August 25, 2020 Volume 67 Issue 7

University of Pennsylvania Provost Wendell Pritchett recently announced the appointment of Zoë Ryan as the new Daniel W. Dietrich, II Director of the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), effective November 5.

Ms. Ryan is a world-renowned curator and scholar who is currently John H. Bryan Chair and Curator of Architecture and Design at the Art Institute of Chicago. She has been at the Art Institute since 2006, when she was appointed the inaugural Neville Bryan Curator of Design, following six years at the Van Alen Institute in New York. An expert in architecture and design and their impact on evolving social and cultural contexts, she has focused at the Art Institute on building the museum’s collection of 20th- and 21st-century architecture and design with work that expands definitions of these fields, emphasizes cross-disciplinary ideas, and recognizes overlooked figures and narratives. This culminated in the major 2017 installation, Past Forward: Architecture and Design at the Art Institute.

“Zoë Ryan embodies our great Penn spirit of wide-ranging curiosity, of informing contemporary practices with their deep roots in history and theory, and of understanding how art profoundly impacts—and is profoundly impacted by—its social contexts,” said Provost Pritchett. “Her vibrant scholarship and inclusive leadership will make her a transformative leader of ICA in the essential years ahead. I am very grateful to John McInerney, who has served with extraordinary grace and distinction as interim director of ICA; the invaluable ICA staff, who are sustaining ICA’s historic mission even in this challenging year; and the consultative committee, chaired by Professor Anita Allen, whose insightful and judicious work helped us arrive at this exciting result.”

Ms. Ryan’s appointment follows a yearlong search led by the Museum’s search committee and Russell Reynolds Associates, which was chaired by Anita Allen, the Henry R. Silverman Professor of Law and professor of philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and until recently Penn’s vice provost for faculty.

Taking an interdisciplinary approach to her work, Ms. Ryan has led landmark exhibitions such as the acclaimed In a Cloud, in a Wall, in a Chair: Six Modernists in Mexico at Midcentury, uniting the work of designers and artists Clara Porset, Lola Álvarez Bravo, Ruth Asawa, Anni Albers, Cynthia Sargent, and Sheila Hicks; As Seen: Exhibitions that Made Architecture and Design History, the first show and publication to explore in depth the critical role of exhibitions in shaping architecture and design practice; and retrospectives on architects including David Adjaye, Studio Gang, and Bertrand Goldberg. In 2018 she established the Franke/Herro Design Series to highlight emerging talent, such as Max Lamb, Christien Meindertsma, and the Ambiguous Standards Institute. In 2014, she curated the second Istanbul Design Biennial, The Future Is Not What It Used to Be, and was named that year as a fellow of the Center for Curatorial Leadership. She has taught graduate seminars on design history and theory at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the University of Illinois at Chicago; is an executive committee member of the International Confederation of Architectural Museums (ICAM); was the jury chair for the National Design Awards at the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian National Design Museum; served on the curatorial advisory committee for the U.S. Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2012 and 2018; and was named by Fast Company Magazine as one of the 50 People Shaping the Future of Design. She earned a master’s degree in art history from Hunter College, The City University of New York, and a bachelor’s degree in art history from University of Sussex. 

“ICA’s Board of Overseers is delighted to welcome Zoë Ryan as the institution’s new director,” said David E. Simon, board chair and co-chair of the search committee. “I have been tremendously impressed by her achievements and leadership in the curatorial field, her passion for contemporary art, and her ability to connect and effectively engage with diverse constituencies. I know that she will bring great vitality and enthusiasm to ICA’s mission to inform and inspire through the power of art and artists.”

“I am incredibly honored to join the ICA, an institution that has long championed under-recognized artists, diverse narratives, and a breadth of artistic practices,” said Ms. Ryan. “I look forward to collaborating with the team at ICA, Penn’s students, faculty, and staff, and the broader community, to build on the ICA’s rich history as an inclusive, expansive, and vital center for interdisciplinary art. At this transformative moment in history and for the field, I’m eager to continue to shape the ICA as a crucial platform for engaging with the issues and ideas of our time through a critical and creative lens.”

The vision set by ICA’s founder, former dean of GSFA (1951-1971, now known as the Weitzman School), G. Holmes Perkins, in 1963 comes full circle with Ms. Ryan’s work in architecture and design only furthering ICA’s international reputation as a preeminent venue for contemporary art and culture.

Emily Wilson, College for Women Class of 1963 Term Professor in the Humanities, made a gift to endow a fund supporting students enrolled in the post-baccalaureate program in the Department of Classical Studies. The Elsie Phare Fellowship will provide tuition support for a student from a group underrepresented in classical studies.

Penn’s post-baccalaureate program in classical studies prepares students to enter doctoral programs in classical studies, ancient history, and related fields. It is the oldest classical studies post-baccalaureate program in the country and has historically been a bridge for people from a variety of backgrounds to gain access to advanced study and professional opportunities.

Dr. Wilson commented, “Classical studies and ancient history as fields are historically and presently extremely white and dominated by people with certain kinds of privilege. If everybody who’s in the field of study is more or less the same demographically, we can get into stale narratives. In terms of intellectual life, as well as social justice, there needs to be a lot more diversity than there is.”

Peter Struck, professor and chair of Classical studies, says, “Increasing the intellectual diversity in our field is a priority. Emily’s generous gift promises to have an outsized impact on future generations who study the ancient Mediterranean and the many and complicated ways it continues to influence our world.”

Dr. Wilson named the fund after her grandmother, Elsie Phare, who was one of the first generation of women to study at University of Cambridge, in an era when Cambridge did not grant women degrees. “My grandmother came from a working-class background,” said Dr. Wilson. “Without a scholarship, she would not have had access to an educational experience that was transformative for her. I’d like the Elsie Phare Fund to create a new path for people, like her scholarship did for her.”

Ms. Phare went on to be a writer and teacher and was awarded Cambridge’s Seatonian Prize for religious poetry in 1935 and 1938. Her translation of Molière’s The Misanthrope was performed in London in 1937 and she was a leading contributor to the study of the poet Andrew Marvell.

Dr. Wilson has been teaching at Penn since 2002 and is the graduate chair of the Comparative Literature and Literary Theory program. Her 2017 translation of Homer’s Odyssey received widespread acclaim, and she was named 2019 MacArthur Fellow by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (Almanac October 1, 2019). She earned her PhD in classics and comparative literature from Yale University, and her master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Oxford University.

On August 12, the Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs Marie Royce and Williams Director of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology Julian Siggers signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a new public-private partnership. Under this partnership, the Department of State and the Penn Cultural Heritage Center will cooperate to combat international cultural property trafficking.

The memorandum stated:

The United States is unwavering in its commitment to protect and preserve cultural heritage around the world and to combat the trafficking in cultural property that funds criminal and terrorist networks. This new partnership will facilitate consultations between U.S. law enforcement officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection and experts in archaeology and art history when expertise is needed during the course of investigations. Experts from the faculty and staff of the University of Pennsylvania and other relevant universities, museums, libraries, archives, and nonprofit organizations will also participate.

The U.S. Government’s Cultural Heritage Coordinating Committee member agencies have repatriated more than 20,000 cultural objects to more than 45 different countries and supported nearly 100 training programs in the United States and overseas.

For more information, visit the Cultural Heritage Center website at https://eca.state.gov/cultural-heritage-center/ and the Penn Cultural Heritage Center at https://www.penn.museum/sites/chc

To the University Community:

The Office of Student Conduct and the Office of the AVP for Equity and Title IX Officer are committed to preparing a report for the University community each summer that includes information regarding the type of violations and the sanctions imposed for cases opened and resolved during FY2020. Once again, we are providing our report to the University community.

—Julie Nettleton, Director, Office of Student Conduct
—Michele Rovinsky-Mayer, AVP for Equity and Title IX Officer

*During FY20, the OSC hired a full-time Associate Director of Restorative Practices who collaborates with campus partners to resolve student conflicts as appropriate. 
See participant numbers below under “Sanctions: Student Conduct.”
**Group Cases include several individuals but are being counted as one respondent.
^On March 14, 2020 the University shifted to remote operation due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

***Number of case investigations does not equal the number of respondents because some cases involve more than one type of misconduct.

****Number of Sanctions does not equal the number of respondents because some cases result in more than one type of sanction.

*****The Decision-Making Tree is a new educational sanction that offers a structured learning opportunity in lieu of essay writing.

^^New category as of FY20. Restorative Practices involve consequences that are determined during the process rather than the student disciplinary system.

******Unresolved can mean that a student is no longer a member of the Penn community, that the investigation is on-going, or that a determination has been made, but no agreement has been reached.

The Division of Recreation and Intercollegiate Athletics at the University of Pennsylvania is thrilled to announce a transformational gift of more than $2 million from Warren Lichtenstein, C’87, to help fund capital upgrades at the home of Penn Baseball. As a result of his generosity, Penn Athletics is excited to share that once Phase I of the renovation is complete, the playing surface will be known as Tommy Lasorda Field at Meiklejohn Stadium, named after the Baseball Hall of Fame inductee from Norristown, PA, who won two World Series titles while managing the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Through a portion of his gift, Mr. Lichtenstein has created a matching fund in the hopes that others will be inspired to get involved. He will match dollar-for-dollar any contribution to the stadium project up to $2,050,000, creating the $4,100,000 necessary to complete Phase I of the project. All gifts can be completed over a five-year pledge schedule. As a result of Mr. Lichtenstein’s matching gift, naming opportunities associated with the project are available at half the gift level that was initially required.

“We are incredibly grateful for Warren’s generosity in honor of his dear friend Tommy Lasorda,” said M. Grace Calhoun, the T. Gibbs Kane, Jr. W’69 Director of Athletics and Recreation. “Once Warren’s gift is matched, we will be able to upgrade the baseball facility to include artificial turf and enhance the student-athlete experience in a number of ways to help us compete for Ivy League championships. We are confident that our alumni community, and the greater baseball community, will step up to the plate to improve our student-athlete experience and honor Mr. Lasorda.”

Mr. Lichtenstein is motivated to conduct this challenge and honor his dear friend as a result of the incredible character, grit and growth mindset that Mr. Lasorda has displayed throughout his life as a player, a manager and perhaps most importantly, as a mentor to so many. “Tommy Lasorda has been a great mentor and coach and he has touched the lives of so many people around the world as the greatest ambassador for the game of baseball and the Dodgers,” said Mr. Lichtenstein. “Tommy and the Lasorda family have meant so much and done so much for Norristown and the state of Pennsylvania that it is only fitting to name Penn’s baseball field for him.” 

Mr. Lasorda’s accomplishments in baseball are numerous, beginning with his 1997 induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. He led the Dodgers to World Series titles in 1981 and 1988 and was a two-time National League Manager of the Year. Mr. Lasorda became the first manager to win a World Series championship and an Olympic gold medal when he led the United States’ baseball team to gold at the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, Australia. Originally signed by the Philadelphia Phillies in 1945, Mr. Lasorda reached the big leagues as a pitcher with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1954.

“I am honored to have a baseball field named after me in my home state of Pennsylvania and at the University of Pennsylvania,” said Mr. Lasorda. “I am most thankful to my great friend, Warren Lichtenstein, and everyone at the University of Pennsylvania, for this unbelievable tribute and honor.” Mr. Lasorda, who resides in Fullerton, California and is 92, just celebrated his wife, Jo’s, 90th birthday. The two have been married for 70 years and Mr. Lasorda has been with the Dodgers organization 71 years.

Upgrades in Phase I of this project include a brand new fully turfed field, renovated dugouts, a re-orientation of the field, updated protective netting at the field, and a permanent restroom facility. Updates in Phase II include a pitcher development area. The matching gift is only focused on Phase I and Penn Athletics will accept pledges for Phase II once Phase I is completely funded.

“I want to thank Warren for his generosity and invaluable contribution to the Penn baseball program,” said John Yurkow, Penn’s current W. Joseph Blood Head Coach of Baseball. “Current and future teams will be positively impacted by these enhancements, which will serve a key role in player development moving forward. Tommy has touched countless players and coaches throughout his impressive career, and I am honored that our field will be named after such a pivotal figure in the baseball community. I’m excited to see the positive momentum of the program continue and this gift will help to solidify Penn as a top team in the region.” 

For more information about the project, including various naming opportunities, contact Tim McLaughlin in the Penn Champions Club at (215) 573-5350 or at tmclau@upenn.edu

We share a collective responsibility to protect ourselves and each other from COVID-19. PennOpen Pass is a daily symptom tracker designed to reduce the risk of COVID-19 spreading within the Penn community. PennOpen Pass enables early detection of COVID-19 by:

• Identifying individuals whose health may be at risk or may pose health risks to others,
• Supporting those individuals to receive assistance, which may include COVID-19 testing, self-isolation, contact tracing, and medical care, and
• Monitoring trends related to COVID-19 to enable timely allocation of resources for campus health and safety.

Throughout the summer, schools and centers have introduced PennOpen Pass to their faculty, students, postdocs, and staff. After a one-time enrollment process, users complete a quick, web-based survey each day. Users who report no symptoms and no recent contact with someone who may have COVID-19 get a Green Pass.  Users who receive a Red Pass are directed to assistance and follow up tailored to their individual needs.

Faculty, students, postdocs, and staff with PennKey or UPHS credentials and visitors, vendors, and contractors are currently supported to use the tool.

Faculty, students, postdocs, and staff returning to campus are required to complete daily symptom checks using PennOpen Pass. Symptom checks must be completed before the start of each day, including on weekends, to reduce the risk that any COVID-19 case could lead to an outbreak. Daily symptom tracking enables PennOpen Pass to act as an early warning system of potential COVID-19 infections on campus. If COVID-19 cases are diagnosed, clinical staff and contact tracers will respond quickly to contain spread and connect individuals at risk to care in an expedited manner. 

For persons working or learning remotely 100% of the time, PennOpen Pass can provide access to expedited clinical guidance should a need arise.

Visitors, vendors, and contractors are required to complete symptom checks using PennOpen Pass on the days they visit campus.  Visitors, vendors, or contractors who routinely report to campus should use PennOpen Pass on a daily basis.

We share a collective responsibility to protect ourselves and each other, and it will take participation from all to help slow the spread of this disease. When you wear a face covering, practice physical distancing, and complete your daily symptom check on PennOpen Pass, you promote the health and safety of everyone around you and advance Penn’s mission of excellence in education, research, and patient care.

For information on how it works, answers to frequently asked questions, the privacy policy, and other resources, visit the PennOpen Pass website at https://pennopen.med.upenn.edu/

—Penn Wellness

In 2019, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Ed Markey introduced H.R. 109, a non-binding resolution “Recognizing the duty of the Federal Government to create a Green New Deal”—a framework for future legislation that builds resiliency against climate change-related disasters, repairs and upgrades the infrastructure of the U.S. In response, Billy Fleming, Wilks Family Director of The Ian L. McHarg Center for Urbanism and Ecology, led an interdisciplinary studio in which he asked students from the departments of landscape architecture and city and regional planning to give form and visual clarity to the scale, scope, and pace of transformation that the Green New Deal implies.

Now, The McHarg Center at Weitzman is partnering with The Landscape Architecture Foundation (LAF), the Center for Resilient Cities and Landscapes, the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), and the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) to launch The Green New Deal Superstudio, an open call for designs that spatially manifest the principles and policy ideas of the Green New Deal with regional and local specificity.

The goal of the Superstudio is to create and assemble work that translates the core goals of the Green New Deal—decarbonization, justice, and jobs—into design and planning projects for the respective regions of the contributors. LAF notes that entries “can cross the spectrum from small- to large-scale and along a gradient from conceptual to ‘shovel ready.’ However, all must address decarbonization, justice, and jobs per the goals of the Green New Deal.

Superstudio participants will join a collaborative network of other participating studios that will have access to a design brief and supporting resources such as lectures, roundtable discussions, and reviews. The concepts and dialogue produced through the Superstudio will be catalogued as part of a curated collection to form a national vision for the Green New Deal that can support policymakers and advocates to advance Green New Deal ideas and approaches. The Superstudio projects will also inform a national conversation on policy and design at a summit convened by the Landscape Architecture Foundation in September 2021. All eligible submittals will be archived and used to form a curated collection for potential exhibits, articles, or content for congressional readership.

Participation in the Superstudio is open to graduate and undergraduate programs of landscape architecture, architecture, planning, and related fields as well as professional practices and individuals in these fields. Participants may also build teams and/or collaborate with other professions or academic programs and disciplines, community organizations, local firms, and other stakeholders. The approach, types of projects, pedagogical method, and how the projects manifest the ethos of the Green New Deal are at the discretion of each studio.

The Superstudio began on August 1, 2020 and will run through June 30, 2021. Universities may participate in the Superstudio in the fall semester of 2020 and/or the spring semester of 2021. Other groups and individuals may participate on their own timeline as long as work is submitted by the June 30 deadline. (Green New Deal studios that took place before this call are encouraged to submit prior work.)

All studios that wish to participate must register in order to join the network of other participating studios and receive access to Superstudio resources, events, and opportunities. Final materials from the studios must be submitted by June 30, 2021.

For more information and to register, visit: www.lafoundation.org/superstudio

To learn about the proposals produced in the Weitzman studio in the fall of 2019, visit the department’s issuu page, https://issuu.com/pennplanning/docs/gnd_studio_report_v2

Pamela Joan Bezanson (Pam) Hancox, died July 27 at Tidelands Waccamaw Community Hospital in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina. She was 68.

Ms. Hancox joined the staff at the University of Pennsylvania in 2002 in the Facilities and Real Estate Services (FRES) department. She began in project management and changed to operations and management after a few months. She remained in that position until her retirement in 2016.

She is survived by her husband, Clive; children, Erik Thomas, Kristopher Thomas, and Andrea Dawn Thomas; grandchildren, Kaya Vasvary, Lyran Thomas-Ubert, Gabe Talbot, Gracie Talbot, Beau Talbot, Miles and Sadie Hancox, Isla Hancox and Esme Hancox; sisters, Sandra Oullette and Terry Henninger; brother, Everette Bezanson; step-daughter, Kati Talbot (Luke); stepsons, James (Hillary) and Matt (Shelley); and several nieces, nephews, and cousins.

A celebration of her life will be held at a later date.

Ralph Raymond Pisani, real estate developer and former lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, died August 5 of complications from a fall at his home in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. He was 90.

Born Raffaele Pisani, he grew up in the Bronx, New York City. Born to emigrant parents from Italy, he shined shoes in Times Square as a young boy and then worked in his uncle’s leather shop before joining the Army in 1948. He was honorably discharged in 1952.

After taking college classes, Mr. Pisani sold life insurance for Penn Mutual, had a job with United Airlines, and became vice president of construction for Sylvan Pools in Doylestown.

In 1966, he formed Ralph R. Pisani & Associates with his second wife, Helen Teal, who was a property manager, building single-family homes, housing developments, and apartments in Philadelphia, Bucks, Lehigh, and Northampton counties. His book, written with son Robert L. Pisani, Investing in Land: How to Be a Successful Developer, was named one of the 10 best real estate books of 1989 by the syndicated columnist Robert Bruss.

Mr. Pisani was named to the Bucks County Planning Commission and served as chair from 1977 to 1982. He was chair of the Bucks County Industrial Development Authority from 1983 to 1986. Despite not having a formal college degree, Mr. Pisani taught evening classes at Bucks County Community College until he was appointed a trustee there. From 1986 until he retired in 1992, Mr. Pisani served as a lecturer in the real estate and management departments in Penn’s Wharton School and in Wharton’s Real Estate Center.

He is survived by his first wife, Elizabeth Schlontz; second wife, Helen Teal; sons, Robert, Ralph Jr., and Christopher; daughter, Katherine Pooner; eight grandchildren; a great-grandson; and nieces and nephews.

Frank P. Worts, former lecturer in the College of General Studies (now LPS) at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Arts and Sciences, died August 9 of cancer at his home in Meadowbrook, Pennsylvania. He was 78.

Born in Audubon Park, he graduated from Bishop Eustace Preparatory School in Pennsauken. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Mount St. Mary’s College followed by a master’s degree in 1963 in sacred theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. While in Italy, he was ordained a Catholic priest. He was part of a cohort of activists who channeled their spirituality into community organizing in Camden County, New Jersey.

Dr. Worts served as the associate supervisor of Catholic Social Services in Camden County while earning a master’s degree in social work from Penn in 1972. He left the priesthood in the early 1970s.

He taught in Temple University’s School of Social Administration and at Arcadia University in Glenside before coming to Penn in 1979. He served as a lecturer in physical medicine and rehabilitation in the CGS master’s degree program in social gerontology. Dr. Worts left Penn in 1993.

From 1993 until June 2020, Dr. Worts served as an assistant professor and lecturer in Lincoln University’s human services department. He directed Lincoln’s continuing education program and, in tandem with the University of Pennsylvania’s Center on Aging, developed and arranged computer training courses for 650 older people and professionals employed in health and human services. At Lincoln, he also served as the research coordinator and director of the Interdisciplinary Center and had roles in both the bachelor’s and the master’s human services programs.

In 2014, he completed a doctorate in educational technology from the online Walden University. His next project was co-developing a pioneering in-home service program for older adults in Philadelphia.

One of Dr. Worts’ achievements was as a co-creator of early in-home service programs for older adults administered by the Philadelphia Geriatric Center and the Philadelphia Corporation for Aging, his family said in a statement. They noted that the programs facilitate food, transportation, and homemaker services for senior citizens. He was a board member of Blacks Educating Blacks About Sexual Health Issues and Unitarian Universalist House Outreach.

Dr. Worts is survived by his wife, Avalie Saperstein; son, Terence; a brother; and nieces. Plans for services are pending.

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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

The following agenda is published in accordance with the Faculty Senate Rules. Any member of the standing faculty may attend SEC meetings and observe. Questions may be directed 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 Agenda
Wednesday, September 2, 2020
3-4 pm.

1. Welcome and Introductions
2. Approval of the Minutes of May 13, 2020
3. Support for Faculty Research and Teaching
4. Faculty Senate Select Committee on Rules Review (S2R2)
5. Structure and Function of Senate Committees
6. Discussion and Vote on the Draft Charges for Senate Standing Committees, 2020-2021
7. Update on “P4” (Senate Select Committee on Planning for Post-Pandemic Penn)
8. New Business
9. Adjourn and Transition to “Bluejeans Events” Platform for Seminar with Associate Provost and Chief Wellness Officer Benoit Dubé (4-5 p.m. EDT)

All faculty are invited to participate by registering here: https://primetime.bluejeans.com/a2m/register/ssswftbt

The select Faculty Senate Committee on the Institutional Response to the Climate Emergency (CIRCE) was established in December 2019 (Almanac December 17, 2019) by the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate for the purpose of facilitating discussion among faculty and the entire Penn community about all aspects of global warming and climate change as they pertain to faculty at the University of Pennsylvania. CIRCE considers the following categories of faculty concern relating to the climate emergency:

• Education, including classroom instruction and extra-curricular educational activities
• Research, including scholarship, practical expertise, and artistic expression
• Operations of the University, including decarbonization, energy efficiency, and sustainability
• Flourishing of community, both within Penn, and between Penn and its regional and international stakeholders

The CIRCE subcommittee on Community and Policy, chaired by Simon Richter, was forced to recalibrate its plans after the pandemic shutdown and instead of in-person events, they focused their attention on an idea that had been central to many of their discussions—while it is important for faculty to urge the University to mitigate institutional climate effects, individual action is equally critical. Our cumulative individual actions not only add moral weight to requests we make of the University but, for example, but the carbon emissions produced by faculty and staff residences also rival those of the main campus.

As a first action, the subcommittee developed a Resolution on the Individual and Institutional Responses of Faculty in the University of Pennsylvania to the Global Climate Emergency. Because individuals, commuities, and institutions play interlocking roles in either worsening or reducing climate change, this pledge asks faculty to commit to five actions:

• to support and encourage relevant teaching and research initiatives in our respective schools and departments, and centers and initiatives
• 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
• 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
• 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
• 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

The resolution was endorsed by the Faculty Senate Executive Committee on May 13, 2020.

To read and add your signature to the Resolution as a member of the Penn Faculty, please visit: https://forms.gle/3jLeaAad29H1Aizp7

To help faculty and staff act on the commitments, the subcommittee developed a manual called Bring it Home: Practical Ways for Faculty and Staff to Respond to the Climate Emergency. CIRCE is delighted that the PPSA and WPPSA, the two Penn staff associations, were involved in preparing Bring it Home and have endorsed its recommendations for their members. We encourage all current and future faculty to read and sign the Resolution and, along with members of University staff, to take the practical steps outlined in Bring it Home.

To download a copy of Bring it Home, please visit: https://provost.upenn.edu/sites/default/files/users/user131/CIRCE_Bring_it_Home_v1_200810.pdf

The Policy on Secular and Religious Holidays guides instructors and students in those circumstances when significant observances occur during the period that classes are in session. Anyone with further questions or concerns is encouraged to contact the Office of the Chaplain, which serves as an important resource for all members of the Penn community and can help if any student’s observance seems to conflict with academic expectations.

As a reminder, Jewish holidays begin at sunset. This year, Rosh Hashanah begins at sunset on Friday, September 18 and ends in the evening on Sunday, September 20. Yom Kippur begins at sunset on Sunday, September 27 and ends in the evening on Monday, September 28.

––Wendell E. Pritchett, Provost

1. The University recognizes/observes the following secular holidays: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Memorial Day, July 4, Thanksgiving and the day after, Labor Day and New Year’s Day.

2. The University also recognizes that there are several religious holidays that affect large numbers of University community members, including Christmas, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, the first two days of Passover and Good Friday. In consideration of their significance for many students, no examinations may be given and no assigned work may be required on these days. Students who observe these holidays will be given an opportunity to make up missed work in both laboratories and lecture courses. If an examination is given on the first class day after one of these holidays, it must not cover material introduced in class on that holiday.

Faculty should realize that Jewish holidays begin at sundown on the evening before the published date of the holiday. Late afternoon exams should be avoided on these days. Also, no examinations may be held on Saturdays or Sundays in the undergraduate schools unless they are also available on other days. Nor should seminars or other regular classes be scheduled on Saturdays or Sundays unless they are also available at other times.

3. The University recognizes that there are other holidays, both religious and secular, which are of importance to some individuals and groups on campus. Such occasions include, but are not limited to, Sukkot, the last two days of Passover, Shavuot, Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah, Chinese New Year, the Muslim New Year, Diwali, Navaratri, Rama Navami, Paryushan and the Islamic holidays Eid Al-Fitr and Eid Al-Adha. Students who wish to observe such holidays must inform their instructors within the first two weeks of each semester of their intent to observe the holiday even when the exact date of the holiday will not be known until later so that alternative arrangements convenient to both students and faculty can be made at the earliest opportunity. Students who make such arrangements will not be required to attend classes or take examinations on the designated days, and faculty must provide reasonable opportunities for such students to make up missed work and examinations. For this reason it is desirable that faculty inform students of all examination dates at the start of each semester. Exceptions to the requirement of a make-up examination must be approved in advance by the undergraduate dean of the school in which the course is offered.

Editor’s Note: For a list of 2020-2021 Secular and Religious Holidays, visit https://chaplain.upenn.edu/worship/holidays/

Céline Apollon and Jazmin Diaz have been selected for the Moelis Scholars Program in the department of city and regional planning at the Weitzman School. Established in 2019 through the leadership of Ron Moelis (C’78 W’78), the Program prepares students with a commitment to diversity to be the next generation of leaders in the field of urban planning (Almanac November 12, 2019). Students who intend to pursue careers in public/private development or housing, community and economic development are particularly encouraged to apply. Scholars are provided with full tuition for the two years of the program, along with a one-year research assistantship, one year of membership with the American Planning Association post-graduation, and mentorship from a faculty member and Moelis Scholar alumni.

Ms. Apollon is pursuing a master of city planning with a concentration in community and economic development. Ms. Apollon is from Atlanta, Georgia, and completed her bachelor of science in economics with a minor in sustainable cities at Georgia Tech. She interned at the Georgia Department of Economic Development and the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta in the Retail Payments Office. She also completed a year in a French exchange program in Paris at Sciences Po, with a focus of study on social and urban economics. While there, she volunteered at a local refugee residence called Les Cinq Toits. She developed an interest in placemaking for refugees and other marginalized communities. Her work with the refugee community continued as a volunteer welfare coordinator at a refugee camp in Sarajevo, Bosnia. Upon her return to Georgia Tech, Ms. Apollon interned at Focused Community Strategies (FCS) with the Lupton Center, where she completed work in historic South Atlanta by developing the Flourishing Neighborhood Index tool to measure the health of a community with collected data at the neighborhood level. She also helped organize community civic league meetings in South Atlanta addressing racial tensions in the community. This summer, Ms. Apollon is working to develop an app using Xcode for Sinapis Group to facilitate digital coaching methods for entrepreneurs in Africa.

Ms. Diaz is pursuing a master of city planning with a concentration in community and economic development. Ms. Diaz is from Perth Amboy, New Jersey, and graduated magna cum laude with a dual degree in anthropology and Spanish and a minor in civic engagement from Wagner College. As a student, she completed over 1,200 hours of service with community-based organizations primarily serving the immigrant and refugee population. Ms. Diaz conducted research on diasporic communities and trans-local groups in Mexico and New York evaluating the limitations of international economic migration to escape conditions of poverty. In Northern Peru, she served as a research intern and later a project director for MOCHE Inc. (Mobilizing Opportunity through Community Heritage Empowerment Inc.). In collaboration with community leaders, she conducted a demographic analysis and facilitated the construction of an accredited “eco”-kindergarten, using reclaimed plastic bottles and recyclable items to create a multi-use classroom space. Since graduation, she has worked for La Colmena, a community-based organization in New York, supporting alternative economic models driven by immigrant women and workforce development opportunities for day laborers. She believes in the power marginalized communities harness to create equitable, alternative solutions to build a more democratic society.

John J. Gallagher, trauma program manager for traumatology, surgical critical care, and emergency surgery in PSOM, was elected secretary of the National Board of Directors of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN). The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses is the largest specialty-nursing organization in the world. Dr. Gallagher, who joined the board last year, is an expert in respiratory monitoring and mechanical ventilation as well as intra-abdominal hypertension/compartment syndrome. He also serves as a reviewer for the American Journal of Critical Care.

The National Superintendents Roundtable presented its Robert H. Koff Memorial Award to Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Elizabeth Ware Packard Professor of Communication and director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, for “her commitment to children in excellent schools, healthy communities, and a strong America.” Dr. Koff, who passed away in 2018, founded the predecessor of the Roundtable. The Roundtable is a nonprofit organization of school superintendents in 30 states who are committed to “leadership for just and humane schools.”

Dr. Jamieson was presented with the award on July 30, following a Zoom talk to the group in which she described public schools as being as important an institution of democracy as the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government and the free press. The public schools, she said, are the Fifth Estate.

“Public schools are the ways in which we have basically created a country,” Dr. Jamieson said. “Public schools socialized all of the immigrants that were our ancestors into a common culture. They also ensured that no matter whether you were wealthy or not—particularly if you were not—you had the wherewithal to make it in the United States…. To the extent we shortchange our public schools, we shortchange our nation.”

Phil Nichols, the Wharton School’s Joseph Kolodny Professor of Social Responsibility in Business and professor of legal studies and business ethics, has been awarded the 2020 John Bonsignore Memorial Award for Exceptional Teaching of Legal Studies. The Academy of Legal Studies in Business (ALSB) recognizes a career of exceptional teaching at its annual conference, which was held virtually this year in early August. The Bonsignore Award is one of the highest and most prestigious awards given by the ALSB.

Mr. Nichols’ research and teaching on emerging economies and on corruption draw from multiple disciplines. He asks students to look at the world in new ways, and his pro bono activities in dozens of countries, in which he often involves students, bring to his classes perspectives on justice and advocacy for the people of the world. For the past 24 years, Mr. Nichols and his family have lived with undergraduate students in Penn’s Stouffer College House, during which time they have shared in the undergraduate experiences of many hundreds of students.

Mr. Nichols is a past ALSB president and an internationally known expert and consultant in corruption, emerging economies, international trade, and investment. Mr. Nichols also won the Hoeber Memorial Award at this year’s ALSB conference. The Hoeber Award recognizes the outstanding article in the 2019-2020 volume year of American Business Law Journal (ABLJ), the flagship journal of the ALSB with an acceptance rate of less than 5%. Mr. Nichol’s award-winning article was “Bribing the Machine: Protecting the Integrity of Algorithms as the Revolution Begins.”

Liling Wan, assistant professor of cancer biology, assistant investigator in the Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute, and a member of the Penn Epigenetics Institute, received a $100,000 research grant from the Leukemia Research Foundation. Her work will focus on targeting the chromatin reader protein in acute leukemias. Dr. Wan is one of 13 researchers to receive this grant, which is awarded to new investigators through the Foundation’s Hollis Brownstein Research Grants Program.

Scott Weinstein, professor of philosophy in the School of Arts & Sciences, recently received the 2020 Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL) Test-of-Time Award for “Centering: A Framework for Modeling the Local Coherence of Discourse,” a paper he coauthored with the late Aravind Joshi, formerly the Henry Salvatori Professor of Computer and Cognitive Science at Penn, and Barbara Grosz of Harvard University. The article, which was published in Computational Linguistics in June 1995, examines relationships among focus of attention, choice of referring expression, and perceived coherence of utterances within a discourse segment.

Dr. Weinstein’s research interests include logic, the philosophy of mathematics, and cognitive science. He holds secondary appointments in the department of computer and information science and department of mathematics and is a member of the Institute for Research in Cognitive Science and the Logic and Computation Group.

Each year, the ACL Test-of-Time awards recognize up to four papers for their lasting impact on the computational linguistics field: two papers from 25 years earlier, and two papers from 10 years earlier.

Architizer, widely recognized as the world’s leading online platform for architecture and building-products, recently announced the winners of the 8th Annual Architizer A+Awards. Several faculty from Weitzman’s department of architecture were included:

• Winka Dubbeldam: Miller Professor and chair of architecture; founder and partner, Archi-Tectonics NYC; Asian Games Park & Stadiums (Sport & Recreation-Unbuilt Sports & Recreation)
• A. Eugene Kohn (AR’53, GAR’57): member of the Weitzman Board of Overseers and 2019 recipient of the Kanter-Tritsch Medal for Excellence in Architecture and Environmental Design; co-founder, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates; China Resources Tower
• Thom Mayne: Cret Chair Professor of Practice; founder and design director, Morphosis; 8850 Sunset Boulevard (Concepts - Plus-Architecture +Models & Rendering)
• Brian Phillips: lecturer; principal, ISA; XS House (Residential-Multi Unit Housing - Low Rise [1-4 Floors])
• James Corner (MLA’86): professor emeritus of landscape architecture founder and CEO, James Corner Field Operations, for Domino Park (in the category “Concepts -Plus-Architecture +Urban Transformation”).

Created to honor the best architecture, spaces, and products from across the globe, the 2020 A+Awards received over 5,000 entries from more than 100 countries. In response to global upheaval, this season’s theme was The Future of Architecture, and was intended to elevate those designs “that are transforming society and the built environment for generations to come.”

As a result, the jury emphasized projects that respond to imminent global challenges such as climate change, urbanization and migration, rising inequity, and the pandemic.

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

Exhibits

8/28    Living With the Sea: Charting the Pacific; an undergraduate-curated exhibit of the Penn Museum’s Oceanian collection; info: https://www.penn.museum/on-view/upcoming/living-with-the-sea (Penn Museum).

Talks

8/26    The COVID-19 Crisis and its Implications for US Regulatory Law; panel of speakers from various law schools; 4 p.m.; Zoom; register: https://pennlaw.cvent.com/d/17q8v5 (Penn Law).
          Mind the Gap: Conversations About Life and Landscape Architecture; Shane Coen, Coen+Partners; Zoom; 6 p.m.; register: https://tinyurl.com/mind-the-gap (Landscape Architecture).
8/27    Managing Implant Complications in the Esthetic Zone: Current Concepts with Current Biologics; Hector Sarmiento, dentist; 6 p.m.; BlueJeans; register: https://primetime.bluejeans.com/a2m/register/wpqyyswc (Dental).

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AT PENN Deadlines

The September AT PENN calendar is now online. The deadline for the October AT PENN calendar is September 14.

The Institute of Contemporary Art will kick off their fall opening with a virtual conversation with curators and special guests on September 25 and will officially open for in-person visits starting at 11 a.m. on September 26.

The Milford Graves: A Mind-Body Deal exhibition, presented by Ars Nova Workshop, gathers the many-layered and multi-faceted work of Milford Graves, exploring the practices and predilections of this extraordinary “jazz mind.” Mention Milford’s name to anyone who follows progressive jazz and they know him from landmark record­ings such as Albert Ayler’s Love Cry, Sonny Sharrock’s Black Woman, his groundbreaking work as a leader, including the Milford Graves Percussion Ensemble, and his performances with the likes of Lou Reed, Min Tanaka, and John Zorn. He has been a revelatory force in music since the mid-1960s, liberating the role of the drummer from “timekeeper” to instrumental improviser and giving rise to the Free Jazz movement.

As a young drummer, Milford performed at John Coltrane’s funeral and led successful Latin music combos, drawing on his Afro-Caribbean roots. When he was barely old enough to vote, his life had taken off in a half-dozen different directions that led to revolutions in music, activism, medicine, botany, and even martial arts. He led the charge in bringing the drums out from the back of the bandstand, to a position equal with the “melodic” instruments. An anchor in the New York Art Quartet with Amiri Baraka, he was also active in the collective-bargaining movement of the Jazz Composers Guild. At the same time, he began his training as a cardiac technician with zeal; he invented a martial art form called Yara based on the movements of the Praying Mantis, boxing, West African ritual dance, and Lindy Hop; and he had an abiding interest in botany and herbology, inherited from his grandmother.

His home in Jamaica, Queens, now overflows with the many accoutrements and outgrowths of his creative inquiries: a backyard garden, a dojo, and a basement filled with his drums and other musical instruments, herbs from his garden, his artwork from prints to paintings to sculpture, and a full laboratory of heart monitoring equipment. Among his many other achievements and awards, Milford has patented stem cell regeneration technology that utilizes frequency response, he teaches gardening and herbology to his neighbors as a way to promote health, and he continues to study rhythmic treatments for the heart. His home is quite literally built from this rich life and mind, and A Mind-Body Deal is an attempt to open the doors of his habitat to the spark of curiosity in our own minds, so we too may learn to weave our mind-bodies with the rhythms of the world around us.

The exhibition is on display through January 24, 2021 and includes a collection of Graves’ hand-painted album covers and posters, idiosyncratic drum sets, multimedia sculptures, photographs, and costumes, with elements from his home, scientific studies, recording ephemera, and archival recordings, as well as space for performance.

More details to come concerning opening safety plans and what to expect when you visit the ICA at https://icaphila.org/posts/our-plans-to-reopen-on-september-25/

University of Pennsylvania Police Department Crime Report

Below are the Crimes Against Persons, Crimes Against Society and Crimes Against Property from the campus report for August 10-16, 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 August 10-16, 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: 9 incidents (3 assaults, 3 robberies, 2 domestic assaults and 1 rape) were reported for August 10-16, 2020 by the 18th District, covering the Schuylkill River to 49th Street & Market Street to Woodland Avenue.

Another tip in a series provided by the Offices of Information Security, Information Systems & Computing and Audit, Compliance & Privacy

Penn Information Systems and Computing and the Office of Privacy welcome you back to the 2020-2021 academic year. The majority of us are starting this academic year engaging remotely. To be as successful as we can we recommend:

• Enroll in Two-Step Verification. Two-Step Verification adds a second layer of protection when accessing PennKey-protected websites and also email if your School or Center requires this. Use the Duo Mobile app for Two-Step Verification for the best experience.
• Use Penn-supported application for teaching and meeting. Penn-supported applications go through a lengthy vetting process to guarantee your session and data are not compromised.
• Share sensitive information securely using Secure Share or Penn+Box. If you cannot use these services, check with your local computing support to see what alternatives are available.
• Be aware of scams, some claiming to provide guidance on how to protect yourself from coronavirus, or an email request to a virtual invite to discuss early retirement designed to steal your sensitive data.
• Keep your devices up-to-date with operating system updates and security patches. Use anti-virus software.
• Familiarize yourself with Penn’s Data Classification to understand the type of data you are handling and how to protect it.
• Use the University’s VPN Client to provide secure remote access to PennNet and network resources.

Resources:

• Two-Step Verification: https://www.isc.upenn.edu/how-to/two-step-verification-getting-started
• Remote Work Tools and Guidelines: https://www.isc.upenn.edu/remote-work-tools-guidelines
• Office of Information Security: https://www.isc.upenn.edu/security/aware
• Penn Data Risk Classification: https://www.isc.upenn.edu/security/data-classification

For additional tips, see the One Step Ahead link on the Information Security website: https://www.isc.upenn.edu/security/news-alerts#One-Step-Ahead

Many of Penn’s neighborhood stores and restaurants are re-opening, and ready to serve Penn students, staff, and faculty who are back on campus. Shop Penn maintains an updated list of open businesses and available services on the website, https://www.shopsatpenn.com/

Explore the diverse offerings—including national brands and independent shops—in person or visit the website to order online from home, with many retailers providing both convenient delivery and curbside pickup. Purchasing gift cards is another good way to support the local Shop Penn retailers.

Each year ICA provides a platform for Philadelphia-area artists to share new work through our juried screening series known as Open Video Call (OVC). For the 21st edition of OVC we invited local media arts collective Lino Kino to curate the program. Videos by eight artists were selected this year. A different artist will be featured on Mondays at noon, followed by a conversation between the artist and members of Lino Kino on Wednesdays at 6 p.m. discussing the selected video.

The program began July 27, 2020 and runs through September 16, 2020. The schedule for the screenings and conversations can be found at https://icaphila.org/exhibitions/ovc2020/ Click on the links with the artists’ names to access their videos and interviews.

Lino Kino is a Philadelphia-based media arts collective dedicated to exploring new approaches to experimental art exhibition. Since the spring of 2018 Lino Kino has worked towards creating an open forum for film and electronic art in Philadelphia by hosting frequent screenings and performance events.

—Institute of Contemporary Art

Almanac will publish weekly throughout the fall semester. For the complete publication schedule and 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.