance and mitigation of domestic or foreign animal diseases, and education of the public,” said Andrew M. Hoffman, Gilbert S. Kahn Dean of Veterinary Medicine. “This current health crisis has also sharply illuminated veterinarians’ broader role in pandemic prevention and preparedness as well as disaster management. What we do, and how compassionately we do it, is relevant now more than ever before. Penn Vet’s new dual degrees are preparing a generation of leaders amongst veterinarians that will prevent the next zoonotic pandemic, and bridge animal and human health in the next humanitarian crisis—and for the disruption that will inevitably emerge. There is no better place to prepare that generation than here at Penn where the close-knit geography of 12 schools, including five health schools, is leveraged for innovation, inclusion, and impact. We could not be more grateful to our academic partners at the School of Social Policy & Practice and at the School of Arts and Sciences, for making these two new interdisciplinary dual degrees happen.”

As part of a new agreement championed by Penn Libraries, all K-12 schools in the School District of Philadelphia will be given access to digital primary sources hosted by Adam Matthew Digital at no cost to the schools themselves. The agreement will allow teachers across all age ranges and subject areas to integrate primary sources into their students’ course of study.

The agreement is part of a larger access deal between Adam Matthew Digital and the Pennsylvania Academic Library Consortium Inc. (PALCI), a membership organization that builds access to shared library collections and resources through collaboration among academic and research libraries in Pennsylvania and neighboring states. 

The deal will provide member institutions with complete access to the publisher’s range of primary source collections published through the end of 2018. From American History, 1493-1945 to Gender: Identity and Social Change, and Age of Exploration to Victorian Popular Culture, all PALCI member libraries, in addition to the School District of Philadelphia, will gain full access to nearly 100 individual products and millions of pages of primary source content.

Brigitte Weinsteiger, associate vice provost for collections and scholarly communications at the Penn Libraries, had previously invested in purchasing the Adam Matthew Digital collections for Penn faculty, staff, and students and served as a strong advocate in bringing these valuable materials to all PALCI members and the School District of Philadelphia. She noted that the agreement will bring “rich primary source collections, in a convenient, searchable digital format, to enhance student learning across the School District of Philadelphia and fuel faculty research at the many diverse institutions across the consortium.”

These new digital collections complement the Penn Libraries’ ongoing efforts to support teaching and learning in the Philadelphia community. “Our mission guides us to extend our reach beyond the University and make an impact on our local, national, and global communities,” said Constantia Constantinou, H. Carton Rogers III Vice Provost and Director of the Penn Libraries. “Our work includes partnering locally with organizations like the School District of Philadelphia to produce, preserve, and provide access to knowledge.” In this vein, the Penn Libraries’ community engagement program plays a central part in an established, multi-step process to reinvigorate libraries throughout the School District of Philadelphia, and many of the Penn Libraries’ digitized collections are made available to educators free of charge.

“Recent events have shown us all the value of providing high-quality digital content and the real impact it can have in supporting both in-person and e-learning across all ages and levels,” said Ben Cartwright, executive director of North American Sales at Adam Matthew Digital. “We are especially excited about the positive impact this deal will have on students across Philadelphia-area K-12 schools. The study of history and the social sciences provides so many important life skills, particularly around critical thinking, which we hope many will continue to build throughout their college careers and beyond.”

K-12 educators in the PSD can register at https://www.amdigital.co.uk/philadelphia-schools-access for free access to all Adam Matthew Digital products published through 2018.

Renée C. Fox, the Annenberg Professor Emerita of the Social Sciences, Emerita Senior Fellow of the Center for Bioethics and Professor Emerita of Sociology, died September 23, at the age of 92. 

Graveside Services will be held on Tuesday, September 29 at 2 p.m., Sts. Peter and Paul Cemetery, 1600 Sproul Rd. Springfield, PA 19064. To join her Service via Zoom, please visit www.goldsteinsfuneral.com.

Contributions in her memory may be made to the Trustees of the University of PA for the Endowment of the Renee C. Fox Lectureship in Medicine, Culture and Society

A full obituary will be published next week.

Daniel J. (Dan) McCollum, Jr., former director of resource planning and analysis at the Perelman School of Medicine, died September 12. He was 73.

Mr. McCollum joined Penn in 1973 as an accountant in the Comptroller’s Office. He went on to hold positions at Wharton and Penn Dental, before moving to the Perelman School of Medicine in 2000 to become director of resource planning and analysis. He remained in that position until his retirement in 2014.  

He is survived by his wife, Jeannine; children, Kristina and Daniel; grandchildren, Joseph F. Burleigh, Danielle Dagostino (Layne), and Kailee McCollum; and great-grandchildren, Benjiman and Meadow; sisters, Deborah Pollitt (Edward) and Leslie (Rick Emilson); brothers, Jeffrey and Peter; and many nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Maria Delivoria-Papadopoulos, emeritus professor of pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, director of newborn services at HUP for 21 years, and a pioneer in neonatal and pediatric medicine, died September 11 from endometrial cancer. She was 89.

Dr. Delivoria-Papadopoulos is known for making significant and lasting contributions to the health of the world’s children. Her work included studying the mechanisms of brain damage in infants and finding therapeutic interventions for extremely ill premature infants.

She is perhaps best known for performing the world’s first successful ventilation treatment for premature infants in North America. She received continuous funding from the National Institutes of Health for decades for her research. 

Dr. Delivoria-Papadopoulos was born in Athens, Greece, and graduated from Athens University’s School of Medicine in 1957 and afterward came to the United States for a post-doctorate degree in physiology at the University of Pennsylvania. She joined the faculty at Penn in 1967 as an instructor in pediatrics. She became an assistant professor in physiology and pediatrics a few years later, moving up to associate professor and then, in 1976, full professor of pediatrics, physiology, and OB/Gyn. She also served as the director of Newborn Services and the Intensive Care Nursery at HUP (Almanac March 4, 1986) from 1974 to 1996. She served as associate dean for International Medical Programs, and she was also an associate physician at CHOP. She retired in 1996 and earned emeritus status. 

That same year, Dr. Delivoria-Papadopoulos was appointed chief of the division of neonatal-perinatal medicine and medical director of the NICU at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children. Dr. Delivoria-Papadopouls was also a professor of pediatrics and physiology at Drexel University College of Medicine.

Dr. Delivoria-Papadopoulos received numerous awards throughout her career and after her retirement, including the American Academy of Pediatrics Lifetime Achievement Award, induction into the Neonatology Hall of Fame as a Legend in Neonatology (Almanac April 10, 2007), and the Virginia Apgar Award in Perinatal Pediatrics from the American Academy of Pediatrics. Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine’s Children’s Center NICN established the Maria Delivoria-Papadopoulos Prize for Research in Neonatal Neuroscience (Almanac November 26, 2013). She received Penn’s prestigious Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching (Almanac May 29, 1973) and the Leonard Berwick Memorial Teaching Award from Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine (Almanac April 20, 1993). She also received The President’s Achievement Award from the Society for Gynecologic Investigation and the Mentor of the Year Award from the Eastern Society for Pediatric Research. She was honored with the Ralph Brenner Endowed Chair in Pediatrics at St. Christopher’s Hospital and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Castle Connolly Medical Foundation. Her work was published in top-tier journals including The New England Journal of Medicine, Science, The Journal of the American Medical Association, and The Journal of Clinical Investigation.

John Zupancic, an associate professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and associate chief of neonatology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, wrote that Dr. Delivoria-Papadopoulos was “an extraordinary woman whose pioneering contributions, including the demonstration of the feasibility of neonatal mechanical ventilation, changed the lives of countless newborns.”

Dr. Delivoria is survived by her sons, James Patterson and Chris Patterson; and grandson, Christos Patterson.

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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

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

At the University of Pennsylvania Trustees’ Fall (virtual) Stated Meeting of the Executive Committee on September 24, Chair David L. Cohen commended Penn’s faculty, staff, and students along with President Amy Gutmann for the hard work that has been done during these unprecedented times to create an excellent environment while navigating COVID-19 and speaking out against racial inequities.  

President Gutmann presented the resolution, which the Trustees passed, to appoint Penn’s Chaplain Charles (Chaz) L. Howard as Vice President for Social Equity and Community (Almanac June 30, 2020).

Provost Wendell Pritchett said that there will be Zoom Open Houses for the cultural houses at Penn. 

EVP Craig Carnaroli gave the financial report for the year ended June 30, 2020, and noted that the Consolidated University’s net assets were $19.6 billion, an increase of $141 million, or 0.7% over the prior year but 1.8% below budget. Total investments were $16.9 billion, of which the endowment comprised approximately $14.9 billion. In the Academic Component, the Capital expenditures totaled $343 million; notable projects include construction of the New College House West, Wharton Academic Research Building and Substation, and Venture Lab at Tangen Hall, as well as renovations to the Du Bois College House and Franklin Field. The Health System’s operating income was materially impacted by the suspension of non-emergent procedures from March 15 through May 4. Adjusted admissions were 6% below prior year. Capital expenditures totaled $1.1 billion, 8.2%, above prior year, primarily driven by the level of construction on the New Patient Pavilion, Radnor, and Chester County projects.

PSOM Dean and EVP of the Health System Larry Jameson gave the Penn Medicine report in which he said that the University is learning to coexist with COVID-19, using tools such as PennOpen Pass. Penn Medicine has tested more than 13,000 members of the Penn community, more than half of those were Penn students. Clinical activity is now back to the pre-COVID level. PSOM is instituting unconscious bias training. The Health System is taking steps to secure the future of Mercy Hospital.

Dhan Pai, chair of the Budget & Finance Committee, said that based on the presentations they had heard at their meeting earlier that day, the University was expecting a substantial deficit for FY2021, somewhere in the range of $85-$110 million. He then presented these five resolutions for approval, all of which were approved:

• Amending tuition, fees, and other student charges and financial aid for fall 2020
• Authorizing Laboratory for Research on the Structure of Matter HVAC and other utility infrastructure Upgrades, $42,493,000 
• Approving the transaction related to the transformation of the Mercy Catholic Medical Center–Philadelphia campus at 501 South 54th Street, up to $30 million
• Authorizing Biotech Commons Renovations in the Johnson Pavilion and Stemmler Hall, $11,500,000
• Authorizing New Data Science Building design development and Mass Timber pre-construction services, $5,700,000 

Also approved were resolutions of appointments to overseer and other boards. 

The next Trustees meetings will be held virtually November 12-13. 

Ishmail Abdus-Saboor, Mitchell J. Blutt and Margo Krody Blutt Presidential Assistant Professor of Biology, has been named a member of the 2020 class of Award in Pain Scholars by the Rita Allen Foundation. The award celebrates four early-career leaders in the biomedical sciences whose research holds exceptional promise for revealing new pathways to understand and treat chronic pain.

The selected scholars will receive grants of $50,000 annually for up to three years to conduct innovative research on critical topics on the biological mechanisms of pain—including how the nervous system distinguishes between soft and harsh stimuli, what role the immune system plays in chronic pain, and what makes individuals at risk for chronic pain after a traumatic injury. 

“My research focuses on a long-standing question—how does the nervous system encode a soft gentle caress versus a harsh painful stimulation?” said Dr. Abdus-Saboor. “I use neurobiology, computational biology, and mathematics to objectively measure pain.”

Jennifer Garcon, digital scholarship librarian at the Penn Libraries, has been appointed co-faculty for the Council on Library and Information Resources’ (CLIR) Postdoctoral Fellowship Program. The program offers recent PhD graduates the chance to develop research tools, resources, and services while exploring new career opportunities. Fellows work on projects that forge and strengthen connections among collections, educational technologies, and current research. Dr. Garcon was a 2018 CLIR Bollinger Fellow in Public and Community Data Curation. She works to develop sustainable models and scalable infrastructures for the care of digital special collections. She also helps establish and maintain partnerships and collaborations with the intent to create new knowledge and preserve historical materials produced and published beyond the academy.

Golnaz Vahedi, an assistant professor of genetics in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, has received the Investigators in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease (PATH) award from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, an independent foundation based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, dedicated to advancing the biomedical sciences. Dr. Vahedi is one of nine recipients selected from 157 nominees nationwide.

Under the grant, Dr. Vahedi will work to uncover how lentiviruses change the linear and three-dimensional organization of the host genome, findings which could pave the way to understand how HIV persistence occurs.

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) has dramatically reduced morbidity and mortality for people living with HIV by effectively suppressing viral replication to undetectable levels in plasma. However, ART does not eradicate HIV. The major obstacle to cure HIV is that the virus establishes stable reservoirs of persistently-infected cells. Exactly how HIV can evade immune surveillance remains poorly understood.

Dr. Vahedi and her laboratory will seek to devise novel epigenetic technologies to decipher how lentiviruses such as HIV hijack the 3D genome architecture of host cells.

PATH provides $500,000 over a period of five years. The awards are intended to give recipients the freedom and flexibility to pursue new avenues of inquiry, stimulating higher risk research projects that hold potential for significantly advancing understanding of how infectious diseases work and how health is maintained.

The Penn Libraries has been accepted as a member of the National Digital Stewardship Alliance (NDSA), a consortium of organizations committed to the long-term preservation of digital information. Rachel Appel, Penn Libraries’ digital preservation librarian, will serve on the NDSA Infrastructure Interest Group. The NDSA’s membership of over 250 organizations includes universities, government and non-profit organizations, commercial businesses, and professional associations. Its institutional home is the Digital Library Federation at the Council on Library and Information Resources.

Penn Medicine’s six hospitals have been named 2020 LGBTQ Healthcare Equality Leaders by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation, the educational arm of the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer civil rights organization.  

The designation was awarded in the recently released 13th edition of the Human Rights Campaign’s Healthcare Equality Index (HEI). The index is the national LGBTQ benchmarking tool that evaluates healthcare facilities’ policies and practices related to the equity and inclusion of their LGBTQ patients, visitors, and employees.

This year, healthcare institutions were given a score based on four criteria: foundational elements of LGBTQ patient-centered care, patient services and support, employee benefits and policies, and patient and community engagement. In addition, participants needed to demonstrate that they offered transgender-inclusive healthcare benefits to their employees, in order to receive a score of 100 points and earn the foundation’s Leader in LGBTQ Healthcare Equality designation.

Chester County Hospital, Lancaster General Health, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Pennsylvania Hospital, and Princeton Health—all Penn Medicine–affiliated hospitals—were named Leaders in Healthcare Equality.

The Penn Medicine Program for LGBT Health was highlighted in the Healthcare Equality Index 2020 Report as an example of an externally facing initiative specifically aimed at addressing the unique needs of LGBTQ patients. The health system was the first academic medical center in the Northeast—and among only a handful of medical centers in the country—to launch such a program across multiple professional schools and affiliated hospitals to improve the health of LGBTQ individuals. Since its creation in 2013, the Penn Medicine’s program has focused on promoting an LGBTQ-inclusive climate, providing professional development for LGBTQ employees, increasing LGBTQ participation in Penn research initiatives, and improving patient and family-centered care for LGBTQ patients.

The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) recently announced the 2020 Professional and Student Award winners, which included three projects by Weitzman students and three projects by Weitzman faculty. The ASLA Awards are internationally considered to be among the most prestigious in the field.

Professional Awards

• Award of Excellence (Urban Design Category)

Dilworth Park; OLIN; Laurie D. Olin, practice professor emeritus of landscape architecture, and Lucinda R. Sanders, adjunct professor of landscape architecture

• Honor Award (Analysis and Planning Category)

Fantasy Island: The Galapágos Archipelago; PEG office of landscape + architecture; Karen M’Closkey, associate professor of landscape architecture, and Keith VanDerSys, senior lecturer in landscape architecture

• Honor Award (Analysis and Planning Category)

Sensitive Structures: A Landscape Approach for Great Lakes Coasts; Healthy Port Futures; Sean Burkholder, The Andrew Gordon Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture

Student Awards

• Award of Excellence (Student Collaboration Category)

Designing a Green New Deal: Leila Bahrami; Chelsea Beroza; Allison Carr; Yvette Chen; Zachery Hammaker, ASLA; Sara Harmon; Tiffany Hudson; Katie Lample; John Michael LaSalle; Rob Levinthal; Katharine Pitstick, ASLA; Joshua Reaves; Will Smith; Jesse Weiss; Rosa Zedek, Student ASLA; Faculty Advisor: Billy Fleming, Wilks Family Director, The Ian L. McHarg Center for Urbanism and Ecology

• Honor Award (Urban Design Category)

Eco-Agro-Urbanism: Envisioning a Productive Urban Future for Villa Nueva, Guatemala; Xu Han; Zihan Zhu, Student ASLA; Xiaofan Wu, Student ASLA; Faculty Advisor: David Gouverneur, associate professor of practice of landscape architecture

• Honor Award (Student Collaboration Category)

Lehigh Valley Catalyst: Reconnecting Communities to the Lehigh River’s History and Ecology; Melita Schmeckpeper; Shengyuan Zheng, Student ASLA; Shuyang Wang; Xiaofan Wu, Student ASLA; Margarida Gomes Mota; Lucy Whitacre; Josh Ketchum; Elisavet Kiretsi; Cari Krol, Student ASLA; A. L. McCullough, Student ASLA; Farre Nixon; Linghui Liao; Faculty Advisor: Ellen Neises, adjunct associate professor of landscape architecture and executive director of PennPraxis

(Statistics for 2017-2018-2019)

The federal Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, as amended, requires colleges and universities to provide information related to security policies and procedures and specific statistics for criminal incidents, arrests and disciplinary referrals to students and employees, and to make the information and statistics available to prospective students and employees upon request. Federal law also requires institutions with on-campus housing to share an annual fire report with the campus community.

In addition, the Uniform Crime Reporting Act requires Pennsylvania colleges and universities to provide information related to security policies and procedures to students, employees and applicants; to provide certain crime statistics to students and employees; and to make those statistics available to applicants and prospective employees upon request.

To review the University’s most recent annual report containing this information, please visit https://www.publicsafety.upenn.edu/ASR/2020_ASR_PENN.pdf

You may request a paper copy of the report by calling the Office of the Vice President for Public Safety at (215) 898-7515 or by emailing vp@publicsafety.upenn.edu.

Download the October AT PENN calendar as a PDF or visit the online version at https://almanac.upenn.edu/at-penn-calendar/october-at-penn-2020

Conferences

30    Cancer and COVID-19; CME-accredited conference featuring keynote speech from Anthony Fauci; 5:45-8:45 p.m.; virtual event; register: https://www.med.upenn.edu/MEDCOVID19/ (Abramson Cancer Center).

Talks

30    Using Market Design to Improve the Provision of Sanitation; JF Houde, University of Wisconsin-Madison; 3:30 p.m.; Zoom meeting; info: https://economics.sas.upenn.edu/events/using-market-design-improve-provision-sanitation (Economics).

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AT PENN Deadlines

The October AT PENN calendar is now online. The deadline for the November AT PENN deadline is October 12.

The Penn Professional Staff Assembly (PPSA) and the Penn Weekly-Paid Professional Staff Assembly (WPPSA) invite all Penn staff and faculty to visit the 2020 Virtual Employee Resource Fair, which will be held all day on Thursday, October 8, and Friday, October 9, 2020. The Fair aims to provide easy access to information on the vast and varied campus resources and services available to staff and faculty. Each organization, including those from within Penn and from the community, will provide descriptions of the goods and services they offer to Penn staff and faculty, and several will host “live” sessions in which you can speak directly with representatives. A full schedule will soon be available at https://ppsa.upenn.edu/. In addition, all faculty and staff visitors can enter a drawing for valuable “door prizes.”

I CARE is an interactive gatekeeper training for students, faculty, and staff that builds a caring community with the skills and resources to intervene with student stress, distress, and crisis.

We are excited to announce that I CARE has gone virtual! We will be hosting our first virtual training for faculty/staff October 22, 10 a.m.-1:15 p.m. Faculty and staff can register now at https://caps.wellness.upenn.edu/icare/.

Training includes:  

• Tips for identifying and understanding stress, distress, and crisis
• Insight into cultural considerations and mental health
• A guide to assessing mental health crises and suicidal ideation
• An introduction to effective listening and intervention skills
• A review of CAPS services

Once you register, you will receive a confirmation page, as well as reminders, with information regarding Zoom.

1. Approximately 4,000 faculty, staff, and students across Penn’s schools, departments, and student life programs have gone through I CARE. The training is open to anyone interested in being an informed resource and a caring community member.
2. A team of CAPS’ clinicians design, facilitate, and assess the I CARE training.
3. I CARE includes information, discussion, and experiential exercises that focus on:
   • Mental health beliefs and biases
   • Signs of stress, distress, and crisis
   • Listening techniques
   • Crisis intervention skills
   • CAPS services

If you have any questions regarding I CARE, please reach out to Dr. Batsirai Bvunzawabaya, director of outreach and prevention services, at batsirai@upenn.edu.

—Counseling and Psychological Services

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 September 14-20, 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 September 14-20, 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

18th District

Below are the Crimes Against Persons from the 18th District: 6 crimes against persons (3 robberies, 2 aggravated assaults and 1 assault) with 2 arrests were reported for September 14-20, 2020 by the 18th District, covering the Schuylkill River to 49th Street & Market Street to Woodland Avenue.

Leading up to Election Day on Tuesday, November 3, Almanac will run a bi-weekly FactCheck.org roundup. Here are some of the latest stories:

Trump’s False Statement About Counting Ballots in Pennsylvania (September 22, 2020). At a rally in North Carolina, President Donald Trump falsely claimed that a Pennsylvania court had permitted election officials “to take as long as they want” to count mail-in ballots.

Biden’s Early Statements About the Coronavirus (September 21, 2020). President Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden have made competing claims about Biden’s earlystatements on the coronavirus.

Trump Again Overstates Speed of COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout (September 18, 2020). Contradicting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director and other government officials, President Trump incorrectly said in a press briefing that a coronavirus vaccine would be “immediately” available to the general public after an authorization.

Report Resurrects Baseless Claim that Coronavirus Was Bioengineered (September 17, 2020). A paper that has not been peer-reviewed reaches faulty conclusions to advance the unsubstantiated claim that the novel coronavirus was bioengineered in a Chinese lab, according to immunology and microbiology experts. The paper’s claims were amplified by Fox News.

DSCC Falsely Attacks Daines on Social Security (September 16, 2020) In a TV ad, a Democratic committee falsely claims Sen. Steve Daines of Montana is “pushing a plan” that could “end Social Security benefits by 2023.”

Trump Bucks Climate Science in Wildfire Briefing (September 15, 2020). In a briefing on the barrage of wildfires burning in the West, President Trump baselessly claimed “it’ll start getting cooler,” adding that he didn’t think “science knows” whether or not temperatures would increase in the future. Scientists are very confident that global average temperatures will continue to rise.

Trump Spins Quotes by/About Biden (September 14, 2020). In campaign rallies in Nevada, President Trump twisted remarks made by Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and gave a disputed description of comments by Biden’s former chief of staff.

Biden’s False Attacks on Trump’s Social Security ‘Plan’ (September 11, 2020). A Biden campaign TV ad falsely claims that a government analysis of President Trump’s “planned cuts to Social Security” shows that “if Trump gets his way, Social Security benefits will run out in just three years from now.”

Dear Penn Community,

Thank you for your spirit of volunteerism particularly during these challenging times. We have had to move to a virtual program, but our determination to serve continues. The University community continues to be in a position to be good neighbors in our shared community. We thank you for your overwhelming support and for your generosity.

Please take a look at the following list of volunteer activities. Let us help you volunteer! Contact Isabel Mapp at sammapp@upenn.edu to for more information.

Become a Mentor in the Penn Workplace Virtual Mentoring Program

Encourage 7th graders from a local school to do well in school. Talk to them about the importance of college.

Share your area of expertise in your job with them and help them to think about their futures.  Make a difference in the life of a young person!

Mentors will meet with students once a month via Zoom October-May. All sessions will be held virtually. There will be a general session and a smaller break-out session.

Volunteer today! Contact Isabel Mapp at sammapp@upenn.edu for additional information.

Penn Adopts A Classroom/School (Virtually)

An exciting opportunity for you and your colleagues to “adopt” a Philadelphia school or classroom, and help with needed supplies.

We have developed a program to make donations virtually. Provide needed classroom items like:

• Bluelight Glasses
• Document Cameras
• Small Microphones to be used in class; in person
• Clorox Wipes
• Lysol
• Boxes of Tissue 
• Earbuds/Headphones
• Calculators
• Crayons
• Pencils
• Highlighters 
• Composition Books
• Pens
• Folders
• Glue Sticks
• Small White Boards/Dry Erase Boards
• Clipboards
• Rulers
• Chart Pads

Work with classrooms involved in Community Schools operated by the Netter Center for Community Partnerships. Schools include Lea,  Sayre, West, Comegys, and more. You would have the opportunity to select the age group you prefer. A wish-list will be provided.

You and your colleagues can work together to provide the supplies.

Purchase items online using services like Amazon; send items directly to the school. Please provide items on or before October 10.

Teach at the University Assisted Community School (UACS Nights)

Program now being done virtually using Zoom.

Have a special talent? Want to teach it to members of the surrounding community?

Our exciting program called University Assisted Community Schools Nights continues virtually.

Teach adult learners your expertise. Teach resume writing, interviewing skills, computers, employment prep, dance, hair braiding, cooking, and/or a subject you are passionate about.  Teach once a week for a one or two hour period for four to six weeks.

We also welcome classes that can be taught in one session.

Classes are normally held 6-8 p.m.

Become a Dropsite Volunteer

Program now being done virtually. Although Dropsite volunteers are located throughout the University and provide the site for collections during our annual school, food, gift and change drives, they now maintain a list of agencies donations can be sent to directly.

All that is required is for you to agree to be placed on the Dropsite list, help advertise the various drives to your colleagues, and provide the information for the various agencies the donations will go to. You will be provided with the list. There are only approximately 3-4 activities per year.

Donors will mail their items directly to the agency utilizing services like Amazon.

Leftover Conference Bags, T-shirts, Pens, etc.?

Donate them to Penn VIPS. We will share them with school children and members of the community.

Items can be sent via Penn mail to the Netter Center, St. Leonard’s Court. 3819-33 Chestnut Street, Suite 120, Mail Code 3171

November/December Preview

Please join us for our virtual Food and Toy Drive. Order items online to be sent directly to shelters, food pantries, and agencies.

Join us for our Adopt A Family for the holidays. You will receive a wish list, items can be purchased online to be sent directly to families.

Franklin Field opened for free recreational use in a limited capacity on Wednesday, September 23. Open recreation activities include use of assigned track lanes and conditioning on the artificial turf in assigned quadrants. A complimentary Franklin Field Membership plan and timed reservations are required for use. Please note there are changes in the hours of operation and policies and procedures in response to COVID-19. For more details or to sign up for the Penn Campus Recreation Franklin Field Membership plan click here. All policies and procedures will be strictly enforced.

Franklin Field Open Recreation Information:

Location

233 South 33rd Street
Entrance is located in the driveway between Weightman Hall & Dunning Coaches’ Center

Hours of Operation

By reservation only.

• Monday-Friday: 7 a.m.-9 a.m., 11 a.m.-2 p.m., 4-7 p.m.
• 45-minute sessions on the hour with 15 minutes in between sessions to clear turf, track, and stadium
• Saturday and Sunday: Closed

Eligible Users

• All graduate students with a valid PennCard
• University of Pennsylvania faculty and staff with valid PennCard
• Penn Medicine employees with valid affiliate ID card
• CHOP employees with valid affiliate ID card
• Please note, only undergraduates approved to live on-campus for the 2020 fall semester are eligible to participate in this activity at this time. All other Penn undergraduate students are not permitted to participate consistent with the University’s restriction of physical on-campus activity participation in the fall semester.

Online Registration

Register for the Franklin Field Open Recreation Membership in Fusion to access the reservation portal. Membership and reservations are free of charge.

• Eligible users without a valid PennCard: If you do not have a valid PennCard please complete the Member Account form. Approximately 24 hours after completion of the form a member of the Membership Service team will contact you to confirm your membership.
• Eligible users with a valid PennCard:
  1. Visit the Campus Recreation Member Portal and log into your account
  2. Select Memberships
  3. Select Franklin Field Open Recreation Membership
  4. Select Duration
  5. Select Fall Semester
  6. Select Add to Cart
  7. Review User Agreement/Waiver and click Accept Now
  8. Click Checkout to complete registration

Click here for additional information including:

• Membership Guidelines
• Franklin Field Reservation Process
• Reservation Policies
• Entrance/Exit Procedures
• Facility Policies
• Reservation of Right to Suspend or Cancel Program

If you have any questions, please email Penn Campus Recreation Membership Services.

Almanac will publish weekly throughout the fall and spring semesters. For the complete publication schedule and deadlines, including the monthly AT PENN calendar deadlines, visit https://almanac.upenn.edu/publication-schedule-deadlines.

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.