November 1, 2022 Volume 69 Issue 12

The National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR), one of the 27 institutes of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has awarded University of Pennsylvania’s Florence Momplaisir and John B. Jemmott III more than $3 million to study interventions to improve care for people with minoritized identities living with HIV.

The medical field has made great strides in improving treatment for HIV in recent years, but the HIV epidemic is not over—and it disproportionately affects racial and ethnic minority populations. Black patients account for 41% of new HIV diagnoses but experience the lowest rates of retention in HIV care and viral suppression when compared to other racial and ethnic groups.

Dr. Momplaisir, an assistant professor of infectious diseases at the Perelman School of Medicine and a senior fellow at Penn’s Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, and Dr. Jemmott, the Kenneth B. Clark Professor of Communication and Psychiatry at the Annenberg School for Communication and the Perelman School of Medicine, seek to address the structural inequities in HIV care in the U.S. by working with clinics to reduce structural racism and discrimination.

Over the next five years, Drs. Momplaisir and Jemmott will work with HIV clinics in Philadelphia to assess how their organizational culture, climate, and workers’ attitudes (collectively known as organizational social context) reveal structural racism and discrimination that negatively affects patient care. Then, they will investigate whether an intervention designed to reduce structural racism by improving the organizational social context can improve HIV care outcomes. Although racial disparities in HIV care have been known for some time, this is the first study to test an intervention targeting the clinic context to address racial disparities.

With this grant, Drs. Momplaisir and Jemmott plan to advance the understanding of structural racism and discrimination’s impact on HIV treatment outcomes and implement a method to improve accessibility, responsiveness, and continuity of care within individual HIV clinics.

The University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine (Penn Vet) has launched a new research hub, the Center for Stewardship Agriculture and Food Security (CSAFS), located at Penn Vet’s New Bolton Center in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. The center enables Penn Vet to capitalize on its niche strength in animal agriculture, deepened through innovative partnerships with other Penn centers, to drive sustainable agricultural and veterinary healthcare practices and methods, while addressing the world’s growing nutritional demands.

The CSAFS mobilizes Penn Vet’s faculty who research and practice in nearly 20 agriculture-related specialties, along with Penn-wide affiliate faculty. The center will be dedicated to broadening the understanding of animal agriculture and food systems; uniting agriculture, ecosystems, and public health; examining soil health; and exploring climate change mitigation and resilience.

The center is led by Thomas Parsons, the Marie A. Moore Professor of Animal Welfare and Ethics, and director of Penn Vet’s Swine Teaching and Research Center, who has advanced the understanding of sustainable models of agriculture through his study of animal behavior, health, welfare, and applications of cutting-edge technology. He is recognized globally by scholars and industry leaders for re-envisioning animal husbandry, housing, and feeding systems anchored around improving swine welfare.

“There is a tension between the two pressures that agriculture faces,” said Dr. Parsons. “One is to be more environmentally friendly. Two is to go and feed the world. Our Center for Stewardship Agriculture and Food Security will focus on both facets at the same time. The center will foster the responsible use of natural resources – air, water, land, and animals – entrusted to farmers to make food to feed the world’s burgeoning population.”

The center’s core leadership team, led by Dr. Parsons as inaugural director, includes Penn Vet faculty members Zhengxia Dou, Meghann Pierdon, Dipti Pitta, and Laurel Redding. The team will provide an ongoing source of integrative leadership and scientific collaboration for the center’s research and outreach agendas, and educational priorities.

“The goal of the Center for Stewardship Agriculture and Food Security is to promote research, education, and outreach on the future of agriculture, finding applicable solutions that enhance animal health and production all the while maximizing environmental services from agriculture,” said Andrew Hoffman, the Gilbert S. Kahn Dean of Veterinary Medicine. “We are uniting our distinguished corps of veterinary scientists; integrating Penn faculty with disciplines outside of veterinary medicine; and recruiting new faculty. Scaling this multidisciplinary center is exciting. It is accelerating our ability to meet this generational, consequential moment in agriculture.”

Penn Live Arts (PLA) at the University of Pennsylvania has appointed Leah Falk, a higher education professional and published author, as director of education and engagement, a new position for PLA. Ms. Falk will provide strategic leadership, program direction, and operational oversight for PLA’s extensive education and engagement activities on the Penn campus and in the Philadelphia community.

“We are delighted to welcome Leah to Penn Live Arts as our new director of education and engagement,” said PLA executive and artistic director Christopher Gruits. “Her broad experience in education, the arts, and communities positions her well to build strong relationships with Penn faculty and Philadelphia teachers and conceptualize innovative programming and partnerships. In particular, we are excited that she will also develop the initial scope and plan for our new student career support initiative.”

“I’m thrilled to be joining the Penn Live Arts team,” said Ms. Falk. “I’m looking forward to taking a deep dive into PLA’s rich and diverse programming and exploring ways that the Penn and Philadelphia communities can be in conversation with great performance, both in and beyond the theatre.”

Ms. Falk will oversee PLA’s inclusive community outreach, K-12 education, and engagement efforts including the PLA Director’s Student Advisory Council, the Student Discovery series of daytime performances for Philadelphia region schoolchildren, the Philadelphia Children’s Festival, and PLA’s free and low-cost educational events, which serve 10,000 Philadelphia area youth annually. In addition to managing current programming, she will be responsible for planning and launching PLA’s student career support initiative.

Leah Falk is a writer, program administrator, and educator who is passionate about the power of the arts to engage community creativity. She most recently directed the Rutgers University-Camden Writers House, where she built community-engaged literary programming for a wide range of constituents. She has taught writing at Rutgers-Camden, Interlochen Center for the Arts, and the University of Michigan, and was a teaching artist and workshop facilitator for InsideOut Literary Arts and NY Writers Coalition.

The author of two poetry collections, To Look After and Use and Other Customs and Practices, Ms. Falk’s work has received support from the Vermont Studio Center, Asylum Arts, the Sundress Academy for the Arts, and the Yiddish Book Center. She served on the board of Emerging Arts Leaders: Philadelphia from 2018-2019.

Ms. Falk holds an MFA in creative writing from the Helen Zell Writers’ Program at the University of Michigan and a BA from Oberlin College. She began her career in the AmeriCorps VISTA program.

This is a summary of the annual report of The University of Pennsylvania Matching Plan (Plan No. 001) sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania, EIN: 23-1352685, for the period January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021. This annual report has been filed with the Employee Benefits Security Administration, as required under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).

Basic Financial Statement

Benefits under the plan are provided through unallocated insurance contracts and a trust fund. Plan expenses were $411,642,671. These expenses included $433,155 in administrative expenses and $411,209,516 in benefits paid to participants and beneficiaries. A total of 28,329 persons were participants in or beneficiaries of the plan at the end of the plan year.

The value of plan assets, after subtracting liabilities of the plan, was $6,401,773,334 as of December 31, 2021, compared to $5,855,654,165 as of January 1, 2021. During the plan year the plan experienced an increase in its net assets of $546,119,169. This increase includes net unrealized appreciation in the value of plan assets; that is, the difference between the value of the plan’s assets at the end of the plan year and the value of assets at the beginning of the plan year or the cost of assets acquired during the plan year. The plan had total income of $957,761,840, including employer contributions of $80,485,202, employee contributions of $90,415,075, employee rollover contributions of $12,294,450, gains from investments of $770,377,988 and other income of $4,189,125.

Your Rights to Additional Information

Under ERISA, you have the right to receive a copy of the full annual report, or any part thereof, upon request. The items listed below are included in that report for the University of Pennsylvania Matching Plan:

1. An accountant’s opinion;
2. Financial information;
3. Information on payments to service providers;
4. Assets held for investment;
5. Insurance information; and
6. Information regarding pooled separate accounts in which the plan participates.

To obtain a copy of the full annual report, or any part thereof, write or call the office of the plan administrator, c/o Joanne M. Blythe, Director, Retirement Administration, University of Pennsylvania, 3451 Walnut Street, 600 Franklin Building, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6205, (215) 898-9947. The charge to cover copying costs will be $5.00 for the full annual report or 25 cents per page for any part thereof.

You also have the right to receive from the plan administrator, on request and at no charge, a statement of the assets and liabilities of the plan and accompanying notes, or a statement of income and expenses of the plan and accompanying notes, or both for the University of Pennsylvania Matching Plan. If you request a copy of the full annual report from the plan administrator, these two statements and accompanying notes will be included as part of that report. The charge to cover copying costs given above does not include a charge for the copying of these portions of the report because these portions are furnished without charge.

You also have the legally protected right under ERISA to examine the annual reports in the offices of the Employer at the address for the plan administrator, above, and at the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington, D.C., or to obtain a copy from the U.S. Department of Labor upon payment of copying costs. Requests to the Department should be addressed to: Public Disclosure Room, Room N-1513, Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20210.

This is a summary of the annual report of The Supplemental Retirement Annuity Plan of the University of Pennsylvania (Plan No. 002) sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania, EIN: 23-1352685, for the period January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021. This annual report has been filed with the Employee Benefits Security Administration, as required under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).

Basic Financial Statement

Benefits under the plan are provided through unallocated insurance contracts and a trust fund. Plan expenses were $137,574,513. These expenses included $164,415 in administrative expenses and $137,410,098 in benefits paid to participants and beneficiaries. A total of 29,231 persons were participants in or beneficiaries of the plan at the end of the plan year.

The value of plan assets, after subtracting liabilities of the plan, was $1,909,537,931 as of December 31, 2021, compared to $1,712,732,422 as of January 1, 2021. During the plan year the plan experienced an increase in its net assets of $196,805,509. This increase includes net unrealized appreciation in the value of plan assets; that is, the difference between the value of the plan’s assets at the end of the plan year and the value of assets at the beginning of the plan year or the cost of assets acquired during the plan year. The plan had total income of $334,380,022 including employee contributions of $63,211,723, employee rollover contributions of $44,408,049, gains from investments of $255,743,321 and other income of $1,016,929.

Your Rights to Additional Information

Under ERISA, you have the right to receive a copy of the full annual report, or any part thereof, upon request. The items listed below are included in that report for the Supplemental Retirement Annuity Plan of the University of Pennsylvania:

1. An accountant’s opinion;
2. Financial information;
3. Information on payments to service providers;
4. Assets held for investment;
5. Insurance information; and
6. Information regarding pooled separate accounts in which the plan participates.

To obtain a copy of the full annual report, or any part thereof, write or call the office of the plan administrator, c/o Joanne M. Blythe, Director, Retirement Administration, University of Pennsylvania, 3451 Walnut Street, 600 Franklin Building, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6205, (215) 898-9947. The charge to cover copying costs will be $5.00 for the full annual report or 25 cents per page for any part thereof.

You also have the right to receive from the plan administrator, on request and at no charge, a statement of the assets and liabilities of the plan and accompanying notes, or a statement of income and expenses of the plan and accompanying notes, or both for the Supplemental Retirement Annuity Plan of the University of Pennsylvania. If you request a copy of the full annual report from the plan administrator, these two statements and accompanying notes will be included as part of that report. The charge to cover copying costs given above does not include a charge for the copying of these portions of the report because these portions are furnished without charge.

You also have the legally protected right under ERISA to examine the annual reports in the offices of the Employer at the address for the plan administrator, above, and at the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington, D.C., or to obtain a copy from the U.S. Department of Labor upon payment of copying costs. Requests to the Department should be addressed to: Public Disclosure Room, Room N-1513, Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20210.

This is a summary of the annual report of The University of Pennsylvania Basic Plan (Plan No. 028) sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania, EIN: 23-1352685, for the period January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021. This annual report has been filed with the Employee Benefits Security Administration, as required under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).

Basic Financial Statement

Benefits under the plan are provided through unallocated insurance contracts and a trust fund. Plan expenses were $69,981,654. These expenses included $309,864 in administrative expenses and $69,671,790 in benefits paid to participants and beneficiaries. A total of 27,515 persons were participants in or beneficiaries of the plan at the end of the plan year.

The value of plan assets, after subtracting liabilities of the plan, was $1,627,007,373 as of December 31, 2021, compared to $1,427,179,147 as of January 1, 2021. During the plan year the plan experienced an increase in its net assets of $199,828,226. This increase includes net unrealized appreciation in the value of plan assets; that is, the difference between the value of the plan’s assets at the end of the plan year and the value of assets at the beginning of the plan year or the cost of assets acquired during the plan year. The plan had total income of $269,809,880, including employer contributions of $67,359,973, employee rollover contributions of $1,568,017, gains from investments of $200,329,418 and other income of $552,472.

Your Rights to Additional Information

Under ERISA, you have the right to receive a copy of the full annual report, or any part thereof, upon request. The items listed below are included in that report for the University of Pennsylvania Basic Plan:

1. An accountant’s opinion;
2. Financial information;
3. Information on payments to service providers;
4. Assets held for investment;
5. Insurance information; and
6. Information regarding pooled separate accounts in which the plan participates.

To obtain a copy of the full annual report, or any part thereof, write or call the office of the plan administrator, c/o Joanne M. Blythe, Director, Retirement Administration, University of Pennsylvania, 3451 Walnut Street, 600 Franklin Building, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6205, (215) 898-9947. The charge to cover copying costs will be $5.00 for the full annual report or 25 cents per page for any part thereof.

You also have the right to receive from the plan administrator, on request and at no charge, a statement of the assets and liabilities of the plan and accompanying notes, or a statement of income and expenses of the plan and accompanying notes, or both for the University of Pennsylvania Basic Plan. If you request a copy of the full annual report from the plan administrator, these two statements and accompanying notes will be included as part of that report. The charge to cover copying costs given above does not include a charge for the copying of these portions of the report because these portions are furnished without charge.

You also have the legally protected right under ERISA to examine the annual reports in the offices of the Employer at the address for the plan administrator, above, and at the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington, D.C., or to obtain a copy from the U.S. Department of Labor upon payment of copying costs. Requests to the Department should be addressed to: Public Disclosure Room, Room N-1513, Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20210.

This is a summary of the annual report of the University of Pennsylvania Health and Welfare Plan for Retirees and Disabled Employees (Plan No. 530), sponsored by The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania, EIN 23-1352685 for the period that began on January 1, 2021 and ended on December 31, 2021. The annual report has been filed with the Employee Benefits Security Administration as required under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). Please note that not all employees are eligible to participate in the plan. Please consult your plan materials for specific eligibility information.

Retiree benefits were provided through a combination of self-insured payments from the University’s general assets, payments from a trust fund established to fund retiree benefits, and insurance contracts with third party insurance companies.

Medical, Dental and Prescription Drug Benefits

Insurance Information

The plan has contracts with Aetna Health, Inc., Independence Blue Cross, Keystone Health Plan East, Amerihealth and Metropolitan Life Insurance Company to pay medical and dental claims incurred under the terms of the contracts. The total premiums paid for the plan year ending December 31, 2021 were $2,829,195.

Basic Financial Information

The value of plan assets, after subtracting liabilities of the plan, was $744,136,442 as of December 31, 2021, compared to $690,946,235 as of January 1, 2021. During the plan year the plan experienced an increase in its net assets of $103,190,207. This increase includes net unrealized appreciation in the value of plan assets; that is, the difference between the value of the plan’s assets at the end of the year and the value of assets at the beginning of the year or the cost of assets acquired during the year. The plan had total income of $138,080,231, including employee contributions of $10,728,196, employer contributions of $22,914,573 and gains from investments of $104,437,462.

Plan expenses were $31,049,670. These expenses included $2,329,171 in administrative expenses and $28,720,499 in benefits paid to participants and beneficiaries.

Life Insurance Benefits

The plan has a contract with Metropolitan Life Insurance Company to pay life insurance claims incurred under the terms of the contract. The total premiums paid under this contract for the plan year ending December 31, 2021 were $1,011,159.

Your Rights to Additional Information

You have the right to receive a copy of the full annual report, or any part thereof, on request. The items listed below are included in that report:

1. An accountant’s opinion;
2. Financial information;
3. Information on payments to service providers;
4. Assets held for investment; and
5. Insurance information.

To obtain a copy of the full annual report, or any part thereof, write or call the office of the plan administrator, c/o Joanne M. Blythe, Director, Retirement Administration, University of Pennsylvania, 3451 Walnut Street, 600 Franklin Building, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6205, (215) 898-9947. The charge to cover copying costs will be $5.00 for the full annual report or 25 cents per page for any part thereof.

You also have the right to receive from the plan administrator, on request and at no charge, a statement of the assets and liabilities of the plan and accompanying notes, or a statement of income and expenses of the plan and accompanying notes, or both. If you request a copy of the full annual report from the plan administrator, these two statements and accompanying notes will be included as part of that report. The charge to cover copying costs given above does not include a charge for the copying of these portions of the report because these portions are furnished without charge.

You also have the legally protected right under ERISA to examine the annual reports in the offices of the Employer at the address for the plan administrator, above, and at the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington, D.C., or to obtain a copy from the U.S. Department of Labor upon payment of copying costs. Requests to the Department should be addressed to: Public Disclosure Room, Room N-1513, Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20210.

David Bourke O’Connor, a former professor of ancient Egyptian history and archaeology and former curator of the Egyptian collection of the Penn Museum, passed away on October 1 in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania after a long illness. He was 84.

Born in Sydney, Australia, Dr. O’Connor received his BA in Cypriote and near eastern archaeology in 1958 from the University of Sydney. He then took up study in the U.K., earning a post-graduate diploma in Egyptology from University College London (where he was the Lady Wallis Budge Fellow) in 1962. Afterwards, he split his time between England and the U.S. He came to Penn in 1964, taking both staff and faculty positions. That year, he began serving as an assistant curator-in-charge of the Egyptian section of the Penn Museum, and as an instructor in Egyptology in Penn’s department of oriental studies (a precursor to, among others, today’s department of near eastern languages and civilizations). Meanwhile, he worked toward a PhD in Egyptology from the University of Cambridge, which he received in 1969. The next year, Penn promoted him to an assistant professor in Egyptology, and in 1974, he became an associate professor. 

In 1969, Dr. O’Connor was also promoted to associate curator-in-charge of the Egyptian section of the Penn Museum, and in 1990 he became curator-in-charge. During this stint, he curated and co-curated several substantial in-house or traveling exhibits (covering the art and archaeology of Abydos, women in ancient Egypt, and ancient Nubia). Under the auspices of the Penn Museum, he directed excavations at Abydos and co-directed excavations at the palace-city and gigantic harbor of Amenhotep III at Malkata, western Thebes. In 1982-1983, he received a Guggenheim Fellowship, with which he researched urbanism in ancient Egypt, particularly the royal city. His profile elevated by this prestigious work, Dr. O’Connor accumulated responsibility at Penn, serving as research coordinator for curatorial and research sections of the Penn Museum beginning in 1983. From 1980 to 1982, he served as the department of oriental studies’ graduate group chair and associate department chair, and in 1990 he became a full professor. He was a longtime member of Penn’s University Council, and in 1994, he chaired its bookstore committee. 

Dr. O’Connor left Penn in 1995 (taking curator emeritus status at the Penn Museum) and accepted a position as the Lila Acheson Wallace Professor of Ancient Egyptian Art at the Institute of Fine Arts of New York University. He was an active faculty member at NYU, serving on the Institute of Fine Arts’ advisory committee and holding the position of deputy director for faculty and administration since 2010. Outside of Penn and NYU, Dr. O’Connor was an active scholar, serving as president of the Oriental Club of Philadelphia and of the American Research Center in Egypt. In 1985, he received a Medal of Merit from Taiwan’s National Museum of History in recognition of the cultural value of a Penn Museum exhibit he had curated. He wrote and co-wrote several books about ancient Egypt, including Ancient Egypt: A Social History (1983); Ancient Nubia: Egypt’s Rival in Africa (1993); and Abydos: Egypt’s Earliest Pharaohs and the Cult of Osiris (2009). 

He is survived by his wife, Gulbun O’Connor, former associate ombudsman at Penn; his daughters, Katherine O’Connor, CAS ’96, and Aisha O’Connor, CAS ’93; and three grandchildren. 

Section IV.3(c) of the Council bylaws provides that a University Council meeting “shall incorporate an open forum to which all members of the University community are invited and during which any member of the University community can direct questions to the Council.”

All members of the University community are invited to bring topics for discussion to the 

University Council Open Forum 
Wednesday, November 30, 2022 at 4 p.m. 
Hall of Flags, Houston Hall
**A PennCard is required to attend University Council meetings

PennCard holders who want to be assured of speaking at the Open Forum must inform the Office of the University Secretary (ucouncil@pobox.upenn.edu) by 10 a.m. on Friday, November 11, 2022, briefly indicating the subject of the intended remarks. 

Those who have not so informed the Office of the University Secretary will be permitted to speak only at the discretion of the moderator of University Council and in the event that time remains after the scheduled speakers.

Please see the meeting format provided below. Questions may be directed to the Office of the University Secretary at (215) 898-7005 or ucouncil@pobox.upenn.edu.

A PennCard is required to enter both Houston Hall and the University Council meeting. 

—Office of the University Secretary 

Format for University Council’s Open Forum
November 30, 2022

The purpose of the Open Forum is to inform University Council of topics important to the University’s general welfare and of the range of views held by members of the University. The forum is open to all members of the Penn community under the conditions set by the bylaws, following guidelines established by the Steering Committee of University Council: 

1. Speakers should limit their remarks to three minutes. 
2. Repetitive topics may be combined. 
3. The order of Open Forum topics will be made available no later than the Tuesday before the meeting, to be published on the Office of the University Secretary website (https://secretary.upenn.edu/univ-council/open-forum) and, if deadline constraints allow, in Almanac.
4. Speakers’ statements should be framed to present policy issues and be directed to University Council as a body through the moderator. The moderator will have discretion to interrupt statements that are directed against persons and otherwise to maintain the decorum of the meeting, as provided for in the bylaws.

At the University Council meeting on Wednesday, October 26, Lizann Boyle Rode, Associate Vice President in the Office of the University Secretary, addressed topics raised at the September council meeting, including concerns about the UC Townhomes and follow-up by Penn officials, and University support for the Middle East Center, which has lost its federal funding. 

President Liz Magill introduced John Jackson, Jr., the Walter H. Annenberg Dean of the Annenberg School for Communication and Richard Perry University Professor, who is serving as chair of the Red and Blue Advisory Committee. He presented on the committee’s work, which will inform Penn’s strategic plan, Tomorrow, Together.

Dean Jackson said Penn is at an inflection point and the University needs to think big, be bold, and get creative as it looks to the future. Penn’s goal is to create future leaders and advance shared priorities; contribute to the city, nation, and planet; and cultivate a culture of service to others.

He urged members of the community to get involved by sharing their opinions online or during upcoming town hall meetings, the dates of which will soon be announced. The committee recommendations will underpin a strategic framework that is forward-looking and directional, as well as leverage what is exceptional about Penn.

Interim Provost Beth Winkelstein introduced Vice Provost for Faculty Karen Detlefsen, who discussed Penn’s reaccreditation by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, which is underway. A presentation to the council discussed the three stages of the process: self-study, site visit, followed by the MSCHE’s decision on Penn’s reaccreditation.

Penn is currently completing its self-study, which has the theme of “Inclusively and Effectively Educating the Whole Person for the 21st Century.” More than 130 faculty, staff, and students are serving in the working groups that are part of the reaccreditation process.

The process is led by a steering committee and has seven working groups, focused on topics related to course-based teaching; research; supporting academic development; supporting personal development; community engagement; leadership/working with others effectively; and supporting the whole person and learning to care for oneself and others. The working group questions are framed within University priorities. The working groups have been meeting for eight months and all 12 schools are represented. There is also an operations group focused on governance and financial and other resources.

The self-study report process began in fall 2021, and a draft will be available for the community for review and comment in the fall of 2023. A site visit by external experts will take place in spring 2024. The visiting team will report to MSCHE shortly after their visit and, in the fall of 2024, a decision on Penn’s reaccreditation is expected.

University Council also voted to amend its bylaws to add a postdoctoral trainee representative. The amendment was approved.

The next University Council meeting will take place on Wednesday, November 30. It will be an open forum meeting (see above for more details). For more information, visit https:// secretary.upenn.edu/univ-council.

Penn's ninth president, M. Elizabeth Magill, was inaugurated on Friday, October 21, 2022. To read the texts of speeches delivered at the event and to view event photos, read the Almanac Presidential Inauguration Supplement.

The University of Pennsylvania honored eight distinguished alumni at the 2022 Alumni Award of Merit Gala on Friday, October 21.

Sharing the spotlight were Alberto Chamorro, Lee Spelman Doty, William Hohns, Joan Lau, and Alex H. Park, who all received the Alumni Award of Merit, along with Todd Lieberman, who accepted the Creative Spirit Award, and Omid Shokoufandeh, who accepted the Young Alumni Award. In addition to the alumni awards, Laura W. Perna of the Graduate School of Education (GSE) accepted the Faculty Award of Merit.

Following his graduation from the Wharton School as part of the Class of 1978, Alberto Chamorro joined his family’s business, E. Chamorro Group, a consumer goods company in Nicaragua founded in 1896 by his great grandfather. Building on his Nicaraguan heritage and family connections to Penn, Mr. Chamorro has provided steadfast leadership, pivotal support of student aid, and vital assistance to Penn Admissions and Penn Alumni efforts across Central America. An Alumni Trustee, he has served as president of the Penn Club of Nicaragua for 18 years, opening new avenues for staging information sessions in schools and spurring an increase in Penn students from the region. For two decades, Mr. Chamorro has supported Penn Admissions trips throughout Central America, helping to magnify Penn’s reach and recognition, and, as a result, helping to build a stronger international alumni community. His support of student financial aid has created a legacy that has transformed countless lives all over the world, from those beginning their college journeys to those celebrating their histories as alumni.

A Class of 1976 graduate of the Wharton School, Lee Spelman Doty’s career in the world of finance culminated in positions as managing director and head of U.S. equity at JPMorgan Chase. Her volunteer engagement and philanthropy spans Penn, where she spent nearly two decades on the Board of Trustees, serving as chair of the Development Committee and as Vice Chair of the Power of Penn campaign, Penn’s most successful fundraising and engagement effort of all time. Ms. Doty helped ensure the long-term stability and health of the University through her service on the Board of Trustees and as a longtime member of the Executive Committee. She served as Penn Alumni president for three years, a role in which she strengthened the global alumni community, and also served as a member of the board of advisors of the Graduate School of Education, as a member of the board of advisors for the Perelman School of Medicine, as a member of the Trustees’ Council of Penn Women, and as co-chair of her class gift committee.

Over a half-century, William Hohns, Wharton Class of 1974, founded or acquired companies that have become thriving employee-owned entities and have created more than 25,000 jobs. A passion for horticulture and the arts has been the cornerstone of his engagement with Penn and his philanthropy. As a member of the Morris Arboretum board, he conceived of and funded the Penn Tree Program and his service to that board continues as a global advisor. A member of the Homecoming Host Committee, Mr. Hohns has been active in Arts@Homecoming events, serving as a host for the Gallery Hop and Sculpture Tours. He has also championed the Class of 1974 as a reunion volunteer. Mr. Hohns also created and sponsored the Enabling Student Cultural Access to Penn Entities (ESCAPE) program, which benefits students with wide-ranging support, offering opportunities to enjoy the art and educational programs at the Arthur Ross Gallery, visit the Morris Arboretum, volunteer at the Penn Vet Working Dog Center, and take part in Penn Athletics’ club sports, intramural sports, and the Penn Athletics Mentorship Program.

Joan Lau holds two degrees from Penn. She is a member of the undergraduate Class of 1992 in the School of Engineering and Applied Science and a 2008 graduate of the Wharton School, where she earned her MBA. As a leader and mentor, an innovative engineer, and someone who proudly identifies as a member of the Asian and LGBTQ+ communities, she has found innovative ways to create a more welcoming and inclusive Penn community. She co-founded Penn Leadership Q, an official Penn Alumni initiative designed to harness the energy and potential among LGBTQ+ alumni. She has served as a member of the Penn Alumni Board and chair of PennGALA, and has used her voice to elevate and make visible the perspectives of those who were not always represented. Since being honored with the Young Alumni Award in 2006, Dr. Lau has joined the Penn Engineering Alumni Society board, the Vagelos Program in Life Sciences & Management Advisory Board, the Trustees’ Council of Penn Women, and the board of advisors at the School of Social Policy & Practice.

Oscar- and Emmy-winning film producer Todd Lieberman has received the 2022 Creative Spirit Award for his lifelong commitment to and excellence in the arts. A member of the Class of 1995 in the College of Arts and Sciences, Mr. Lieberman is ranked among the most powerful producers in the business. His films include American Pie, the live-action version of Beauty and the Beast, Memento, The Fighter, The Proposal, and The Muppets. His interest in the performing arts began at Penn in the early 1990s, working on shows at the Mask and Wig Club. Early in his career, he worked as senior vice president for Hyde Park Entertainment, and he is now a partner in Mandeville Films. With his wife, Heather Zeegen Lieberman, a member of the Class of 1994, he started Hidden Pictures, a production company fostering new narrative and documentary projects. The pair also created an endowed scholarship for students in the College and support Penn Live Arts, philanthropically and as champions of the Penn Live Arts Career Development Initiative. He has returned to campus to screen his movies and speak to students about filmmaking, encouraging them to pursue careers in the arts.

Alex H. Park, a member of the Class of 1985, built a successful career in the banking industry, rising through the ranks at Standard Chartered First Bank Korea to become executive vice president and then head of global markets. As his career grew, he saw an opportunity to grow the Penn alumni community in South Korea as well. He led the effort on multiple fronts—through the Penn Club of Korea, the Alumni Interview Program, and Penn Parents—to create a thriving network of alumni, parents, and prospective students. Mr. Park has been heavily involved with the Alumni Interview Program in South Korea for more than two decades and took over as head of the committee in 2009. Since then, he has grown membership to include 170 alumni who provide interviews to prospective applicants there. He has also been active in the Penn Parents community in South Korea, bolstering the Penn experience not just for students, but for entire families.

Omid Shokoufandeh, Class of 2009, is vice president of acquisitions and development with Abington Emerson Investments. At Penn, he was a standout soccer player, earning First Team All-Ivy honors his senior year and becoming the first Quaker in more than ten years to notch more than 20 points in a season. Returning regularly to Philadelphia for Alumni Weekend and Homecoming, Mr. Shokoufandeh is an active member of the Penn Alumni Interview Program and became president of the Penn Club of Los Angeles in 2016, leading the club to win the 2021 Alumni Club Award of Merit. During the global pandemic, he kept spirits strong with programming, including a Penn welcome event and a timely talk on vaccines and misinformation co-sponsored by Penn Libraries and Penn Medicine. As a founding member and current chair of the Penn Libraries Young Alumni Board, he invoked the spirit of friendly competition, creating a fundraising challenge between members on the East and West Coasts that secured full participation.

This year’s Faculty Award of Merit went to Laura W. Perna, the GSE Centennial Presidential Professor of Education and executive director of the Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy (AHEAD). Dr. Perna is an expert in college access, affordability, and success, especially for low-income, first-generation, and non-traditional students. The co-founder of Penn AHEAD, she has testified before Congress and advised university leaders and policymakers. A member of Penn’s Class of 1988, Dr. Perna completed dual bachelor’s degrees from the College and the Wharton School and went on to earn her PhD in education and master’s in policy studies from the University of Michigan.

In addition to the individual awards, the Classes of 1970, 1971, and 1982 received the Class Award of Merit, and the Classes of 1990, 2016, and 1992 received the David N. Tyre Award for Excellence in Class Communications. Special acknowledgement went to the Penn Clubs of San Francisco, New York, Utah, and Westchester & Rockland Counties, Hartford, and central New Jersey.

Anita L. Allen, the Henry R. Silverman Professor of Law in the Carey Law School and professor of philosophy in the School of Arts and Sciences, is a recipient of the Hastings Center’s 2022 Bioethics Founders’ Award.

The award recognizes individuals from around the world who have made substantial, sustained contributions to bioethics in ways that have advanced thinking and practice in medicine, the life sciences, and public policy.

Dr. Allen was recognized for outstanding contributions to law and philosophy and to their practical applications in medicine, science, and public affairs.

“The Hastings Center has been in the forefront of ethically hard thinking about health care and health research, a venerable American institution,” said Dr. Allen. “Receiving the Founders’ Award for my work on health privacy, mental health morals, and genetics is something of which I am extremely proud and grateful. I hope I can continue to earn this high recognition through service to the field.”

A graduate of Harvard Law with a PhD in philosophy from the University of Michigan, Dr. Allen is internationally renowned as an expert on philosophical dimensions of privacy and data protection law, ethics, bioethics, legal philosophy, women’s rights, and diversity in higher education. She has been named among the world’s top 20 philosophers by Academic Influence.

Dr. Allen was president of the Eastern Division of the American Philosophical Association (APA) from 2018 to 2019, the first African American woman to be so named. In 2021, she was awarded APA’s highest honor, the Philip L. Quinn Prize; she also received the 2022 Berkeley Center for Law & Technology Privacy Award.

Dr. Allen is an elected member of the American Law Institute, the American Philosophical Society, and the National Academy of Medicine and is a former member of the National Academies’ Forum on Cyber Resilience. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the Hastings Center. She served under President Barack Obama as a member of the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues. In 2014, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) for her pioneering privacy scholarship and advocacy.

Adham S. Bear, an instructor of hematology-oncology, has received the 2022 Inspiration Award from the Hopper-Belmont Foundation for his dedication and innovation in pancreatic cancer research. Dr. Bear will receive $5,000 in research funding to advance potential treatments for patients with pancreatic cancer, aligned with this year’s award focus on Novel Therapeutic Approaches. The Hopper-Belmont Foundation is a nonprofit dedicated to inspiring young talent to innovate in health and wellness. The Inspiration Award supports novel approaches that need proof of concept or additional data before seeking larger grant support.

D. Gregory Farwell, the Gabriel Tucker Professor of Otorhinolaryngology and chair of otorhinolaryngology–head and neck surgery, has been inducted into the Academy of Master Surgeon Educators. The recognition, awarded by the American College of Surgeons, recognizes the highest levels of achievement in surgical education. Dr. Farwell has published more than 100 peer-reviewed papers and is a leader in the field of head and neck cancer surgery, having been invited to give over 300 presentations globally on the best ways to treat and rehabilitate patients with cancer of the head and neck.

Carl H. June, the Richard W. Vague Professor of Immunotherapy and director of the Center for Cellular Immunotherapies, has received the inaugural Maria I. New International Prize for Biomedical Research from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. The prize honors medical pioneers in the tradition of Dr. New, who demonstrated outstanding commitment over six decades to breakthrough research. Dr. June is a pioneer of CAR T cell therapy, which has led to FDA-approved treatments for lymphoma, leukemia, and multiple myeloma. In addition to the prize, Dr. June will receive $20,000 and present the Maria I. New Distinguished Lecture in New York City this November.

Virginia Man-Yee Lee, the John H. Ware 3rd Professor in Alzheimer’s Research in the department of pathology and laboratory medicine and director of the Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research, has been named a Clarivate Citation Laureate for the identification of TDP-43, a pathological signature of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), and for other contributions to the study of neurodegenerative diseases. The class of laureates are researchers whose work is deemed to be “of Nobel class,” according to analysis by the Institute for Scientific Information.

Van Truong, a PhD student in genomics and computational biology, has been selected for the Microsoft Research PhD Fellowship. It covers two years of stipend and tuition while pursuing research that falls within 10 areas, such as artificial intelligence and data platforms. Nearly 50 students from around the world are selected, enabling them to connect with mentors and research teams at Microsoft.

Anna Wexler, an assistant professor of medical ethics & health policy, and Martha Farah, the Walter H. Annenberg Professor of Natural Sciences in the departments of psychology and medical ethics & health policy, have been awarded a planning grant from the Dana Foundation for a new Dana Center for Neuroscience and Society. A planning grant is the first phase of a two-part grants process; in the second phase, they will compete with 10 other planning grant awardees for two grants to establish a Dana Center to reimagine the existing Center for Neuroscience and Society, which Dr. Farah currently directs. The planning grants are an important first step to address gaps in training and research for scholars who aim to foster neuroscience’s positive impact on society.

Penn Dental Medicine’s Morton Amsterdam Dean, Mark S. Wolff, has been recognized by the Shils Entrepreneurial Fund, Inc. as one of this year’s recipients of its Innovation Awards. These annual awards recognize individuals, organizations, and programs that have made a significant impact on the oral health community and public health overall. This year’s awards were presented at a ceremony held October 19 at Penn Dental Medicine, which also marked the Shils Fund’s 20th anniversary.

“For 20 years, the Shils Foundation has identified, and helped elevate, individuals who are making a difference in oral health,” said Steve Kess, president of Shils Fund and vice president of global professional relations at Henry Schein. “Together, we will continue to recognize, develop, and connect oral health care’s most innovative minds with the right leadership.”

Dean Wolff, one of four recipients this year, received the Cohen-Volpe Award, which honors D. Walter Cohen and Anthony Volpe, and is given to those who have made innovative strides in the health care space. In particular, the award recognized Dean Wolff’s innovative approach to re-establishing the generational relationship between Hebrew University and University o Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine, and for outstanding leadership on behalf of individuals and communities in need.

“It is an honor to receive this award and celebrate our ties with Hebrew University through it,” said Dean Wolff.

The Shils Entrepreneurial Fund was founded in 2022, honoring the pioneering vision of Edward B. Shils, who had strong ties with Penn and the dental industry. Dr. Shils earned six degrees at Penn and was the founder of the Wharton Entrepreneurial Center. He served on Penn Dental Medicine’s Board of Advisors from 2002 until his death in 2004, and for more than 50 years, he shared his entrepreneurial vision and passion for education with the dental industry as executive director of two trade associations—the Dental Manufacturers of America (now the Dental Trade Alliance) and the Dental Dealers of America.

President Liz Magill engaged in a wide-ranging conversation with Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan during her inauguration on October 21, 2022.  Topics discussed included Justice Kagan’s clerkship for the late Justice Thurgood Marshall and the importance of the current court finding “common ground” to better address the cases before it.

In his introduction, Trustees Chair Scott L. Bok described the similarities in the career trajectories of Justice Kagan and President Magill.

“Justice Kagan and President Magill have a great deal in common,” he said, “And their careers have followed remarkably similar paths.” This common path included Supreme Court clerkships, as well as public service and academic appointment. Justice Kagan was a clerk for Thurgood Marshall, President Magill for Ruth Bader Ginsburg; Justice Kagan served in the Clinton Administration, and President Magill worked for U.S. Senator Kent Conrad; Justice Kagan served as dean of the Harvard Law School from 2003 to 2009, and President Magill was dean of Stanford Law School from 2012 to 2018.

“I’m guessing they will have a lot to discuss,” Mr. Bok said.

The conversation continued with some friendly banter. Justice Kagan began by asking to lead off their discussion by congratulating President Magill on her inauguration and congratulating the entire Penn community on their good fortune of having President Magill to lead them.

“Liz and I, as you just heard, we share a bunch of things in common; we go back a long way, and I can tell the entire Penn community that they’ve got the real deal here,” Justice Kagan said. “I think you are going to get a lot of really innovative ideas, a lot of good sense, good judgment, a lot of integrity—all wrapped up in one package.”

President Magill thanked her and replied, “That is incredibly kind. I hope I can live up to that billing,” to which Justice Kagan said: “Well, you’d better.”

Friday afternoon’s conversation—in front of an in-person audience of about 900 guests in Irvine Auditorium and many more watching online—capped off a festivities-filled day surrounding President Magill’s inauguration as Penn’s ninth president.

“How do you all get along when you disagree so much?” President Magill asked, pointing to a specific example of Justice Kagan going on several hunting trips with the late Justice Antonin Scalia, despite their ideological differences.

Justice Kagan described how she and her fellow justices go to lunch a few times a week, and they have a rule that they can’t discuss any cases.

“So you talk about the normal things that people talk about. We talk about baseball, we talk about kids, we talk about grandchildren,” she said. “The idea behind it is that we should all get to know each other as human beings, and when you will get to know each other as human beings it’s easier to talk about hard work things in a way that’s productive and collaborative.”

She sees finding those commonalities as a way to help bridge their differences on cases. But she emphasized that their worth depends on whether they actually help to produce that result.

“Do we engage with each other in a way that attempts to find common ground, in a way that fosters principled compromise, or is that beyond us?” Justice Kagan said. “I really want it to be the first, but that’s a work in progress.”

President Magill asked what Justice Kagan learned from Justice Marshall during her clerkship that she takes with her into her current role on the court.

Justice Marshall was one of the few Supreme Court justices whose importance had a great deal more to do with what he did in a non-judge capacity than in a judicial capacity, Justice Kagan said, referring to him as “the greatest lawyer of the 20th century.”

Before he even arrived at the court, “he really did reshape American law and reshape American society. He was the principal lawyer in the struggle to achieve racial equality, to eradicate Jim Crow segregation in the United States.

“If you’re going to be the greatest lawyer in the 20th century, maybe the real question is: have you done the most justice? And he did the most justice of anybody,” she said. “It was just such an honor to work for him that year. We felt ourselves the luckiest people in the building.”

They also discussed how Justice Kagan ended up studying law, which she said was “for all the wrong reasons.” Following her history studies, she said she was unsatisfied and felt law school was a place where she could keep her options open until she figured out what she really wanted to do.

“From the very first moment, I loved it. And what I loved about it was that it was incredibly intellectually stimulating, it was like a gigantic puzzle, but at the same time it makes a real difference in the world,” she said. “The combination of those two things—something that was analytically extremely demanding and where you can also see how it could have an impact in the world and in people’s lives—that’s what I love.”

Asked what her favorite job has been, Justice Kagan replied it was her solicitor general role, which she called “the best job in America.” It was a post President Barack Obama nominated her for just months before he tapped her to become associate justice of the Supreme Court in 2010.

Turning to Justice Kagan’s position on the court, President Magill asked which of the opinions and dissents that she’s authored were her favorites.

She highlighted an opinion that Justice Scalia assigned her to write on a 2015 patent dispute over a toy “Spiderman” glove that shoots webs from the wrist. It was a fun opinion because of the superhero angle, she said, but it also gave her a chance to discuss why “stare decisis,” the doctrine of precedent, is of such importance in the law.

“The first reason is that law should be stable. People depend on law; people rely on law,” she said. “You give people a right, and then you take that right away. In the meantime they’ve understood their lives in a different kind of way.”

The second reason is that judges should be humble, she said.

“People have been doing law for a long time before us, and the way the law develops—usually and best—is when it develops slowly and incrementally, by the work of many judges over time,” she said. “It’s a kind of hubris to say, ‘We’ll just throw them all out because we think we know better.’”

The third reason is it prevents the court from becoming politicized, with judges coming on the court and overthrowing the apparatus and legal rules.

“Rather than law-building in this incremental, minimalist way over time, there are all these jolts to the system, and it begins to look not like a court and more like a political institution. That’s something that the courts need to be incredibly cognizant of and wary about,” Justice Kagan said. “Courts should look like courts. Courts should be courts. Courts should act like courts.”

Asked if she thought of herself as a dissenter on the current court, Justice Kagan told President Magill she doesn’t necessarily want to be, but she found herself in that position a lot last year. She said despite it all, she sees herself as a clear-eyed optimist about the future.

“I’m clear-eyed about the challenges but still remain hopeful. But time will tell,” she said.

The talk ended with a series of lightning round questions that hit on Justice Kagan’s favorite novels (Middlemarch, Wolf Hall, and Lincoln in the Bardo); binge-worthy TV (The Sopranos and Game of Thrones, minus the last season); and what she does on her days off.

“These days, I golf,” she said.

The entire conversation and all the inauguration events can be viewed at https://inauguration.upenn.edu/webcast.

Adapted from a Penn Today article by Kristen de Groot, October 24, 2022.

Exhibits

Penn Museum

Info: https://www.penn.museum/calendar.

5          Middle East Galleries Tour; 11 a.m. Also November 6.

Films

7          Shoplifters (Manbiki Kizoku); on the margins of Tokyo, a dysfunctional band of outsiders is united by fierce loyalty and a penchant for petty theft—when the young son is arrested, secrets are exposed that upend their tenuous, below-the-radar existence; 7 p.m.; room 110, Annenberg School; register: https://tinyurl.com/shoplifters-nov-7 (Center for East Asian Studies).

Fitness & Learning

1          History Department Open House; undergraduates are invited to join the history department faculty to learn more about studying history at Penn, including the major and minor; 12:30-2 p.m.; room 209, College Hall (History).

4          Kurdish Language Workshop; day-long workshop that includes an intro to the politics of Kurdistan, sessions about the Kurmanji language, and a workshop with Kurdish music; 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m.; room 135, Fisher-Bennett Hall (Middle East Center).

Graduate School of Education

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

4          First Friday Virtual Info Sessions: International Educational Development Program; 9 a.m.

8          Reading/Writing/Literacy Doctoral Information Session; noon.

School of Social Policy & Practice

Online events unless noted. Info: https://www.sp2.upenn.edu/events/.

1          MSW/MBE Informational Session; 11 a.m.

Meetings

3          Office of Government & Community Affairs Community Meeting; OGCA’s monthly virtual meeting with community leaders, service organizations, and local nonprofits; 10 a.m.; Zoom webinar; info: ogca@pobox.upenn.edu (OGCA).

Music

3          Sounds of Spirit: A Night of Traditional Spirituals & Sonic Musings; Cory Seals & Khalib Owen perform a soundscape of traditional spirituals and sonic musings to conjure a continuum of African American presence; 5 p.m.; Arthur Ross Gallery, Fisher Fine Arts Library (Arthur Ross Gallery, Music).

On Stage

3          Bloomers Comedy: Temple of Bloom; pack your map, get a ragtag group of ne’er-do-wells together, and join Bloomers Comedy for the adventure of a lifetime; 8 p.m.; Harold Prince Theater, Annenberg Center; tickets: https://pennlivearts.org/event/temple-of-bloom (Bloomers, Penn Live Arts). Also November 4, 6 and 9 p.m.; November 5, 6 and 9 p.m.

Readings & Signings

3          Study Gods; Yi-Lin Chiang, National Chengchi University; noon; Zoom webinar; register: https://tinyurl.com/chiang-reading-nov-3 (Population Studies Center).

            Media of the Masses: Cassette Culture in Modern Egypt; Andrew Simon, Dartmouth College; 12:15 p.m.; room 500, Annenberg School, and Zoom webinar; register: https://tinyurl.com/simon-reading-nov-3 (Annenberg School, Middle East Center).  

8          Media and the Affective Lives of Slavery; Allison Page, Old Dominion University; 5 p.m.; room 500, Annenberg School; register: https://tinyurl.com/page-reading-nov-8 (Annenberg Center for Collaborative Communication).

Kelly Writers House

Info: https://writing.upenn.edu/wh/calendar/1122.php.

2          The Grand Piano: Ten Years After; roundtable discussion; 6 p.m.; YouTube livestream.

Talks

2          Endothelial Cell Signaling in Regeneration of the Lung; Terren Niethamer, PSOM; noon; room 213, Stemmler Hall (Penn-CHOP Lung Biology Institute).

3          Data Safety Monitoring Boards in Vaccine Trials—The COVID Experience; Jonathan Zenilman, Johns Hopkins University; 9 a.m.; BlueJeans meeting; join: https://bluejeans.com/873734674/4747?src=join_info (Center for Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics).

            Historical Thinking and Transitional Justice: Perspectives from Colombia; Catalina Muñoz, Institute for Advanced Study; noon; room 209, College Hall (History).

            A Conversation; Xavier Artigas, filmmaker; 5:30 p.m.; room 401, Fisher-Bennett Hall (Cinema Studies).

            Treatment of Posterior Maxilla and Mandible: The Rationale Use of Short Implants; Michele Perelli, DentalmedTV; 6 p.m.; online webinar; info: https://tinyurl.com/perelli-talk-nov-3 (Penn Dental).

4          Making Sense of the Physical World With High-Resolution Tactile Sensing; Wenzhen Yuan, Carnegie Mellon University; 10:30 a.m.; Wu & Chen Auditorium, Levine Hall, and Zoom webinar; join: https://upenn.zoom.us/j/94004246917 (GRASP Lab).

7          The IGNITE Study on Concentrated Investment in Black Neighborhoods; Atheendar Venkataramani, medicine; noon; room 1402, Blockley Hall, and Zoom webinar; register: https://tinyurl.com/venkataramani-talk-nov-7 (Medical Ethics & Health Policy).

            On the Principles of Parsimony and Self-Consistency: Structured Compressive Closed-Loop Transcription; Yi Ma, University of California Berkeley; 3:30 p.m.; room 101, Levine Hall (Electrical and Systems Engineering).

8          Mixing of Granular Materials, Inertial Suspensions, and Cement; Melany Hunt, California Institute of Technology; 10 a.m.; Wu & Chen Auditorium, Levine Hall (SEAS Tedori-Callinan Lecture).

            Going Nuclear: Science, Diplomacy, and Defense; M. Susan Lindee, history & sociology of science; Lynn Meskell, PIK professor; 4 p.m.; Perry World House and Zoom webinar; register: https://tinyurl.com/lindee-meskell-nov-8 (Perry World House).

Center for the Study of Contemporary China

In-person talks at room 418, PCPSE. Info: https://cscc.sas.upenn.edu/events.

3          Trafficking Data: How China is Winning the Battle for Digital Sovereignty; Aynne Kokas, University of Virginia; 4:30 p.m.

4          Turning China Fever to China Fear? China’s Economic Statecraft and Its Impact on Foreign Businesses; Seung-Youn Oh, Bryn Mawr College; 12:30 p.m.

Economics

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

2          World Financial Cycles; Fabrizio Perri, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis; 4 p.m.; room 101, PCPSE.

8          Regret-Minimizing Project Choice; Yingni Guo, Northwestern University; 4 p.m.; room 101, PCPSE.

Mathematics

In-person and virtual events. Info: https://www.math.upenn.edu/events.

7          Mirror Symmetry for Hyperkahler Varieties; Justin Sawon, University of North Carolina; 3:30 p.m.; room 4C6, DRL.

Workshop in the History of Material Texts

In-person events at Class of 1978 Orrery Pavilion, Van Pelt Library. Info: https://pennmaterialtexts.org/about/events/.

7          The Ten Commandments and/as Erasable Wax Tablets; Peter Stallybrass, English; 5:15 p.m.

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

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 17-23, 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 17-23, 2022. The University Police actively patrol from Market St to Baltimore and from the Schuylkill River to 43^rd 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.

18^th District

Below are the Crimes Against Persons from the 18th District: 9 incidents (5 robberies, 2 assaults, 1 domestic assault, 1 indecent assault) were reported for October 17-23, 2022 by the 18^th District, covering the Schuylkill River to 49th St & Market St to Woodland Avenue.

October 24, 2022

Dear Penn Community,

I hope you are enjoying the fall semester! We have all been living, learning, and working on campus with many fewer restrictions than at this time last year, primarily due to our highly vaccinated community, our shared responsibility to stay home when not feeling well, and our evolving understanding of COVID-19. The following message contains important information about Penn’s upcoming COVID-19 booster clinic, in addition to guidance and reminders about campus protocols. 

Penn’s Booster Clinic

The University will hold a COVID-19 booster clinic on November 3 and 4 from 8 a.m.–6 p.m. at Pottruck Health and Fitness Center (3701 Walnut Street, Philadelphia). The Pfizer mRNA bivalent COVID-19 booster will be available to the entire University community and their families free of charge. Register and schedule your appointment for the booster clinic here. Please note, you must create an account before scheduling your appointment. For more information about the booster clinic, visit the Penn Cares COVID-19 Response website. 

Booster Eligibility

The CDC recommends that people ages five years and older receive one updated (bivalent) booster if it has been at least two months since their last COVID-19 vaccine dose, whether that was their final primary series dose or an original (monovalent) booster. This new booster enhances the immune system’s response against both the original coronavirus strain and the newer omicron strains.

Find a Booster in the Community

If you are unable to attend Penn’s booster clinic, you can find appointments for the mRNA bivalent COVID-19 booster at local pharmacies by visiting www.vaccines.gov. 

COVID-19 Public Health Guidance

In addition to getting your booster, please continue to follow Penn’s COVID-19 Public Health Guidance regarding testing on campus, isolation, masking, and what to do if you feel ill.

Cold and Flu Season

In addition to COVID-19, other respiratory illnesses typically become more common in the fall and winter months. Remember to practice good hand and cough hygiene: wash your hands frequently and well for at least 20 seconds and use hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol content, cough into your elbow instead of your hand, and wear a mask if you’re not feeling well. As an additional layer of protection, all members of the Penn community are strongly encouraged to get their flu shot. The flu vaccine is required for all students. If you have not yet received your flu vaccine, you can find available appointments at local pharmacies by visiting www.vaccines.gov.

Thank you for continuing to do your part to maintain a vibrant Penn community—one that depends on individual decision-making and collective care for one another to help keep our campus and surrounding communities healthy and safe.

In good health, 

—Benoit Dubé, Associate Provost and Chief Wellness Officer

Election Day is Tuesday, November 8. Pennsylvania polling places are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Check your voter registration status and find your polling place at https://www.pavoterservices.pa.gov/pages/voterregistrationstatus.aspx. 

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 Four–Drawing October 31

• ThermoFisher Scientific: Home Depot gift card ($25 Value): Stephen Hamilton, Development & Alumni Relations
• ThermoFisher Scientific: Lowe’s gift card ($25 Value): Adam Michaels, Wharton
• ThermoFisher Scientific: Starbucks gift card ($25 Value): Kathryn Hanlon, Student Services
• ThermoFisher Scientific: Subway gift card ($25 Value): Sharrlene Ferrell, Penn Dining
• ThermoFisher Scientific: Target gift card ($25 Value): Lindsay Northern, Penn Medicine Home Care & Hospice Services
• ThermoFisher Scientific: Target gift card ($25 Value): Ashley Frazier, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center
• EMSCO Scientific: Restaurant gift card ($50 Value): Veraaj Garachh, Penn Medicine Corporate Services

Week Five–Drawing November 7

• Benco Dental: wireless headphones ($50 Value).
• GenVault: Amazon gift card ($50 Value).
• Longwood Gardens: two tickets ($50 Value):
• EMSCO Scientific: restaurant gift card ($50 Value).
• EMSCO Scientific: restaurant gift card ($50 Value).
• Neta Scientific: wireless headphones ($50 Value).
• Penn Live Arts: two tickets to Sw!ng Out (June 9, 8 p.m.) ($50 Value).
• Penn Live Arts: two tickets to Sw!ng Out (June 10, 8 p.m.) ($50 Value).