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A Message from the President: Announcing Tomorrow, Together

October 11, 2022

caption: Liz MagillTo the University Community,

Penn’s future has never been brighter thanks to every member of our University community. We now have an historic opportunity to envision where Penn goes from here. I am writing to invite you to join as Penn plans for tomorrow, together. Led by a Red and Blue Advisory Committee, we are embarking on a university-wide effort to inform strategic next steps for Penn.

We undertake this work by building on centuries of Penn success, reaching back to our founding when Benjamin Franklin proposed a revolutionary institution of higher learning. Yet, one of our University’s hallmarks is that success has never slowed our pace. Among Penn’s defining traits is our forward-looking and inventive spirit—I have called it Penn’s virtuous impatience. We are impatient to create and convey knowledge and to share our ingenuity to help make life better.

Penn’s future is very bright. At the same time, our local community, nation, and world face many challenges. To help ensure a brighter future for all, we ask: What does the world need from Penn? How do we cultivate a community that will rise to that challenge?

The Red and Blue Advisory Committee, in close collaboration with the entire University community, will guide our efforts to answer these questions. The committee comprises Penn faculty, students, and staff whose membership can be found here: www.tomorrow-together.upenn.edu. They will engage broadly and make recommendations for potential areas of strategic priority for Penn. These recommendations will underpin the strategic framework for Penn’s future direction, which will be shared with the Penn community in summer 2023.

I am deeply grateful to the committee members. Special thanks to John L. Jackson, Jr., Walter H. Annenberg Dean of the Annenberg School for Communication and Richard Perry University Professor, for agreeing to chair the Red and Blue Committee. My thanks as well to the Vice Chairs: School of Arts and Sciences Dean Steven Fluharty, Senior Vice Provost for Research Dawn Bonnell, and Emilie R. Feldman, the Michael L. Tarnopol Professor and professor of management at the Wharton School.

Your participation in this effort will make an enormous difference. I encourage you to offer your ideas at www.tomorrow-together.upenn.edu. There will also be opportunities to engage directly with the Red and Blue Advisory Committee throughout this process, with further details about how you can participate shared on the Tomorrow, Together website.

In the months to come, I look forward to working with you as Penn plans for tomorrow, together.

—Liz Magill, President

Sharon Y. Irving: Miriam Stirl Endowed Term Chair in Nutrition

caption: Sharon IrvingPenn Nursing’s Sharon Y. Irving, an associate professor in the clinician educator track and vice-chair of the department of family and community health, has been appointed the Miriam Stirl Endowed Term Chair in Nutrition. She also practices as a pediatric nurse practitioner at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), where she provides patient care in the pediatric intensive care and progressive care units.

Dr. Irving’s scholarship focuses on the nutrition status of critically-ill children. Her work in this area has changed practice at both CHOP and other children’s hospitals around the country. For example, Dr. Irving co-founded and led a multi-disciplinary ICU-pediatric nutrition team (ICU-PNuT) in designing and implementing the first nutrition pathway to improve nutrition delivery to infants and children during and immediately following critical illness at CHOP. Her work has led to more careful placement of feeding tubes while simultaneously reducing the amount of radiation exposure these vulnerable children receive.

Dr. Irving has been recognized for the impact of her scholarship with the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition’s (ASPEN) Distinguished Nutrition Support Nurse Service Award, and induction as a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (2016); and induction as a fellow of the American College of Critical Care Medicine and the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition.

Brigitte Weinsteiger: Gershwind & Bennett Family Senior Associate Vice Provost for Collections and Scholarly Communications at Penn Libraries

caption: Brigitte WeinsteigerThe University of Pennsylvania Libraries have announced the appointment of Brigitte Weinsteiger as the Gershwind & Bennett Family Senior Associate Vice Provost for Collections and Scholarly Communications. This appointment reflects the expansion of Ms. Weinsteiger’s role since she was named Associate Vice Provost in 2020 (Almanac May 12, 2020). A burgeoning area of focus in her new role is support for the Penn Libraries’ fundraising priorities for collections and information resources, which bolster Penn’s missions of research, teaching, and learning. Ms. Weinsteiger will help build and grow endowments for the libraries’ deep and distinctive collections, ensuring a strategic match between scholarly content needs and the resources necessary to address them.

“Brigitte continues to propel the Penn Libraries to ever-greater impact and influence nationally and internationally,” said Constantia Constantinou, the H. Carton Rogers III Vice Provost and Director of Libraries. “Under her leadership, we have made great strides in our strategic goals and fundraising priorities to advance information equity and ensure access to the scholarly and cultural record in all forms. I look forward to working with Brigitte even more closely in her new role to advance collections and scholarly communications as we carry out the shared vision of the Penn Libraries strategic plan.”

Ms. Weinsteiger has been consistently recognized in the library system for her ability to manage large, complex projects from ideation to fundraising to implementation. She leads a team of 115 staff, in addition to 200 students and interns, with direct oversight of the libraries’ information budget of $27 million.

“It is my distinct privilege to lead our talented Penn Libraries staff in building and providing access to collections and library services that contribute to global scholarship and local engagement,” Ms. Weinsteiger said. “I am honored by this opportunity to further awareness of the libraries’ incredible impact on the Penn community and the world, and to bring a dynamic collections-focused perspective to fundraising endeavors.”

As Senior Associate Vice Provost, Ms. Weinsteiger will continue to lead a diverse portfolio of areas, including collection strategy, encompassing the collection development and assessment programs; preservation, including the Steven Miller Conservation Laboratory, physical processing, the exhibits program, and digital preservation; scholarly communications, including the author services and copyright advisory programs; academic engagement, including the liaison program and support for teaching and learning, as well as support for Penn First Plus students; community engagement, encompassing the libraries’ outreach to the local school district and literacy initiatives in Philadelphia; and research services, comprised of research support, digital fabrication, bibliometrics, bioinformatics, and a robust systematic reviews program.

She also has oversight of the Penn Libraries’ ten departmental libraries, directing personnel, facilities, access services, and operations at these locations across campus. These include the Lippincott Library of the Wharton School, the Fisher Fine Arts Library, the Albrecht Music Library, the Penn Museum Library, the Biotech Commons, the Levy Dental Medicine Library, two Veterinary Medicine Libraries, the Chemistry Library, and the Math/Physics/Astronomy Library.

Ms. Weinsteiger’s prior leadership roles at the Penn Libraries include service as the Gershwind & Bennett Family Associate Vice Provost for Collections and Scholarly Communications, associate university librarian for collections, and assistant university librarian for collections and liaison services. Before joining the Penn Libraries’ administration in 2016, she served as a collections analyst and a subject librarian for medieval studies and Germanic languages and literatures.

In her time at Penn, Ms. Weinsteiger’s vision has positioned the libraries to provide collections, expertise, and services across several areas. Ms. Weinsteiger has advanced, both locally and nationally, sustainable models for scholarly communications and partnered with Penn faculty and publishers on long-term, mutually viable solutions to sustaining a healthy publishing enterprise. She serves on the advisory boards of many prominent publishing and distribution vendors, including JSTOR, Project MUSE, and EBSCO Books. At Penn, Ms. Weinsteiger is a founding member of the Faculty Senate Select Committee on Scholarly Communication.

Among the priorities Ms. Weinsteiger has championed at Penn is the preservation of global scholarship and cultural heritage; in particular, the histories, perspectives, personal narratives, and cultural contributions of populations around the world, many of whom have historically been overlooked or underrepresented. She has endeavored to increase the diversity and inclusiveness of the libraries’ collections and engagement with the Penn and Philadelphia communities, launching the Diversity in the Stacks initiative and, most recently, instituting the new Center for Global Collections (Almanac August 16, 2022).

Ms. Weinsteiger represents Penn in a number of consortia and committees. She regularly collaborates with the Pennsylvania Academic Library Consortium, Inc. (PALCI); the NorthEast Research Libraries consortium (NERL); the HathiTrust; the Center for Research Libraries; and the Ivy Plus Libraries. Through Ivy Plus, she has contributed to the work of the 13 partners to collectively, but strategically, amass the largest distinctive collection in the world.

Ms. Weinsteiger holds a master’s degree in liberal arts, focusing in medieval studies, from the University of Pennsylvania; a master’s degree in library and information science from Drexel University; and two bachelor’s degrees from Pennsylvania State University, where she concentrated in medieval studies, the history of art, and German literature.

From the Office of the University Secretary: President Liz Magill’s Inauguration: October 21

President Liz Magill’s Inauguration: October 21

October 12, 2022

Next week, Penn marks an historic day with the inauguration of President Liz Magill.

We hope you will come for the campus-wide celebration on Friday, October 21, from noon to 2 p.m.—and stay for the fabulous feast. You will be treated to an array of Philadelphia delicacies, including surprises from Zahav, Federal Donuts, and Bassetts Ice Cream. Two of Liz Magill’s favorite artists—Sheryl Crow and Jeff Tweedy—will be our featured entertainment. Plus, we will have some giveaways for you to take home.

The inauguration celebration is free, but registration at this link is required. You will need to bring your Penn ID and QR code, but bags of any kind will not be permitted. More details about the event can be found on the inauguration website.

See you there!

—Office of the University Secretary

Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowships: November 16 Application Deadline

The Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowships (previously called the Postdoctoral Fellowships for Academic Diversity) seek to attract promising researchers and educators from different backgrounds, races, ethnic groups, and other diverse populations whose life experience, research experience, and employment background will contribute significantly to Penn’s academic and research missions. Fellowships are available for postdoctoral training in all areas of study at Penn.

Fellows receive a stipend of $57,000 in year one, with increases of $2,000 in years two and three, as well as annual allowances for travel ($2,000) and research ($4,000) and a one-time relocation allowance of $5,000. The University also provides a medical, vision, dental, and life insurance benefits package.

Successful candidates will receive highly mentored scholarly and research training, as well as workshops to enhance their research and professional success skills. Penn graduate students who are completing their doctoral programs and looking for postdoctoral positions are eligible to apply for fellowships starting July 2023. 

The application deadline is November 16, 2022. Complete details about the program can be found at https://research.upenn.edu/postdocs-and-students/penn-provosts-postdoctoral-fellowships/.

Please note that fellowships are funded in partnership between the postdoctoral fellow’s host school and the Office of the Provost. Questions should be directed to Marta Bartholomew, director of research programs and communications (martalei@upenn.edu).

Call for Programs for the 2023 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Symposium on Social Change

We invite your organization/department to plan a program in conjunction with this year’s symposium. Programs can include reflection, action, and response on/to contemporary issues and should raise issues of social change and social justice while incorporating Dr. King’s challenging visions to end racism and poverty, to strengthen and embrace diversity, and to support free expression.

For date availability, visit https://www.upenn.edu/aarc/mlk/calendar_mlk.htm.

If interested, contact the African-American Resource Center no later than December 16, 2022 with your program idea. Email Colleen Winn at cowinn@upenn.edu, Darin Toliver at toliverd@upenn.edu, or Steve Kocher at skocher@upenn.edu, or call (215) 898-0104.

—African-American Resource Center

Sachs Program for Arts Innovation Grants

The Sachs Program for Arts Innovation has announced the opening of our 2022–2023 Grant Cycle.

We are offering six categories of grant opportunities this year—Artist Residency GrantsCommunity Partnerships GrantsCurricular Support Grants, Independent Creative Production GrantsProject Support Grants, and Student Grants. All Sachs Program grants support innovative arts activities throughout the University of Pennsylvania community, aligned with our mission to support and inspire creative practice and practitioners across the University and our broader community.

There are a few notable changes this year. We will be pausing our Alumni Awards for a year as we work with alumni to reassess that opportunity for future cycles. We have also shifted our Student Grants to an annual cycle and will be relaunching our Ben Art Bucks (smaller student grants) later this year. The third significant change is that Curricular Support Grants will be limited to non-standing faculty for research for current and future curricular classes.

Complete details about all Sachs Program grant opportunities are available on our website.

How to Apply

Important: The first step in applying for any grant opportunity is to review the grant opportunity information on our website and fill out a short inquiry form. 

Deadlines for Student Grants

  • November 18, 2022—deadline to submit a grants inquiry form
  • December 5, 2022—application deadline (midnight)

Deadlines for All Annual Grants

  • December 2, 2022—deadline to submit a grants inquiry form
  • February 1, 2023—application deadline (midnight)

Complete information on all grant opportunities and guidelines can be found on the Sachs Program website.

If you’re interested in applying, even if you’re not quite sure yet what to apply for, we encourage you to reach out. The best way to do so is to submit an inquiry through the individual grant pages on our website. You can easily access these by clicking through the links below. We are happy to meet with anyone interested in applying.

Meetings are required to apply for an Artist Residency Grant or Community Partnerships Grant, but are optional for other categories. We also offer opportunities to review draft applications and are happy to talk through your ideas with you at any time throughout the application process. Complete details about Sachs Program grants and grantmaking are available on our website.

—The Sachs Program for Arts Innovation

Deaths

Robert I. Toll, Trustee

caption: Robert TollRobert I. Toll, L’66, a former University Trustee, an emeritus member of the Carey Law School Board of Advisors, and the co-founder of transformative home construction company Toll Brothers, died on October 7 at home in Manhattan. He was 81. 

Mr. Toll was born in Philadelphia suburb Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, to a father who was involved in Philadelphia real estate and who had successfully rebuilt his career after the Great Depression. Mr. Toll graduated from Cornell University in 1963 with a bachelor’s degree in political science, then graduated from Penn’s Law School three years later. He briefly worked at the Philadelphia law firm Wolf, Block, Schorr, and Solis-Cohen, but then founded Toll Brothers with his younger brother Bruce in 1967. To start out, “we built two homes,” Mr. Toll recalled. “Instead of selling them, we used them as samples for the lots we owned down the street.” These sample homes landed the brothers contracts to build 20 more homes, which each sold for $17,500. Robert and Bruce Toll were among the first postwar housing developers to recognize how trends in highway construction would allow access to swaths of farmland for housing and shopping developments. 

Over the next five decades, under Robert Toll’s leadership of the company as chair and CEO, Toll Brothers rapidly grew to become, as the company’s slogan boasts today, “America’s luxury home builder.” The company recognized shifting demographics in the U.S. during the 1970s and targeted baby boomers looking to trade upward. The Toll Brothers blueprint included targeted land purchases, appeals for quick zoning approval, and predesigned houses that allow room for personalized changes by buyers. Boosted by the proliferation of McMansions and the implementation by zoning boards of two-acre lot sizes in many American suburbs, Toll Brothers became a force in the American housing market. Today, over 150,000 American families in 24 states live in a Toll Brothers-built home. Toll Brothers appeared on the Fortune 500 list, and Robert Toll spearheaded several philanthropic initiatives, including Seeds of Peace, a summer camp in Maine for children from global conflict. His many professional honors included recognition as one of the world’s top 30 CEOs by Barron’s magazine in 2005 and as best CEO in the Homebuilders and Building Products Industry by Institutional Investor magazine in 2008 and 2009. The Wall Street Journal once called Mr. Toll “the best CEO in the housing business.” 

At Penn, Mr. Toll was a heavily involved student and alumnus. During his time as a student, he was active in Penn Hillel. Since then, he has been a leading philanthropist at Penn. In 1990, he and his wife Jane, GED’66, began sponsoring a chapter of Say Yes to Education, a program affiliated with the Graduate School of Education and founded by Emeritus Trustee George Weiss, W’65, HON’14, to provide educational, social, mentoring, and financial support to motivate students to graduate from high school and continue on to college. They promised to fund a college or technical school education for 58 West Philadelphia third graders if they completed high school. An unprecedented number of these children graduated high school and went on to college or technical school thanks to Mr. Toll’s sponsorship.

In 2006, Mr. Toll donated $10 million to Penn to launch the Toll Public Interest Center. Since then, the center has grown into a hub for public service at Penn. Another gift in 2018 launched the Toll Public Service Corps, and in 2020, Mr. and Mrs. Toll made a $50 million donation that dramatically expanded the program, doubling the number of future public interest graduates through a combination of full and partial tuition scholarships. “This gift was the largest gift in history devoted entirely to the training and support of public interest lawyers, and among the ten largest gifts ever to a law school in the United States,” said Trustees chair Scott Bok and Penn President Liz Magill in a tribute to Mr. Toll. “Bob and Jane elected to make this transformative gift at an unprecedented time in history, when lawyers working for a more just and fair system are desperately needed.” 

From 2007 to 2011, Mr. Toll was a member of Penn’s Board of Trustees. He served on the Trustee Facilities & Campus Planning and Neighborhood Initiatives Committees. “We shall fondly remember Bob’s impact on our Penn community and his tremendous dedication to public service,” said Mr. Bok and President Magill. In addition, Mr. Toll was a longtime member of the Board of Advisors of Penn Carey Law School, and he also served as a law class agent, a member of the advisory council of the Biddle Law Library, a guest auctioneer for the Carey Law School’s Equal Justice Foundation Auction, and as a guest lecturer in real estate economics and corporate law. Outside of his work for Toll Brothers and Penn, Mr. Toll was on the boards of the Metropolitan Opera, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Red Cross, Jefferson Abington Hospital, Seeds of Peace, the Cornell Real Estate Council, Pennsylvania Campaign Choice, the Mayor’s Housing Partnership Council of Philadelphia, and Beth Shalom Synagogue of Elkins Park, Pennsylvania.

Mr. Toll is survived by his wife, Jane; his children, Laurie, Deborah, Rachel, L’03, Jacob, and Joshua; and other family members. Contributions in Mr. Toll’s memory may be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research online, or by mail at: Michael J. Fox Foundation, C/O Robert I. Toll Tribute Page, P.O. Box 4777, New York, NY 10163-4777.

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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

Governance

From the Senate Office: Faculty Senate Executive Committee Actions

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

Faculty Senate Executive Committee Actions

Wednesday, October 12, 2022

Report from the Tri-Chairs. Faculty Senate Chair Vivian Gadsden reported on several matters:

  • Faculty are encouraged to contribute to the Penn’s Way campaign, with hundreds of charity options for which to make contributions. The campaign runs through November 18.
  • The Tri-Chairs issued a statement on current events in Iran on October 13.
  • Additional seminars of the Faculty Senate Seminar Series are under development for the coming year, including topics related to returning to the classroom, local engagement, and the climate emergency.
  • The Tri-Chairs are developing internal guidelines on ways that statements on important matters can be made that are both timely and meaningful within the context of faculty academic responsibilities. Comments are welcomed as to how those guidelines might be developed.

Update from the Office of the President. President Liz Magill highlighted for SEC members some of the priorities she is working on as President. President Magill said that Penn as a community is in a position of “enviable strength” as an institution and is eager to discover what it can do next and better. She noted that the Red and Blue Advisory Committee recently held its first meeting. The committee is a pan-university exercise intended to involve the entire Penn community on thinking about our aspirations and priorities for the near future. A series of thought-provoking questions guides the committee’s initial work, and contributions and feedback from the community are always welcomed. President Magill then addressed questions from SEC members.

Consultative Committee for the Selection of a Provost. SEC members joined the Zoom meeting, already in progress, that was convened by the Consultative Committee for the Selection of a Provost to respond to questions and receive feedback from faculty members on the qualities desired in Penn’s next provost. All faculty members were invited separately via email by the Consultative Committee. 

Supporting Penn Faculty Research Engagements in the Current Climate. Vice Provost for Research Dawn Bonnell reported on her office’s efforts to support faculty research following racism and hostility targeting persons of Asian descent in the past eight years. The 2015 arrest of Xiaoxing Xi, of Temple University, was the first of many cases dropped by prosecutors due to lack of evidence. The U.S. Department of Justice’s China Initiative, begun in 2018, unfairly targeted Chinese and Chinese American researchers based on ethnicity. Acts of racism exacerbated in the face of COVID-19 caused increased hostility. Before 2018, Penn provided proactive support to the research community by reaffirming its commitment to global engagement; supporting safety in the community; supporting Asian students, postdocs, scholars’ travel, and visas; and enabling and protecting Penn’s researchers. 

From the Office of the University Secretary: University Council Meeting Agenda

University Council Meeting Agenda

Wednesday October 26, 2022, 4:00 p.m. 
Bodek Lounge, Houston Hall

  1. Approval of the minutes of September 14, 2022. 1 minute 
  2. Follow-up comments or questions on status reports. 10 minutes
  3. Presentations by the President, Provost, and other administrators on the State of the University. 60 minutes.
  4. Vote on postdoctoral trainee representation. 5 minutes.
  5. Open forum dates. 2 minutes. 
  6. New business. 5 minutes
  7. Adjournment.

Features

40th Anniversary of Penn’s LGBT Center

caption: The Robert Schoenberg Carriage House, the LGBT Center’s location since 2002, was named for its founding and longtime director. The LGBT Center is a welcoming space for faculty, staff, and students at Penn. Photo Courtesy of Eric Sucar.

This year, Penn’s LGBT Center celebrates its 40th anniversary. The center is the second oldest of its kind in the country, with its founding director, the late Robert Schoenberg, Gr’89 (Almanac August 31, 2021), originally working out of the Student Activities office in Houston Hall. The center’s current home in the historic Robert Schoenberg Carriage House, tucked away off Spruce Street, was made possible through a gift from David Goodhand, C’85, and Vincent Griski, W’85.

The center prides itself on inclusivity and students, faculty, and staff, often using the patio seating for informal lunches and reserving rooms to host events or work on projects.

“Penn’s LGBT Center has had my back since I started my PhD,” said Ira Globus-Harris, a doctoral candidate in computer and information sciences in the School of Engineering and Applied Science.

In addition to providing a safe space for creating community, the LGBT Center has advocated for administrative changes on campus, like creating a map of gender-neutral bathrooms and revamping name changes in Penn’s registration system, which now allows students to insert their pronouns and preferred name, Mx. Globus-Harris said. “Creating positive change at an institution as large as Penn is hard and slow work, and the center does an admirable job,” they said.

“The center holds fast to its social justice beginnings, focusing on both individuals and environmental factors, to ensure Penn’s LGBTQ+ communities feel welcome,” said Erin Cross, the center’s director. “We’ve done a lot, but we still have more to do. We want the center to be a place to study, chat, and celebrate—where you truly feel you belong, no matter who you are.”

“Don’t sleep on the LGBT Center,” said Paul Richards, chief of staff and senior director of communications in the division of finance. “A lot of people think of the LGBT Center as a resource for students, which it absolutely is. But their wide programming shows that it’s also a wonderful resource for staff.”

caption: A 1984 march in Center City, Philadelphia.

Penn’s LGBT Center by the Numbers

  • 40 years in existence
  • 17 consecutive years on Campus Pride’s “Best of the Best”
  • 15% of Penn’s student population self-identify as LGBTQ+
  • 94 faculty members on the “Out List,” a self-selected group designed to draw attention to LGBTQ+ professors
  • 24 active student groups
  • 162 events and trainings held during the 2021-2022 academic year
  • 7 full-time staff members since the center’s founding

Adapted from a Penn Today article by Kristina García, October 10, 2022.

caption: The LGBT Center’s Dance Outside with Pride event in June 2021.

Events

Update: October AT PENN

Exhibits

18        Opening Reception: Selective Attention: Interventions into the Computational Gaze; exhibition of Philadelphia artists Kelsey Halliday Johnson, Lisa Marie Patzer and Roopa Vasudevan, whose work displays tensions between what is visible to the computer eye and what we are able to see and interpret as human beings; 5:15 p.m.; room 500, Annenberg School (Annenberg School for Communication).

 

Films

20        Of Girls and Horses; first of many monthly screenings of queer movies; 7:30 p.m.; room 402, Cohen Hall (French & Francophone Studies, Germanic Studies, Spanish & Portuguese, Cinema & Media Studies).

 

Fitness & Learning

20        Lox & Learn with Rabbi Greenberg; learn Jewish Law with Rabbi Greenberg, Penn Hillel; participants can read Jewish texts, hang out with friends, and enjoy lunch; noon; location TBA; register: https://forms.gle/ZbJsgcsgMGWp47YeA (Carey Law School).

21        Goldwater Scholarship Information Session; learn about the Goldwater Scholarship, which awards undergraduate scholarships to sophomores and juniors; noon; room 242, Van Pelt Library; register: https://tinyurl.com/goldwater-oct-21  (Center for Undergraduate Research & Fellowships).

 

Graduate School of Education

Info: https://www.gse.upenn.edu/news/events-calendar.

21        The Art of Writing Grant Proposals Info Session; 4 p.m.; room 304, Grad Center.

 

Penn Nursing

Unless noted, online events. Info: https://www.nursing.upenn.edu/calendar/.

19        Virtual Information Session: Post-Master’s DNP and Executive Leadership DNP Programs; 6 p.m.

21        Zoom Baking: Hosted by Nursing Wellness; 5 p.m.

 

Music

19        Daedalus Quartet in Concert; an evening of chamber music with the Daedalus Quartet, Penn’s resident string quartet, including works of Franz Joseph Haydn, William Grant Still, and Felix Mendelssohn; 7:30 p.m.; Harold Prince Theater, Annenberg Center (Music Department).

 

Readings & Signings

23        Elderflora: A Modern History of Ancient Trees; book launch featuring author Jared Farmer, history; 1 p.m.; Widener Gallery, Morris Arboretum (School of Arts & Sciences).

26        Rivers that Feed Us: Heritage in Poetry; an evening of readings by four poets, Herman Beavers, Airea D. Matthews, Raquel Salas Rivera, and Syd Zolf, as they reflect on heritage in all its richness and complexity; 6 p.m.; Rainey Auditorium, Penn Museum; register: https://wolfhumanities.upenn.edu/events/heritage-poetry (Wolf Humanities Center).

 

Special Events

21        Paint the Dance Floor; a night of drinks, dancing and art, open to Penn alumni and non-alumni; 7-10 p.m.; Institute of Contemporary Art; register: https://penn.events.alumniq.com/go/hc22 (Institute of Contemporary Art).

22        Celebrating 40 Years of Historic Preservation; noon; Kleinman Energy Forum, Fisher Fine Arts Library; register: https://www.alumni.upenn.edu/hspv40 (Historic Preservation).

 

Talks

18        Barred: Why the Innocent Can’t Get Out of Prison; Daniel Medwed, Northeastern University; 3:30 p.m.; room 410, McNeil Building; info: breyanam@sas.upenn.edu (Criminology).

            The Future of the Video Industry; Geoffrey Starks, Federal Communications Commission; 4:30 p.m.; Fitts Auditorium, Penn Law; register: https://tinyurl.com/starks-talk-oct-18 (Center for Technology, Innovation & Competition).

            Licensing Legal Paraprofessionals: Oregon Says Yes, California Says No. Why?; panel of speakers; 5:30 p.m.; online webinar; register: https://tinyurl.com/law-talk-oct-18 (Carey Law School Future of the Profession Initiative).

19        Reimagining Faith, Gender, Race and Nationalism Within Mediated Spaces; Sabrina Dent, Center for Faith, Justice, and Reconciliation; 10:15 a.m.; room 500, Annenberg School; register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/424120936137 (Paideia Program).

            Frances Ellen Watkins Harper's Postbellum Poststructuralism; Kirsten Lee, English; “Ready Worker Two”: Gendered Discipline of Platform Game Work in China; Zoe (Mengyang) Zhao, sociology; noon; room 345, Fisher-Bennett Hall, and Zoom webinar; info: https://tinyurl.com/lee-zhao-oct-19 (Gender, Sexuality & Women’s Studies).

            Overcoming Severance, From Lumon to Foxconn; Michael Szalay, University of California, Irvine; noon; room 330, Fisher-Bennett Hall (Cinema & Media Studies).

            Probing Biological Dynamics: From Long-Term Electrophysiology to High-Resolution Imaging; Tian-Ming Fu, Princeton University; 3:30 p.m.; room A8, DRL (Physics & Astronomy).

            Black Doctors and the Making of “Good” Medicine: Confronting Structural Racism in Early 20th Century Reforms; Adam Biggs, Rutgers University; 4 p.m.; BlueJeans webinar; join: https://primetime.bluejeans.com/a2m/register/ytkzbzga (Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing).

            The Tiger Leading the Dragon: How Taiwan Propelled China’s Economic Rise; Shelley Rigger, Davidson College; 4:30 p.m.; room 418, PCPSE (Center for the Study of Contemporary China).

20        Anointed Citizenship: The Politics of Christian Border Crossing in the Korean War; Sandra Park, George Washington University; 3:30 p.m.; room 204, Cohen Hall (Religious Studies).

            Rater Equivalence: An Interpretable Measure of Classifier Accuracy Against Human Labels; Paul Resnick, University of Michigan; 3:30 p.m.; Wu & Chen Auditorium, Levine Hall (Computer & Information Science). 

            Othering the Renaissance; Alessandro Mulieri, KU Leuven University; 5:15 p.m.; room 543, Williams Hall (Italian Studies).

            Fels Racial Equity & Social Justice Speaker Conversation Series; Emily Schapira, Philadelphia Energy Authority; 6 p.m.; online webinar; register: https://www.fels.upenn.edu/events/emily-schapira (Fels Institute of Government).

21        Robotics and Deep Learning in Production Agriculture; Jim Ostrowski, Blue River Technology; 10:30 a.m.; Wu & Chen Auditorium, Levine Hall, and Zoom webinar; join: https://upenn.zoom.us/j/96504452430 (GRASP Lab).

            Woori Center: Building Community, Power, and Trust Through Engagement; Jennifer Kang, Asian American studies; noon; room 473, McNeil Building; register: https://upenn.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1B7aZ6uxa5j4pGS (Asian American Studies).

            Computation of Flow-Induced Sound at Low Mach Numbers; Meng Wang, University of Notre Dame; 2 p.m.; room 534, 3401 Walnut Street (Penn Institute for Computational Science).

            The World That Latin America Created: The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America in the Development Era; Margarita Fajardo, Sarah Lawrence College; 4 p.m.; room 473, McNeil Building; register: https://tinyurl.com/fajardo-in-person-oct-21, and Zoom webinar; register: https://tinyurl.com/fajardo-zoom-oct-21 (Center for Latin American & Latinx Studies).

24        Immunologic Consequences of Early Life Malaria Exposure; Prasanna Jagannathan, Stanford University; noon; room 132, Hill Pavilion, and Zoom webinar; join: https://upenn.zoom.us/j/91485597704 (Penn Vet).

            Topological Orders and Noninvertible Symmetries; Matthew Yu, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics; 2 p.m.; room A8, DRL (Physics & Astronomy).

25        Predicting and Reducing High-Speed Jet Noise; Daniel Bodony, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; 10 a.m.; Wu & Chen Auditorium, Levine Hall (Mechanical Engineering & Applied Mechanics).

            Legal Representation in Disability Claims; Nicole Maestas, Harvard University; noon; auditorium, Colonial Penn Center; register: https://tinyurl.com/maestas-talk-oct-25 (Leonard Davis Institute).

            Improving the Efficiency of Time-Varying Causal Effect Moderation Analysis in Mobile Health; Walter Dempsey, University of Michigan; 3:30 p.m.; room 701, Blockley Hall, and Zoom webinar; join: https://tinyurl.com/dempsey-talk-oct-25 (Center for Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics).

            The Long Arm of Theoretical Computer Science: A Case Study in Blockchains/Web3; Srini Devadas, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; 3:30 p.m.; Wu & Chen Auditorium, Levine Hall (Computer & Information Science). 

            Does the Middle East Still Matter? Tor Wennesland, United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process; 5:30 p.m.; auditorium, PCPSE; register: https://tinyurl.com/wennesland-talk-oct-25 (Middle East Center).

            On the Revival of Modern Hebrew; Gil Hovav, culinary journalist; 5:30 p.m.; auditorium, Steinhardt Hall (Hillel, Linguistics).

            Goddesses, Vampyres, and Archaeologists; Hector Williams, University of British Columbia; 6:15 p.m.; online webinar; register: https://tinyurl.com/williams-talk-oct-25 (Penn Museum).

 

Economics

In-person events at various locations. Info: https://economics.sas.upenn.edu/events.

18        Dynamic Political Investigations: Obstruction and the Optimal Timing of Accusations; Alice Gindin, economics; 4 p.m.; room 101, PCPSE.

19        Housing Institutional Investors and the Great Recession; Dick Oosthuizen, economics; 3:30 p.m.; room 101, PCPSE.

            Concentration in OTC Markets and its Impact on Financial Stability; Assa Cohen, economics; 4:45 p.m.; room 101, PCPSE.

25        Local Social Capital and Residential Mobility; Jungsoo Yoo, economics; noon; room 200, PCPSE.

            Informational Requirements for Cooperation: Theory and Applications; Alexander Wolitzky, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; 4 p.m.; room 101, PCPSE.

 

Mathematics

In-person events at various locations. Info: https://www.math.upenn.edu/events.

18        Graph Limits and Graph Homomorphism Density Inequalities; Fan Wei, Princeton University; 3:30 p.m.; room 4C8, DRL.

19        Strongly Dense Subgroups of Algebraic Groups; Michael Larsen, Indiana University and Institute for Advanced Study; 1:45 p.m.; room 4N30, DRL.

            Character Bounds for Finite Simple Groups; Michael Larsen, Indiana University and Institute for Advanced Study; 4:45 p.m.; room A6, DRL.

21        Beyond UCB: Statistical Complexity and Optimal Algorithm for Non-Linear Ridge Bandits; Yanjun Han, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; 1:45 p.m.; room 200, PCPSE.

24        The Higher Riemann-Hilbert Correspondence and Principal 2-Bundles; Camilo Arias Abad, Max Planck Bonn; 1:45 p.m.; room 4C4, DRL, and Zoom webinar.

 

Sociology

Info: https://sociology.sas.upenn.edu/events.

19        Strengthening Propaganda and the Limits of Media Commercialization in China: Evidence from Millions of Newspaper Articles; Brandon Stewart, Princeton University; noon; room 286-287, McNeil Building.

 

This is an update to the October AT PENN calendar, which is online now. To submit events for an upcoming AT PENN calendar or weekly update, send the salient details to almanac@upenn.edu.

Crimes

Weekly Crime Reports

University of Pennsylvania Police Department Crime Report

Below are the Crimes Against Persons, Crimes Against Society and Crimes Against Property from the campus report for October 3-9, 2022. 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 October 3-9, 2022. 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.

10/03/22

10:50 AM

421 Curie Blvd

Unknown person sending harassing emails

10/03/22

2:12 PM

3535 Market St

Currency taken from purse

10/03/22

8:54 PM

4111 Locust St

Laptop, iPad and miscellaneous items taken

10/03/22

9:01 PM

3400 Spruce St

Wallet taken

10/04/22

9:45 AM

421 Guardian Dr

Secured scooter stolen

10/04/22

2:22 PM

3400 Spruce St

Unsecured backpack stolen from cafeteria

10/04/22

11:55 PM

3610 Hamilton Walk

Cable secured bike stolen from rack

10/05/22

11:10 AM

3400 Walnut St

FTA warrant/Arrest

10/05/22

11:55 AM

4014 Pine St

Fraudulent check cashed

10/05/22

2:52 PM

3400 Walnut St

Verbal dispute with terroristic threats

10/05/22

4:05 PM

River Fields Dr

Sports equipment stolen from booth

10/06/22

3:30 AM

51 N 39th St

Offender punched her girlfriend (complainant)

10/06/22

3:37 PM

4247 Locust St

Complainant assaulted by boyfriend

10/06/22

8:23 PM

3100 Chestnut St

Parked vehicle stolen from highway

10/06/22

9:26 PM

4233 Chestnut St

Employee was assaulted and merchandise was taken without payment

10/07/22

3:20 PM

124 S 39th St

Fraudulent charges made on debit card

10/07/22

4:28 PM

3535 Market St

Cable secured scooter stolen from rack

10/07/22

6:17 PM

240 S 40th St

Scooter stolen from rack

10/07/22

7:30 PM

4200 Locust St

Catalytic converter stolen from automobile

10/07/22

7:34 PM

3913 Pine St

Cable secured bike stolen from rack

10/07/22

10:01 PM

3600 Chestnut St

Knifepoint robbery of cigarettes from delivery person

10/08/22

4:13 PM

4111 Walnut St

Unsecured package stolen from lobby

10/08/22

8:28 PM

1 Convention Ave

Clothing and other items stolen from locker

 

18th District

Below are the Crimes Against Persons from the 18th District: 5 incidents (2 robberies, 1 aggravated assault, 1 assault, 1 domestic assault) were reported for October 3-9, 2022 by the 18th District, covering the Schuylkill River to 49th St & Market St to Woodland Avenue.

10/06/22

3:28 PM

4247 Locust St

Domestic Assault

10/06/22

9:27 PM

4233 Chestnut St

Robbery

10/06/22

11:17 PM

1118 S 48th St

Aggravated Assault

10/07/22

10:25 PM

3600 Chestnut St

Robbery

10/07/22

10:37 PM

S 40th & Chestnut Sts

Assault

Bulletins

Penn’s Way Raffle Prize Drawings

Visit https://pennsway.upenn.edu for more information. Online participation must be completed by midnight on Sunday for inclusion in a given week’s drawing that Monday morning. Note: list subject to change.

Week Two–Drawing October 17

  • Chanticleer Gardens: Two tickets ($24 Value): Uyen Tran, Audit, Compliance & Privacy
  • ThermoFisher Scientific: Apple gift card ($25 Value): Christopher Bradie, Business Services
  • ThermoFisher Scientific: Cheesecake Factory gift card ($25 Value): Anne Brancati, Penn Museum
  • Neta Scientific: Amazon gift card ($25 Value): Rodrigo Castro, CPUP
  • Neta Scientific: Amazon gift card ($25 Value): Karen Kille, Human Resources
  • Philadelphia Flyers: Autographed puck (James van Riemsdyk) ($25 Value): Douglas Blow, UPHS Central Finance
  • SalesForce: Swag bag ($25 Value): Meredith Wirtz, HUP

Week Three–Drawing October 24

  • DiBruno Bros: Gift card ($30 Value)
  • Business Services: Rocketbook Core ($25 Value)
  • Neta Scientific: Amazon gift card ($25 Value)
  • ThermoFisher Scientific: Apple gift card ($25 Value)
  • ThermoFisher Scientific: Chipotle gift card ($25 Value)
  • ThermoFisher Scientific: Fandango gift card ($25 Value)

National Drug-Free Workplace Week

National Drug-Free Work Week is October 17 through October 23. For the health and safety of the Penn community, the University of Pennsylvania is committed to maintaining a drug-free workplace. Drug and alcohol abuse endangers individual users, as well as their family, friends, and coworkers. The use of any substance that impairs your workplace judgement or abilities puts you, your colleagues, and Penn students at risk.

Please take the time to review the University’s drug and alcohol policies.

Penn’s Drug and Alcohol Policies

Penn prohibits the unlawful manufacture, distribution, dispensation, sale, possession, or use of any drug by its employees in its workplace. Complete policy details are available online:

Understanding Addiction

Addiction is a serious disease, but many effective treatments are available. Visit Penn’s Health Advocate website at www.healthadvocate.com/upenn for facts about addiction, recovery, and support services for faculty and staff.

Help Is Here

If you or a family member has a substance abuse problem, we encourage you to seek help. Penn provides free, confidential counseling services for you and your immediate family members through the Employee Assistance Program (EAP). The EAP will assist you with challenges that may interfere with your personal or professional life, including substance abuse.

For more information about the EAP’s counseling and referral services, visit the Employee Assistance Program web page or contact the Employee Assistance Program 24 hours a day, seven days a week at (866) 799-2329.

You can also refer to Penn’s addiction treatment publication for information about treatment benefits and resources. 

—Division of Human Resources

Celebrate Open Access Week with Penn Libraries

Join the Penn Libraries in celebrating Open Access Week, an annual opportunity for the academic and research community to learn about the potential benefits of open access and share their insights with colleagues. 

The Penn Libraries and the Penn Program in Environmental Humanities are marking this year’s theme, Open for Climate Justice, with a free public event on October 27: Seeking Environmental Justice in Philadelphia: Creating a Path for All Voices. Register to attend and hear about the Reeves family’s ongoing work to ameliorate harms and create opportunities in Grays Ferry, a predominantly Black community directly next to the refinery’s old north yard. This moderated conversation intends to prompt consideration of how rapid response collection and openly accessible archival practices can support community advocates and environmental justice.

Find Open Access Resources

The libraries support open access publishing year-round through a number of resources and initiatives, including providing support connected to the Office of Science and Technology Policy’s recent guidance to make all taxpayer-funded research available to the American public with no embargo and at no cost.

Browse the libraries’ online resources or contact a subject librarian to learn more about:

Through November, the libraries are hosting series of workshops covering all elements of the academic publishing process in collaboration with the Graduate Student Center at Penn. Tune in to live virtual sessions covering citation management, impact metrics, promoting your work, selecting the right publishing venue, fair use, and more. Find the full suite of publishing workshops online and register to attend.

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