October 4, 2022 Volume 69 Issue 8

A $50 million gift from Stewart and Judy Colton, W’62, will accelerate the existing Colton Center for Autoimmunity at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine into an internationally leading center of autoimmune research and treatment with a dedicated space, powerful recruitment capabilities, scientific resources, and more. The Colton family’s generosity allows the Colton Center at Penn to continue driving collaborative, innovative autoimmune disease research with the center’s elite team of researchers and experts across immune health, data science, and artificial intelligence.

This gift builds on a $10 million gift from the Coltons, which established the Colton Center for Autoimmunity at Penn in the fall of 2021. The launch of the center united research and patient care programs across Penn—including Penn’s Institute for Immunology, one of the world’s largest single-institution immunology communities—to drive advances in autoimmune diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment. The new gift will provide resources for the Colton Center at Penn to build a world-class home co-located with immune health, vaccinology, virology and viral immunity, SARS-CoV-2 research, fundamental immunology, and related areas to stimulate scientific collaboration and draw in multi-disciplinary investigators.

“The vision for the Colton Center is bold and boundless—it will be propelled not only by Penn’s own distinguished scientists, but through collaborations with researchers at other top institutions who are, together, committed to making a difference for those coping with autoimmune diseases,” said University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill. “We are strongest when we work as a team, and we are proud to have the faith and generosity of Stewart and Judy Colton to power us in these efforts.”

More than 23.5 million Americans are impacted by autoimmune diseases, in which the body’s immune system attacks healthy cells. These diseases—such as celiac disease, type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis—are more common in women than in men, and are a leading cause of death and disability with annual health care costs exceeding $100 billion.

“Already the Colton Center has convened talent, set a vision, and launched a pilot grant program to support new and emerging ideas,” said J. Larry Jameson, executive vice president of the University of Pennsylvania for the Health System and dean of the Perelman School of Medicine. “Now, the Colton Center at Penn is poised to bring even more transformation to the landscape of autoimmune disease and to the lives of those who suffer from it, with an accelerated pace of discovery.”

In addition to the creation of a physical space for collaboration, the center aims to become the leading nexus of autoimmune research, with the top scientific minds pursuing visionary projects together. Led by director E. John Wherry, chair of systems pharmacology and translational therapeutics, the center’s faculty members are all at the vanguards of their fields and represent expertise in a broad range of autoimmune disease areas. With the Coltons’ gift, the center will recruit new talent to help further the program’s scope and drive future progress.

Additional priorities for the center include further development of Penn’s Immune Health platform, provision of both internal and external grants to fund promising ideas in the field, initiation of adaptive clinical trials, and expansion of artificial intelligence and big data efforts to accelerate advances in the field.

Penn is pleased to join the first two centers in the Colton Consortium, New York University and Yale University, as well as the more recent addition Tel Aviv University, each of which brings outstanding expertise and dedication to the effort’s shared mission. The goal of the Colton Consortium is to use complementary strengths at each institution to collectively elevate the field of autoimmunity.

“The Colton Center unites researchers, physicians, entrepreneurs, and more—not just across Penn but around the world—all focused on improving potential treatments and our understanding of autoimmunity,” Dr. Wherry said. “By embracing this collaboration, we can accomplish so much more than any one lab or site alone. Together, we make up a tremendous center of gravity for autoimmune research and innovation.”

In the coming years, Penn envisions multiple avenues of connection to the other centers, including retreats and scientific meetings, collaboration between leadership and faculty of the four centers, and the development of multiple scientific initiatives.

“Autoimmunity affects so many people and yet we still see gaps in knowledge and care options available to patients and families,” said philanthropists Judy and Stewart Colton. “Our goal is to improve that outlook. By investing in Penn and its scientific partners in the Colton Consortium, we hope to create an organized approach so we can work together to define the future of this important area of medicine.”

September 28, 2022

We are pleased to announce the formation of an ad hoc Consultative Committee to advise on the selection of the next Dean of the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. The members of the Consultative Committee are listed below. The committee welcomes—and will keep in the strictest confidence—nominations and input from all members of the University community. For fullest consideration, communications should be received, preferably in electronic form, no later than December 1, 2022 and may be sent to: lawdeansearch@upenn.edu.

—M. Elizabeth Magill, President
—Beth A. Winkelstein, Interim Provost

Ad Hoc Consultative Committee for the Selection of the Dean of the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School

Faculty

• Erika H. James, Committee Chair; Dean, Wharton School and Reliance Professor of Management and Private Enterprise (WHA)
• Anita L. Allen, Henry R. Silverman Professor of Law and professor of philosophy (LAW)
• Mitchell Berman, Leon Meltzer Professor of Law and professor of philosophy (LAW)
• Cary Coglianese, Edward B. Shils Professor of Law and professor of political science (LAW)
• Jonathan D. Moreno, David and Lyn Silfen University Professor; professor of medical ethics & health policy and history & sociology of science (PSOM and SAS)
• Sarah Pierce, Denise A. Rotko Associate Dean for Legal Practice Skills (LAW)
• Tess Wilkinson-Ryan, professor of law and psychology (LAW)
• Christopher S. Yoo, John H. Chestnut Professor of Law, Communication, and Computer & Information Science (LAW)

Students

• Emily Campbell, L’24
• Miles M. Gray, L’24

Alumni

• Perry Golkin, W’74, WG’74, L’78, University Trustee and member, Penn Carey Law Board of Advisors
• Osagie Imasogie, GL’85, University Trustee and chair, Penn Carey Law Board of Advisors

Ex-Officio

• Joann Mitchell, senior vice president for institutional affairs and chief diversity officer

Staff to the Committee

• Lynne Hunter, associate provost for administration, Office of the Provost
• Seth Zweifler, assistant to the vice president and chief of staff, Office of the President

Consultants to the Committee

• Kenneth L. Kring, co-managing director, global education practice, and senior client partner, Korn Ferry
• Josh Ward, senior client partner, Korn Ferry
• Lori Hemmer, senior associate, Korn Ferry

This summer, Penn GSE welcomed Laura Tepper as its new vice dean of development and alumni relations, a critical role in securing financial support for the school, sharing its impact, and engaging the alumni community.

Ms. Tepper comes to Penn GSE from Penn Carey Law School, where she oversaw the school’s fundraising program as the executive director of development, managing a frontline team that supported one of America’s top law schools. Under her leadership, the school raised two of the largest gifts made to an American law school. She brings an accomplished development track record to the country’s top-ranked graduate school of education.

Ms. Tepper joins Penn GSE on the heels of GSE’s highly successful fundraising campaign that concluded in June 2021. The Extraordinary Impact campaign raised nearly $100 million to expand scholarships and fellowships that support a robust and diverse student body, to hire and retain leading faculty, to expand university-community partnerships through programming and research, and to dramatically renovate facilities and update technology. One sign of this success can be seen in the expansion project currently underway on campus (Almanac May 3, 2022).

After growing up in New Jersey and then attending Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, Ms. Tepper graduated from Brooklyn Law School, then worked in child welfare litigation in New York City. There, she learned how to work within a complex system without losing sight of the individual. “You are dealing with many levels of bureaucracy, but your work also impacts an individual life at a time that is critical, personal, and vulnerable for that person,” she said. “You have to remember that these are people who have their own feelings, and challenges.”

She brings a similar motivation to her work in development, a field she transitioned to shortly after moving from New York City to Philadelphia. “In my development work, I’m working in a large organization like Penn, but I’m also thinking of the individual donors, what they’re passionate about, and the ways they can make a direct and meaningful impact.”

Ms. Tepper remarked that she has been inspired by the passionate engagement of Penn GSE’s community. “I am enjoying getting to know leaders across GSE, from Dean Grossman and our Board of Advisors to faculty members and alumni volunteers. Their admiration for GSE is matched by their shared desire to advance change and innovation around education. Our community members are constantly contributing to the national and international influence of the school’s research, programs, and initiatives.”

The work of development and alumni relations involves more than raising the largest gifts to an institution. “At GSE, it’s about anyone who wants to contribute to the advancement of education and shares a passion for ongoing innovation and attention to the needs of all varieties of learning environments,” Ms. Tepper said. “This is Penn GSE’s story and I’m excited to tell it to donors, to the partners across Penn who do this work with us, and to the broader education community so they can see the true scope of what is being accomplished here.”

Over the course of the next year, Ms. Tepper looks forward to celebrating Dean Pam Grossman as she completes a transformative tenure at Penn GSE. “I’m excited to showcase the deep impact she’s made here, and to give our community the opportunity to offer thanks for the great legacy she leaves behind,” she said. The celebration of Dean Grossman will include a series of national events that bring together alumni and other supporters around important topics in the field of education.

In the newly released 2023 U.S. News & World Report ranking of United States universities, the University of Pennsylvania was ranked #7—up one spot from last year. It is tied with Johns Hopkins University. This ranking is calculated from factors including graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student/faculty ratios, class sizes, SAT/ACT scores, percentage of admitted students who were in the top 10% of their high school class, and the percentage of alumni making gifts. Penn was also ranked #18 in best value schools; and #59 in most innovative schools.

The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania has retained its #1 post as the best undergraduate business program in the country, which it has held for many years. It is ranked #1 in finance; #2 in marketing, management, and real estate; #3 in quantitative analysis; #4 in business analytics, entrepreneurship, and international business; #6 in accounting; #8 in production/operation management; and #9 in supply chain management/logistics.

Penn’s School of Nursing was also ranked #1 for its undergraduate nursing program, the second year the magazine has ranked undergraduate nursing programs.

Penn’s School of Engineering and Applied Science ranked #22 for best undergraduate engineering programs, tied with Penn State University; University of California, San Diego; University of Maryland, College Park; and the University of Washington. Within SEAS, Penn ranked #10 in bioengineering/biomedical engineering.

Donald (Don) Abt, V’61, a professor emeritus of aquatic animal medicine and pathology, director of the Laboratory for Marine Animal Health, and a former associate dean at Penn’s School of Veterinary Medicine, died on July 29.

A native New Englander, Dr. Abt obtained a BS in zoology from the University of Massachusetts and, in 1961, graduated from Penn’s School of Veterinary Medicine. After graduating, Dr. Abt joined Penn Vet’s faculty, teaching anatomy and doing graduate work in biostatistics and epidemiology. In 1966, he became an associate professor of epidemiology and biostatistics in Penn Vet, and seven years later, he was promoted to a full professor. In 1970, he became Penn Vet’s associate dean for academic affairs, implementing a then-unusual core-elective curriculum at the school. He continued teaching at the same time, directing Penn Vet’s Aquavet program, an intensive introductory course in aquatic veterinary medicine.

In 1989, Dr. Abt was named the Robert Marshak Term Professor of Aquatic Animal Medicine and Pathology (Almanac October 24, 1989). As part of this role, he assumed direction of the Laboratory for Marine Animal Health, a diagnostic laboratory established by Penn and the New York State College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University and located in Woods Hole, MA. “It is most fitting that the individual who pioneered our Aquavet program and the school’s focus on aquatic animal medicine and pathology be awarded this honor,” said then-Penn Vet dean Edwin Andrews. “He brings to this position his enthusiasm for this specialty area, his encyclopedic knowledge of the school and of veterinary medicine across the nation.” As the director of the LMAH, Dr. Abt helped catalog the effect of environmental factors on marine life, identifying previously unknown diseases. He retired from Penn and LMAH in 2001, taking emeritus status, but continued teaching in the Aquavet program.

Outside of Penn, Dr. Abt was active in the International Association for Aquatic Animal Medicine. He was an elected member, served as president, and won its William Medway Award for Teaching Excellence. “[He had] a positive and lasting impact on the hundreds of students that were lucky enough to learn from and spend time with him (especially at the famous end-of-course clambakes he hosted every year!),” said the IAAAM in an online tribute.

Dr. Abt is survived by his wife, Sandy, and his children, David (Debby) and Debbie (Bill).

Ralph Frederick Wetmore Jr., M’76, the former chief of the division of otolaryngology at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and a professor emeritus of otorhinolaryngology in the Perelman School of Medicine, died on September 3 from complications of Lewy body dementia. He was 71.

Dr. Wetmore was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Franklin and Marshall College in 1972 with a bachelor’s degree in geology. Four years later, he graduated from Penn’s School of Medicine, and in 1978, after doing a postgrad surgical fellowship and training at Penn, he joined the school’s faculty in the department of otorhinolaryngology. In 1990, he became an associate professor in that department, and ten years later, he was promoted to a full professor. Meanwhile, at CHOP, he treated ear, nose, and throat ailments in thousands of children; taught pediatric otolaryngology to hundreds of medical students, residents, and fellows; and eventually rose to president of the medical staff.  He is fondly remembered for his “no-nonsense teaching style and patience” and “charismatic smile with a matching wit.” He held CHOP’s E. Mortimer Newlin endowed chair in pediatric otolaryngology and human communication from 2008 until his retirement in 2020 (upon which he assumed emeritus status).

Outside of Penn, Dr. Wetmore was active in his field. He wrote over 100 scholarly articles about his research in voice disorders, respiratory abnormalities, and other ailments in children, and served as president of the American Society of Pediatric Otolaryngology (ASPO) and the Society for Ear Nose and Throat Advancement in Children (SENTAC). In 1993, the Triological Society, the most prominent international honor society of otolaryngologists, awarded Dr. Wetmore the Edmund Prince Fowler Award for his research on sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). He served on the editorial board of the World Journal of Otorhinolaryngology—Head & Neck Surgery.

Dr. Wetmore found time for a variety of personal interests, adopting dogs from animal shelters, playing golf, and writing a movie review column in CHOP’s operating room newsletter. His kindness was well-known—he once rescued a choking diner in a restaurant and attended to victims of a car crash he came upon.

Dr. Wetmore is survived by his wife, Melinda; his son, Rick, and his daughter, Alicia; stepdaughters, Maddie and Abigail DeMoss; two grandsons; a sister; and other relatives. A memorial service was held on September 13. Donations in his name may be made to Penn’s Digital Neuropathology Lab. Checks should be made out to the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania. Write “In memory of Dr. Ralph Wetmore” on the comment line and mail to Paige O’Malley, 3535 Market St., Suite 750, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19104.

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To Report A Death

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

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

The following agenda is published in accordance with the Faculty Senate Rules. Any member of the standing faculty may attend SEC meetings and observe by contacting Patrick Walsh, executive assistant to the Senate, either by telephone at (215) 898-6943 or by email at senate@pobox.upenn.edu.

Faculty Senate Executive Committee Agenda

Wednesday, October 12, 2022
3–5 p.m. EDT

1. Finalize the minutes of September 7, 2022
2. Report from the Tri-Chairs
3. Update from the Office of the President—Discussion with President Liz Magill
4. Internal discussion
5. New business

Faculty Senate Executive Committee (SEC) 2022-2023

• Chair: Vivian Gadsden, GSE
• Chair-Elect: Tulia Falleti, SAS/Political Science.
• Past Chair: William Braham, Weitzman Design
• Secretary: Daniel Beiting, Veterinary Medicine
• Secretary-Elect: Megan Ryerson, Weitzman Design
• Past Secretary: Catherine McDonald, Nursing

At-Large Representatives

• Mary Regina Boland, PSOM/DBEI
• Donita Brady, PSOM/Cancer Biology
• David Eng, SAS/English
• Ann Farnsworth-Alvear, SAS/History
• Daniel Hammer, SEAS/Bioengineering
• Nancy Hirschmann, SAS/Political Science
• Kenneth Margulies, PSOM/Medicine
• Rose Nolen-Walston, Veterinary Medicine
• Benjamin Pierce, SEAS/CIS
• Li Shen, PSOM/DBEI
• Emily Steiner, PSOM/English

Assistant Professor Representatives

• Masoud Akbarzadeh, Weitzman Design
• Pilar Gonalons-Pons, SAS/Sociology
• Katharine Rendle, PSOM/Family Medicine and Community Health

Penn Association of Senior and Emeritus Faculty (PASEF) Representative

• David Manning, PSOM/Pharmacology

Constituency Representatives  

(vacancies excluded)

• Damon Centola, Annenberg
• Warren Breckman, SAS/History
• Theodore Schurr, SAS/Anthropology
• Ted Chinburg, SAS/Mathematics
• Joseph Subotnik, SAS/Chemistry
• Kathryn Hellerstein, SAS/Germanic Language and Literature
• Steven Matthews, SAS/Economics
• Rolf Noyer, SAS/Linguistics
• Megan Robb, SAS/Religious Studies (Alternate: Donovan Schaefer, SAS/Religious Studies)
• Philip Nelson, SAS/Physics & Astronomy
• Julia Lynch, SAS/Political Science (Alternate: Marc Meredith, SAS/Political Science)
• Alan Stocker, SAS/Psychology
• Wendy Roth, SAS/Sociology
• Claire Mitchell, Dental Medicine (Alternate: Geelsu Hwang, Dental Medicine)
• Janine Remillard, GSE (Alternate: Amy Stornaiuolo, GSE)
• Mark Allen, SEAS/ESE
• Domenic Vitiello, Weitzman Design
• Eric Feldman, Law
• John Holmes, PSOM/DBEI
• Stephen Avery, PSOM/Radiation Oncology
• Karthik Rajasekaran, PSOM/Otorhinolaryngology
• Allison Willis, PSOM/Neurology (Alternate: Arupa Ganguly, PSOM/Genetics)
• Vera Krymskaya, PSOM/Medicine
• Ryan Greysen, PSOM/Medicine
• Rebecka Peebles, PSOM/Pediatrics
• Dalmacio Dennis Flores, Nursing
• Christopher Lengner, Veterinary Medicine
• Andrew van Eps, Veterinary Medicine
• Christopher Ittner, Wharton
• Eric Orts, Wharton
• Jagmohan Raju, Wharton (Alternate: Iwan Barankay, Wharton)

The Senate Committee on the Economic Status of the Faculty (SCESF)

• Graciela Gonzalez Hernandez, PSOM/DBEI
• Marsha Lester, SAS/Chemistry
• Iourii Manovskii, SAS/Economics, Chair
• Mark Oyama, Veterinary Medicine
• Rand Quinn, GSE
• Melissa Sanchez, SAS/English
• Petra Todd, SAS/Economics

Ex Officio:

• William Braham, Weitzman Design, Faculty Senate Past Chair
• Tulia Falleti, SAS/Political Science, Faculty Senate Chair-Elect
• Vivian Gadsden, GSE, Faculty Senate Chair

The Senate Committee on Faculty Development, Diversity, and Equity (SCFDDE)

• Hydar Ali, Dental Medicine
• Danielle Bassett, SEAS/Bioengineering
• Antonella Cianferoni, PSOM/Pediatrics
• Nelson Flores, GSE, Chair
• Carmen Guerra, PSOM/Medicine
• Junhyong Kim, SAS/Biology
• Meghan Lane-Fall, PSOM/Anesthesiology & Critical Care

Ex-Officio:

• A representative of the Senate Tri-Chairs
• Sherrill Adams, Dental Medicine, PASEF non-voting member

The Senate Committee on Faculty and the Administration (SCOA)

• Ryan Baker, GSE, Chair
• Chenoa Flippen, SAS/Sociology
• Randall Mason, Weitzman Design
• Steven Messe, PSOM/Neurology
• Erika Reineke, Vet Medicine
• Shu Yang, SEAS/MSE

Ex-Officio:

• A representative of the Senate Tri-Chairs
• Peter Kuriloff, GSE, PASEF non-voting member

The Senate Committee on Faculty and the Academic Mission (SCOF)

• Margo Brooks Carthon, Nursing¸ Chair
• Zahra Fakhraai, SAS/Chemistry
• Struan Grant, PSOM/Pediatrics
• Alexander Reiter, Vet Medicine
• Emily Steinlight, SAS/English
• Amy Stornaiuolo, GSE

Ex-Officio:

• A representative of the Senate Tri-Chairs
• Roger Allen, SAS/NELC, PASEF non-voting member

The Senate Committee on Students and Educational Policy (SCSEP)

• Gerald Campano, GSE
• Ted Chinburg, SAS/Mathematics
• Huda Fakhreddine, SAS/NELC
• Sara Jaffee, SAS/Psychology, Chair
• Akhilesh Reddy, PSOM/Pharmacology

Ex-Officio:

• A representative of the Senate Tri-Chairs
• PASEF non-voting member (vacant)

The Senate Committee on Academic Freedom and Responsibility (SCAFR)

• Geoffrey Aguirre, PSOM/Neurology
• Sigal Ben-Porath, GSE
• Jean Galbraith, Law
• Rebecca Hubbard, PSOM/DBEI
• Christopher Marcinkoski, Weitzman Design
• Raina Merchant, PSOM/Emergency Medicine, Chair
• Jules van Binsbergen, Wharton
• Flavia Vitale, PSOM/Neurology
• Daniel Wodak, SAS/Philosophy

Ex-Officio:

• A representative of the Senate Tri-Chairs

The Senate Committee on Publication Policy for Almanac

• Christine Bradway, Nursing
• Al Filreis, SAS/English
• Barbie Zelizer, Annenberg
• Three further vacancies to be filled  

Faculty Grievance Commission

• Chair: Sarah Kagan, Nursing
• Chair-Elect:  John Paul MacDuffie, Wharton
• Past Chair: Santosh Venkatesh, SEAS/ESE

Steering Committee

The Steering Committee shall consist of the president of the University, the provost, the chair, the chair-elect and the past chair of the Faculty Senate, the chair of the Undergraduate Assembly, the chair of the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly, the chair of the Penn Professional Staff Assembly, and the chair of the Weekly-Paid Professional Staff Assembly. Drawn from the Council membership there shall be in addition four faculty members, one graduate/professional student, and one undergraduate student elected by the respective governing bodies, as well as one additional member of the Penn Professional Staff Assembly and one additional member of the Weekly-Paid Penn Professional Staff Assembly, each elected by their representative assemblies. The chair of the Faculty Senate shall be the chair of the Steering Committee. In the absence of the chair, or at the request of the chair, the chair-elect shall serve as chair of the Steering Committee. The Council moderator will be an official observer at meetings of the Steering Committee. The secretary of the Council shall serve as secretary of the Steering Committee. Members of the Steering Committee may attend the meetings of Council committees.

—Council Bylaws

Members of Steering Committee

• William Braham, Past-Chair
• Anne Corcoran-Petela
• Alex Eapen
• Tulia Falleti, Chair-Elect
• Eric Feldman
• Vivian Gadsden, Chair  
• Natalie D. Green
• John H. Holmes
• Will Klaniecki
• Vera Krymskaya
• M. Elizabeth Magill
• Eric Orts
• Lizann Boyle Rode, Secretary
• Carson Sheumaker
• Robert Blake Watson
• Beth A. Winkelstein
• Ludwig Zhao
• TBD: 1 WPPSA Representative

Members of Council

Faculty: Forty-five members of the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate. The Faculty Senate shall ensure that each faculty is represented and that at least three assistant professors serve on the Council. The members of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee who are members of the Council shall otherwise be chosen in accordance with the rules of the Faculty Senate.

One full-time lecturer and one full-time member of the research faculty are to be selected to serve two-year terms by vote facilitated by the Office of the Secretary in consultation with the Steering Committee of the full-time lecturers and research faculty, respectively, from a slate consisting of the five lecturers and the five members of the research faculty receiving the largest number of nominations by lecturers and members of the research faculty. If the Steering Committee receives fewer than five nominations for either group, additional nominations shall be solicited from the constituency representatives of the Senate Executive Committee.

Administrative Officers and Staff: Eleven administrative officers, including the president, the provost, and nine members of the administration to be appointed annually by the president, at least five of whom shall be deans of faculties.

Two elected representatives of the Penn Professional Staff Assembly. One elected representative of the Librarians Assembly. Two elected representatives of the Weekly-Paid Professional Staff Assembly.

Students: Fifteen graduate and professional students elected as members of the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly. The Graduate and Professional Student Assembly shall ensure that, to the extent possible, each school is represented. The members of the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly who are members of the Council shall otherwise be chosen in accordance with the rules of the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly.

Fifteen undergraduate students elected as members of the Undergraduate Assembly. The Undergraduate Assembly shall ensure that, to the extent possible, each undergraduate school is represented. The members of the Undergraduate Assembly who are members of the Council shall otherwise be chosen in accordance with the rules of the Undergraduate Assembly.
One elected representative of the United Minorities Council.

—Council Bylaws

Elected by the Faculty At-Large

• Daniel Beiting, Secretary
• William Braham, Past-Chair  
• Tulia Falleti, Chair-Elect
• Vivian Gadsden, Chair
• Megan Ryerson, Secretary-Elect

PASEF Representative

• David Manning

Elected by Faculty Constituency

• Mark Allen
• Stephen Avery
• Warren Breckman
• Damon Centola
• Ted Chinburg
• Ezekiel Dixon-Román
• Eric Feldman
• Dalmacio Dennis Flores
• Ryan Greysen
• Kathryn Hellerstein
• John H. Holmes
• Christopher Ittner
• Vera Krymskaya
• Christopher Lengner
• Julia Lynch
• Steven Matthews
• Claire Mitchell
• Philip Nelson
• Rolf Noyer
• Eric Orts
• Rebecka Peebles
• Karthik Rajasekaran
• Jagmohan Raju
• Janine Remillard
• Megan Robb
• Wendy Roth
• Theodore Schurr
• Alan Stocker
• Joseph Subotnik
• Andrew Van Eps
• Domenic Vitiello
• Allison Willis
• TBD: 4

Assistant Professor Representatives

• Masoud Akbarzadeh
• Pilar Gonalons-Pons
• Katharine Rendle

Lecturers and Research Faculty Members

• Research Faculty Representative
• Anna Childress, term expires May 2023
• Lecturer Representative
• Kathleen Kramer, term expires May 2023

Members of the Administration

• Sarah (Sally) Bachman
• William Atkins
• Tamara Greenfield King
• Charles Howard
• Andrew Hoffman
• Liz Magill
• Kathleen Shields Anderson
• Frederick (Fritz) Steiner
• Antonia Villarruel
• Beth A. Winkelstein
• Mark Wolff

Graduate/Professional Students

• Robert Blake Watson, President
• Ludwig Zhao, Research Council Chair
• Jaydee Edwards, Executive Vice President
• Hoang Anh Phan, VP of Advocacy
• Aalok Thakkar, VP of Finance
• Helen Jin, VP of Operations
• Shreyas Ramesh, VP of Programming
• Jay Ortiz, IDEAL Chair
• Michael Krone, Professional Council Chair
• Rexy Miao, Director of International Student Affairs
• Paul Welfer, Director of Alumni Relations
• Shuruthi Senthil Murugan, Director of Financial Reporting
• Emily Getzen, Director of Equity and Access
• Jennifer Reiss, Member at Large
• Dai’meer Bryant, Member at Large

Undergraduate Students

• Carson Sheumaker, UA President
• Alex Eapen, UA Vice President
• Xavier Shankle, UA Speaker
• Hannah Bases, Abuse and Sexual Assault Prevention
• Angela Lao, Assembly of International Students
• Taryn Flaherty, Asian Pacific Student Coalition
• Lex Gilbert, Disability Advocacy @ Penn
• Megha Neelapu
• Xandro Xu, Lambda Alliance
• Camila Irabien, Latinx Coalition
• Burhan Brula, Muslim Students Association
• Tristan Fajardo, Natives at Penn
• Chime Amaefuna, Penn Black Student League
• Ben Moss-Horwitz, Penn Chavurah
• Rebecca Nadler, Transfer Student Organization

United Minorities Council

• Jessica Liu

Penn Professional Staff Assembly

• Anne Corcoran-Petela, Chair
• Natalie D. Green, Chair-Elect

Weekly-Paid Penn Professional Staff Assembly

• Will Klaniecki, Representative
• TBD: 1

Librarians’ Assembly

• Aman Kaur

ROTC Representative

• Bryan Suh

Secretary of University Council

• Lizann Boyle Rode*

Parliamentarian

• Scott Schafer*

Moderator

• Melissa Wilde*

*Indicates a non-voting participant.

The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) and WXPN, the public radio station at the University of Pennsylvania, have been awarded 2022 project grants from the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage. Stuart Weitzman School of Design alumni James Maurelle, now on the faculty, and James Allister Sprang are among 12 Pew Fellows in the Arts named this year.

Pew Arts & Heritage announced 42 grants and fellowships for 2022 totaling $9.5 million in support of cultural events and artistic work “that will enliven and enrich the Philadelphia region and represent diverse identities, personal experiences, and historical narratives.”

The ICA was awarded $360,000 for an exhibition, tentatively titled Carl Cheng: Nature Never Loses, envisioned as a survey of the artist’s six-decade career. The project prompts a restoration and reimagining of the Los Angeles-based artist’s cross-disciplinary works from the 1960s to the present. The exhibition will showcase works from Mr. Cheng’s oeuvre, including kinetic sculptures, photographs, drawings, and videos, that address topics such as climate change, discrimination against Asian Americans, and the importance of making art accessible to varied publics.

WXPN is partnering with the Black Opry collective to support a Black Opry residency for five emerging Black Americana musicians. WXPN was awarded $298,500 for a creative residency program that supports five emerging Black Americana musicians in refining their artistic and professional practices. In addition to a final residency performance, an accompanying podcast will chronicle the project and the participants’ creative processes, expanding audiences for Black artists working to redefine their place in the American musical canon. To identify the residency artists, WXPN is partnering with the Black Opry collective, which offers a platform for Black musicians and Black fans of country, blues, folk, and Americana music.

This year’s 12 Pew Fellows in the Arts are Philadelphia-area artists working in visual art, film, photography, literature, poetry, and multidisciplinary practices. In addition to an unrestricted award of $75,000, a fellowship includes focused professional advancement resources such as financial counseling and career development workshops. 

James Maurelle is a lecturer in undergraduate fine arts and design at the Weitzman School, where he earned his master’s degree in fine arts (MFA). Inspired by five generations of tradesmen and woodworkers in his family history, Mr. Maurelle’s sculptures in wood, metal, and found materials consider the relationship between labor and creativity. His works, which also include video and photography, speak to memory, history, and place and often commemorate influential Black activists, athletes, and the African diaspora.

James Allister Sprang received his MFA in fine and studio arts from the Weitzman School in 2018. Mr. Sprang creates audiovisual installations using multiple media such as photography, cyanotype prints, and spatial audio technology that gives sound dimension and movement, offering “the opportunity to feel through the unseen,” he said. Informed by his family’s Caribbean heritage and experiences of immigration, his work considers diaspora, displacement, and survival.

Also Penn-related is a project by Monument Lab, titled Declaration House, which received a $300,000 grant. The project includes a public art installation, public programs, and a publication to reframe the history of America’s founding, centering on the story of Robert Hemings, an enslaved valet who aided Thomas Jefferson at the Philadelphia site where he drafted the Declaration of Independence. Paul Farber, Monument Lab’s director, is a senior research scholar at the Weitzman School’s Center for Public Art and Space; and Ken Lum, the Marilyn Jordan Taylor Presidential Professor and chair of the fine arts department at the Weitzman School, is Monument Lab’s chief curatorial advisor.

Marshall Padilla, a current NIDCR T90 postdoctoral fellow within the Center for Innovation & Precision Dentistry (CiPD)—Penn Dental Medicine’s collaborative center with Penn Engineering—has been selected to be part of the American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research’s (AADOCR) Mentoring an Inclusive Network for a Diverse Workforce of the Future (AADOCR MIND the Future) program. This class of 2022-2023—        eleven researchers from across the country—is the third cohort of the MIND the Future program.

“We are thrilled for Marshall in being selected, in an open competition, for this amazing opportunity sponsored by NIDCR and organized by the AADOCR, the premier scientific association for dental and craniofacial research,” said Michel Koo, co-director of the CiPD and a professor in the department of orthodontics in the divisions of pediatrics and community oral health. “As a member of CiPD’s first T90 training program cohort, he will be able to bring his unique work and bioengineering background as well as learn and network with other peers in the dental field across U.S. and globally. More fellows will be inspired to apply for the MIND the Future program.”

The primary goal of AADOCR MIND the Future—an NIDCR-funded program—is to establish a mentoring network that will support a diverse pool of early career investigators, including individuals from diverse backgrounds, in developing independent research careers dedicated to improving dental, oral, and craniofacial health.

“Dr. Padilla is embarking on a journey with 10 other early career scientists designed to strengthen grant writing skills and deepen understanding of the NIH peer-review process, among other skills vital to a successful career in academia,” said Christopher Fox, CEO of AADOCR and co-PI of the MIND the Future program. “We welcome Dr. Padilla’s unique bioengineering background to the program and look forward to his contributions.”

Dr. Padilla came to the CiPD training program earlier this year with a PhD in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Michael J. Mitchell of Penn’s department of bioengineering, where his research focuses on developing new materials to enhance the efficacy and safety of biological therapeutics. While passionate about research, he also has a strong interest in developing mentoring relationships and in teaching. At Wisconsin, Dr. Padilla earned a certificate in research, teaching, and learning, in which he conducted a research project on developing positive metacognitive practices in introductory organic chemistry. Additionally, he taught a course on mentoring in a research setting, and is passionate about promoting diversity and inclusiveness in biomedical sciences.

“My long-term goal is to become a professor and engage in both high-caliber research and high-quality teaching,” Dr. Padilla said. He is now working with Shuying (Sheri) Yang, an associate professor in Penn Dental Medicine’s department of basic & translational sciences, to develop lipid nanoparticles, the same technology used to deliver mRNA in COVID-19 vaccine, for treatment of oral cancer.

For the next year, as part of the MIND the Future program, Dr. Padilla will engage in several educational activities and interactive opportunities with mentors to support his research and career development. For example, he will have an opportunity to participate in an NIH Mock Study Section (with actual program officers and NIH reviewers) to give a full hands-on experience of the NIDCR grant review process. Once the mentees complete the program in September 2023, they will continue as program alumni and remain engaged in the program.

The 2022 winners of the prestigious Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Prize in Education were announced by the McGraw Family Foundation and the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education. Cheryl Logan, Barry Dunn, and Roy Pea — three leaders in the field doing groundbreaking work in pre-K–12 classrooms, on university campuses and in learning science research, respectively — are being recognized for their extraordinary achievements. Each winner will receive an award of $50,000 and an award sculpture.

“These inspiring education leaders have changed the lives of so many individuals through their work,” said Pam Grossman, dean of Penn GSE and a leading expert on teacher quality. “Each represents the best in our field and what it means to be an educator. Their impact is profound, and we are so proud to honor their outstanding contributions.”

The Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Family Foundation selected Penn GSE as the home for the McGraw Prize in 2020. Recognized internationally for its cutting-edge initiatives, distinguished faculty and as a training ground for top educators and leaders, Penn GSE is currently the No. 1 graduate school of education in the country, according to U.S. News & World Report. The partnership includes administering the annual prize, an awards ceremony and celebration in November and ongoing programming with more than 100 past winners, including symposiums and a webinar series.

Through a public nomination process, McGraw Prize awardees were submitted for consideration by their peers, with winners then selected during three rounds of judging.

Dear Colleagues,

Penn’s Way, our workplace charitable giving campaign at Penn, gives us the opportunity to support our community and to build community through our collective action. Penn’s Way is one of the most generous workplace giving campaigns in the region, and we look forward to this year’s campaign continuing that tradition. Our campaign theme, Going the Distance for Our Community, reflects the commitment we have made to those in need.  

Our contributions make a broad and immediate impact on our community and the vulnerable populations we serve. Those populations need our help more than ever, and, to that end, we hope our Penn family will come together to help our neighbors and our neighborhoods. No matter what you give, your contribution can provide some certainty to those facing an uncertain future. 

The Penn’s Way Campaign runs from October 3 through November 18. Please join us in supporting our communities by making your tax-deductible gift now. By making a gift to Penn’s Way using the Penn’s Way website to enter your pledge online, you will be supporting your chosen organizations in a secure, quick, and convenient way. 

Our call to support others is deep-rooted and unwavering, and the Penn’s Way campaign honors the culture of generosity and caring that exists among our workforce. Watch this video to hear why your colleagues give. Then, share why you give by posting your personal story to social media using #OurWayPennsWay.

Through our Penn’s Way Campaign we can help build stronger neighborhoods, improve the quality of life, and provide options for healthier living for all people in our region. Let’s go the distance together with Penn’s Way.

—Maureen S. Rush
Senior Advisor to the Senior EVP
University of Pennsylvania
Penn’s Way Co-Chair

—Patricia G. Sullivan
Chief Quality Officer
University of Pennsylvania Health System
Penn’s Way Co-Chair

—Tulia G. Falleti
Professor, School of Arts & Sciences
Faculty Senate Chair-Elect
University of Pennsylvania
Penn’s Way Faculty Advisor

—Peter D. Quinn
Vice Dean for Professional Services
Senior Vice President
University of Pennsylvania Health System
Penn’s Way Faculty Advisor

Penn’s Way 2023–Raffle Prizes by Week *

Week One–Drawing October 10
Penn Athletics: Four Tickets to Yale vs. Penn Men’s Football (10/22). Value: $80
Penn Athletics: Four Tickets to Harvard vs. Penn Men’s Football (11/12). Value: $80
Keen Compressed Gas Co.: Four Tickets to U Del Men’s Football vs. Monmouth (11/5) + Parking. Value: $100
Neta Scientific: Amazon gift card. Value: $25
Neta Scientific: Amazon gift card. Value: $25
Neta Scientific: Amazon gift card. Value: $25

Week Two–Drawing October 17
Chanticleer Garden: Two tickets. Value: $24
Thermo Fisher Scientific: Apple gift card. Value: $25
Thermo Fisher Scientific: Cheesecake Factory gift card. Value: $25
Neta Scientific: Amazon gift card. Value: $25
Neta Scientific: Amazon gift card. Value: $25
Philadelphia Flyers: Autographed puck (James van Riemsdyk). Value: $25

Week Three–Drawing October 24
DiBruno Bros: gift card. Value: $30
Business Services: Rocketbook Core. Value: $25
Neta Scientific: Amazon gift card. Value: $25
Thermo Fisher Scientific: Apple gift card. Value: $25
Thermo Fisher Scientific: Chipotle gift card. Value: $25
Thermo Fisher Scientific: Fandango gift card. Value: $25

Week Four–Drawing October 31
Thermo Fisher Scientific: Home Depot gift card. Value: $25
Thermo Fisher Scientific: Lowe’s gift card. Value: $25
Thermo Fisher Scientific: Starbucks gift card. Value: $25
Thermo Fisher Scientific: Subway gift card. Value: $25
Thermo Fisher Scientific: Target gift card. Value: $25
Thermo Fisher Scientific: Target gift card. Value: $25

Week Five–Drawing November 7
Benco Dental: Wireless headphones. Value: $50
GenVault: Amazon gift card. Value: $50
Longwood Gardens: Two tickets. Value: $50
Neta Scientific: Wireless Headphones. Value: $50
Penn Live Arts: Two tickets to Sw¡ng Out (6/9). Value: $50
Penn Live Arts: Two tickets to Sw¡ng Out (6/10). Value: $50

Week Six–Drawing November 14
Philadelphia Eagles: Autographed photo Dallas Goedert. Value: $50
National Constitution Center: Four (4) admissions. Value: $60
Philadelphia Union: Ticket voucher for 2023 season. Value: $65
TheatreExile: Two tickets for 22-23 season. Value: $70
Woodmere Art Museum: One-year family membership. Value: $70
Penn Museum: Four (4) admissions. Value: $72

Final Drawing–December 6
World Café Live: Voucher for 2 tickets. Value: $75
Neta Scientific & DiagnoCine LLC.: Penn travel tote. Value: $80
Neta Scientific & DiagnoCine LLC.: Penn travel tote. Value: $80
SU Group LLC.: Blink video doorbell. Value: $85
12th Street Catering: Gift certificate for delivered lunch: $100
Business Services: Penn fashion scarf. Value: $100
Fearless Restaurants: Gift certificate. Value: $100
Modern Eye: Gift card. Value: $100
Morris Arboretum: Five admissions. Value: $100
Philadelphia Ballet: Two tickets for the 22-23 season. Value: $100

* Subject to change

Thank you to the many generous organizations who have donated raffle prizes—their support for our charitable giving program is much appreciated.

Fitness & Learning

4          Introduction to the Truman Scholarship with Truman Scholars; learn about the Truman Scholarship and Penn’s application process; Truman scholars will share their experiences as Scholars thus far and answer questions; 3:30 p.m.; room 223, Houston Hall (Center for Undergraduate Research & Fellowships).

6          Thouron Award Information Session; an information session with a representative of the Thouron Award, which provides full funding to graduating Penn students and recent alumni to earn a one- or two-year graduate degree at any university in any field in the U.K.; 3 p.m.; room 218, Houston Hall (Center for Undergraduate Research & Fellowships).

10        Religious Studies Information Session for PhD Program Applicants; webinar for students who are interested in applying to the PhD program, covering basic eligibility requirements, English language proficiency scores, and other supporting documents in the application; 6:30 p.m.; Zoom webinar; info: https://rels.sas.upenn.edu/events (Religious Studies).

Readings & Signings

11        Stories Between Christianity and Islam: Saints, Memory, and Cultural Exchange in Late Antiquity and Beyond; Reyhan Durmaz, religious studies; 5:30 p.m.; online webinar; info: https://mec.sas.upenn.edu/events (Middle East Center).

Talks

4          Yaglom-Type Limits for Branching Brownian Motion with Absorption in the Slightly Subcritical Regime; Jiaqi Liu, mathematics; 3:30 p.m.; room 4C8, DRL (Mathematics).

            Young Adult Court: A New Approach to Justice; Elizabeth Cauffman, University of California, Irvine; 3:30 p.m.; room 410, McNeil Building (Criminology).

6          Rough Fitness Landscapes: From Protein Evolution to Protein Design; Francesco Zamponi, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; 10:30 a.m.; room A8, DRL (Physics & Astronomy).

            Rich Babies, Poor Robots: Towards Rich Sensing, Continuous Data and Multiple Environments; Abhinav Gupta, Carnegie Mellon University; 3:30 p.m.; room 101, Levine Hall (Computer & Information Science).

11        Materials and Manufacturing Solutions for Sustainable Energy; Nicolas Argibay, U.S. Department of Energy; 10 a.m.; room 101, Levine Hall (Mechanical Engineering & Applied Mechanics).

            Cars and Climate: The Electric Vehicle Transformation; panel of speakers; noon; Zoom webinar; register: https://tinyurl.com/law-talk-oct-11 (Penn Program on Regulation).

            Studying the Neural Basis of Natural Spatial, Social and Acoustic Behaviors – in Freely Behaving and Flying Bats; Michael Yartsev, University of California, Berkeley; 3:30 p.m.; Glandt Forum, Singh Center for Nanotechnology (Bioengineering).

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

4          Market Power in the Single-Family Rental Industry; Felipe Barbieri, economics noon; room 200, PCPSE.

5          Population Aging, Fiscal Space and the Interest-Growth Differential; Felipe Ruiz Mazin, economics; 3:30 p.m.; room 101, PCPSE.

            The Bank Distress Amplifier of Recessions; Dohan Kim, economics; 4:45 p.m.; room 101, PCPSE.

10        Shrinkage Estimation of Teacher Value Added in Two-Way Fixed Effect Model; Sheng Chao Ho, economics; noon; room 225, PCPSE.

11        Social Learning with Heterogeneous Preferences; Pedro Brandão Solti, economics; 4 p.m.; room 101, PCPSE.

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This is an update to the October AT PENN calendar, which is online now. Submissions for the November AT PENN calendar are due on Monday, October 10. Submit events 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 September 19-25, 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 September 19-25, 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.

18th District

Below are the Crimes Against Persons from the 18th District: 5 incidents (3 assaults, 1 indecent assault, and 1 robbery) and 1 arrest was reported for September 19-25, 2022 by the 18^th District, covering the Schuylkill River to 49th St & Market St to Woodland Avenue.

Climate Week at Penn is back with dozens of events from hosts across campus from October 10-14, 2022.

Now in its third year, Climate Week at Penn has been a resounding success. With over 80 events and several thousand participants, Climate Week has conveyed urgency and a spirit of innovation, locally and globally, with an emphasis on the intersections of race, equity, and the environment.

Highlights include:

• Climate Week Keynote Event Native Land, Native Knowledge: A Conversation and Rap Performance About the Climate Crisis with Penn alumni guests Megan Red Shirt-Shaw, C’11 (Oglala Lakota) and Talon Bazille, C’15 (Crow Creek Dakota and Cheyenne River Lakota).
• Penn faculty and students will unite in a series of 1.5-minute climate lectures to sound the alarm about the climate emergency, to call for large-scale climate action, and to share a vision of constructive and comprehensive response.
• Dozens of events showcasing the expertise of the Penn community from partners across campus.

Join us during Climate Week at Penn to find your place in the climate movement. See the full schedule of events by visiting climateweek.provost.upenn.edu.

—Penn Environmental Innovations Initiative