February 13, 2024 Volume 70 Issue 22

Masao Sako has been named the Arifa Hasan Ahmad and Nada Al Shoaibi Presidential Professor of Physics and Astronomy in Penn Arts & Sciences. Dr. Sako’s research focuses on observational cosmology with supernovae to study dark energy. He is a member of current and future large-scale optical surveys to map out the detailed history of the universe’s expansion. Dr. Sako has written more than 200 articles in scientific journals, and his research has received support from grants from the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, and NASA.

An innovator on many fronts, Dr. Sako and his group are developing machine-learning and deep-learning methods for analysis. He has been honored for his teaching and mentorship five times, including with the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching, the highest teaching award of the University of Pennsylvania. He was an early adopter of Structured, Active, In-class Learning (SAIL) and is the faculty director of the Penn Boot Camps, which teach students coding skills.

Hyder Ahmad, W’90, parent, and Faisal S. Al Shoaibi, W’90, established the Arifa Hasan Ahmad and Nada Al Shoaibi Presidential Professorship in 2020 (Almanac October 27, 2020). Mr. Ahmad is a Penn Trustee and a member of the Penn Alumni Board of Directors and the Penn Arts & Sciences Board of Advisors. His previous Penn support includes the Ahmad Family Endowment for Penn Global Seminars in Arts & Sciences and the Arts & Sciences Annual Fund. He is the founder and chief investment officer of Broad Peak Investment Advisers Pte. Ltd., based in Singapore. Mr. Al Shoaibi is a member of the Penn Europe, Middle East, and Africa Leadership Committee and previously established the Faisal Al-Shoaibi Scholarship Fund. He is a director of the Shoaibi Group, based in Saudi Arabia.

Joseph Kable has been named the Jean-Marie Kneeley President’s Distinguished Professor of Psychology in Penn Arts & Sciences. Dr. Kable researches psychological and neural mechanisms of choice behavior to understand how people make decisions. His other research interests include behavioral and cognitive neuroscience, decision processes, and individual differences. He has written over 100 articles in publications including Nature Human Behaviour, Nature Neuroscience, Neuron, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and has received grants from organizations including the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. He was honored with an Early Career Award from the Society for Neuroeconomics.

Dr. Kable is the director of MindCORE, Penn’s hub for integrative study of the mind. He has served as president of the Society for Neuroeconomics, is a member of the Society for Neuroscience and the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, and is a fellow of the Association for Psychological Science. He has a secondary appointment as a professor of marketing in the Wharton School.  

The Penn Arts & Sciences Board of Advisors established this endowed professorship in honor of Jean-Marie Kneeley in 2021. Ms. Kneeley served as vice dean for advancement for the school for 26 years. Many board members, alumni, friends, and colleagues donated to create this professorship in honor of her retirement and her service to Penn and the School of Arts & Sciences.

Buying personal hygiene supplies for someone in need, helping them access fresh and healthy food, or offering a ride to a medical appointment may seem like simple acts of service. Often, those acts have a network of passionate, dedicated volunteers behind them to ensure they have the greatest impact for the highest number of people.

For more than 12 years, Penn Medicine faculty, staff, and students have served as those dedicated and passionate volunteers, supported through the Penn Medicine CAREs Grant program, which provides financial support for members of the workforce to augment their service activities in communities across the region. The CAREs Grant program has now passed an exciting milestone, funding more than $1 million to power volunteerism, bolstering projects from Lancaster to Philadelphia to Princeton that aim to improve health and wellness and tackle disparities. Penn Medicine has awarded funding to more than 1,000 projects through the program.

The program is a key component of Penn Medicine’s multifaceted community service efforts, which also include free clinics and patient navigation programs, community health fairs, and screening events. Recipients this quarter range from an endoscopy nurse working with a clinic to provide health care services and resources to medical students working with a clinic supporting those seeking asylum in the United States.

Awardees include Andrea Blount, who has worked for more than 30 years as a patient educator at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Ms. Blount recently founded Circles of Wellness, a nonprofit that educates faith leaders and their congregants about health. Informational sessions conducted at houses of faith can enhance, support, and provide resources to promote a healthy lifestyle in the congregation and in the broader community. Ms. Blount’s grant will help provide educational displays for sessions on diabetes and high blood pressure.

After losing her cousin to sudden cardiac arrest, Lauren Stoltzfus, a health educator at Chester County Hospital, began working with Aidan’s Heart Foundation, a group that aims to raise awareness of sudden cardiac arrest and create heart-safe communities for young people. The group aims to install an automated external defibrillator (AED) in Chester County’s East Goshen Township Park. Ms. Stoltzfus’s grant covers the cost of the AED, its cabinet, and a sign, and she also plans to coordinate Chester County Hospital’s free training for hands-only CPR and AED use.

Other projects receiving CAREs funding this quarter include:

Susannah Colt and Carolyn Chow, fourth-year medical students in the Perelman School of Medicine, volunteer with the Philadelphia Human Rights Clinic. Their funding helped the clinic hold its first in-person physician training, for 40 volunteer clinicians, in December 2023.

Lauren McLaughlin, a senior project manager with Penn Medicine at Home, has seen the need for seniors to have shower chairs and grab bars to decrease the risk of falls. Ms. McLaughlin’s grant will go to Abilatools, a non-profit group of disabled volunteers who share resources throughout Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties. It will also help cover the purchase and installation of grab bars for patients.

Higher interest rates and market volatility are bringing renewed attention to fixed-income investments, with some institutions and investors taking a closer look at the asset class for the first time in decades. Wharton finance professor Michael Roberts calls these investments “some of the most important but least understood,” and says investors, asset managers, capital allocators, and corporate executives need to know how to manage the risks and take advantage of the opportunities they can bring.

To meet the need, Dr. Roberts co-designed and will lead the new open-enrollment program Fixed Income and Credit Market Investing for the Aresty Institute of Executive Education at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Slated to be held from April 2–5, 2024 on Penn’s campus, the program upends the common wisdom that bonds are a safe bet, generating interest income with little to no risk. “That idea is misguided, as historical and recent events have shown,” said Dr. Roberts.

Over a decade of near-zero interest rates has led to complacency among executives and disinterest in fixed-income assets among investors. In light of this backdrop, the recent rise in interest rates has caught many by surprise, as suggested by recent bank failures and large investment losses in retirement funds. “Changes in the interest rate environment have been a real wake-up call for managers, investors, allocators, and others who are now realizing that understanding fixed-income investing and risk management are paramount,” said Dr. Roberts.

Program sessions will begin with foundational work in bond mechanics and risk assessment, after which participants will explore a variety of practical applications and new developments in credit markets. The program will cover in detail the treasury, mortgage, and corporate markets using custom applications to introduce and illustrate concepts. Specific applications include security trading, portfolio construction and management, liability-driven management, capital-structure planning, liquidity management, private credit investing, and interest-rate risk management.

“There has been an explosion of opportunities in the credit space over the last 20 years that are more recently growing beyond their niches,” said Dr. Roberts. “We’ve seen dramatic changes and growth in structured products, as well as the rise of private credit. On the investing side, bond ETFs are now making available to retail investors opportunities that were historically only available to institutions and ultra-high-net-worth individuals. On the management side, the perils of poor risk management have been made all too clear with recent bank failures and the rise in the number of financially distressed companies. The key is to understand the risks, recognize them as opportunities, and take advantage. That’s what the new program is about.”

Fixed Income and Credit Market Investing will run its first cohort from April 2–5, 2024, and is now accepting applications. Prospective participants can learn more and apply at executiveeducation.wharton.upenn.edu.

Kathleen (Kathy) M. Sestak Fey, C’71, a former administrator in Office of the Dean of the School of Arts & Sciences and several of its departments, died on January 11. She was 74.

After graduating from Cardinal O’Hara High School in Springfield, Pennsylvania, Ms. Fey earned her bachelor’s degree from Penn in 1971, where she remained a part of the community for nearly 50 years. Soon after graduation, Ms. Fey became an administrator in the biology department of the School of Arts & Science, followed by almost two decades as the business administrator in the department of mathematics, starting in 1979. In 1998, she became the senior administrator for faculty affairs in the Office of the Dean, a position she held until 2020. She was loved by the professors and, as a chairman of the mathematics department said, “Kathy was the welcoming glue that kept us all together, as a family.”

Ms. Fey actively engaged in her church community, spearheading the organization and fundraising of the annual Christmas market at St. Agatha-St. James Parish. She loved gardening, holding membership in the Horticultural Society, enjoying the annual Philadelphia Flower Show, and maintaining longstanding membership at the Penn Oaks Club with her husband. Described as selfless, loving, and caring by her family members, Ms. Fey left a lasting impact on those around her.

Her greatest joy was seeing her family and friends happy and fulfilled, recall members of her family. Whether on Halloween nights or at Disney on Ice and competitive Easter egg hunts, she was always the center of their gatherings of love. With a passion for entertaining and cooking, she created a warm and comfortable welcome to nieces and nephews, siblings and friends.

She is survived by her sisters, Barbara, Ann, Elizabeth, Margaret and Patricia and her brother, Joseph. She was predeceased by her husband, Michael; her brother, Richard; and her parents. A visitation was held on January 31 and February 1. Donations in Ms. Fey’s memory can be made to the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society or St. Jude Children’s Hospital.

Ludmila (Lida) Freeman, a former lecturer in the College of Liberal and Professional Studies, died on December 4, 2023 of a heart attack. She was 94. 

Dr. Freeman was born in in the Czech Republic and moved to Philadelphia in 1948 at the age of 19, where she learned English. She earned a doctorate from the department of romance languages at Penn and served as a TA while there. She was fluent in eight languages and skilled in all of their speech, interpretation, and instruction.

In February 1975, Dr. Freeman was appointed an Associate Trustee at Penn, granting her membership on the board of overseers of the Wharton School; she was the first woman to serve on that board. From 1981 to 1994, she worked as a researcher and then as a staff assistant in the President’s Office at Penn. She briefly served on the administration team in what is today the College of Liberal and Professional Studies (LPS) and began lecturing in LPS in 1982. She also served as a lecturer in the department of romance languages in the School of Arts & Sciences. 

Dr. Freeman was very involved in Philadelphia civic life. After the death of her husband, Benjamin H. Freeman, she became the owner of his Philadelphia-based clothing company, H. Freeman & Son. She was the owner, president, and board chairman of the company. Despite limited business experience, she played a pivotal role in revitalizing the company through strategic business initiatives. She served on the board of the Episcopal Academy school, on the selection committee for the Philadelphia Foundation annual Liberty Medal, and as a trustee for the Craig-Dalsimer Division of Adolescent Medicine at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Freeman was also active in the Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia. Outside of her work, Dr. Freeman enjoyed skiing, playing tennis, and reading.

Dr. Freeman is survived her by son, John, and other relatives.

Patricia (Pat) O’Toole, a former manager in the Office of Audit, Compliance and Privacy, died on December 21, 2023. She was 72. 

Ms. O’Toole spent the first part of her career at Conrail, then joined Penn’s staff in 2000 as a staff writer in the Office of Audit, Compliance and Privacy. Three years later, she was promoted to manager in the same office, where she was “known for her incredible organizational skills,” said her family in an online tribute. She retired from Penn in 2018. 

In her free time, Ms. O’Toole loved to read, watch movies, and visit New York City to take in Broadway shows. She was a passionate animal lover and was devoted to her dogs, Lexxie, Rafferty, Nikki, and Izzi. 

Ms. O’Toole is survived by her siblings, Maureen Miller (George), Jill Celia (Ron), Edward O’Toole, and Frederic O’Toole (Vickie), as well as by many nieces and nephews. Donations in her memory can be made to the Animal Welfare Association at www.awanj.org. 

Cecil L. Striker, a world-renowned archaeologist, historian, and a former professor in the department of art history, died on January 8 from age-associated decline. He was 91. 

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Dr. Striker graduated from Oberlin College. He enlisted in the Army Counterintelligence Corps during the Korean War, then spent three years in Germany learning the language (a skill necessary in the archaeological world). He then received his master’s degree and doctorate at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York, under the direction of Richard Krautheimer. Dr. Striker continued his studies at Harvard University, the University of Marburg, and Technische Hochschule Munich. He began his teaching career at the Harvard Summer School, then served as an assistant professor from 1965 to 1968 at Vassar College.

Dr. Striker joined Penn’s faculty in 1968 as an associate professor in the department of history of art. At Penn, “he supervised many students, established innovative graduate programs, and turned Penn into a powerhouse of architectural history,” said Dr. Striker’s former colleague Kostis Kourelis, an associate professor of the history of art at Franklin & Marshall College. Dr. Striker was granted full professorship in 1978. He served several terms as chair of the department of the history of art and helped design Penn’s graduate program in the art and archaeology of the Mediterranean world. He retired in 2002 and was awarded the title of emeritus professor in 2007.

From 1966 to 1978, Dr. Striker led the archaeological exploration and restoration of the Middle Byzantine Church of Kalenderhane Camii in Istanbul, an excavation that unearthed momentous antiquities that stunned the historical world, including a Roman bath, 13th-century frescoes, two previous churches, and a one-of-a-kind religious mosaic. His colleagues called the excursion “the most extensive combined archaeological exploration and historic preservation carried out on a Byzantine building in Istanbul, and one of the largest anywhere.” Dr. Striker also pioneered the application of dendrochronology (tree trunk dating) in the dating of medieval buildings across Greece, the Balkans, and Turkey, and later applied pioneering computer technology and statistical analysis to the field. He published numerous scholarly articles on his findings; in particular, his monograph on the imperial church of the Myrelaion (Bodrum Camii) was a pivotal work of archaeological literature.

Dr. Striker was a member of the board of directors of the American Research Institute in Turkey, a founding member of the executive board of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers, and a consultant for the Istanbul Metro and Bosphorus Tube Tunnel Project. “Working at the intersection of architecture and archaeology, C. L. Striker played a seminal role in ensuring that the late-twentieth century would be a golden age of Byzantine studies in North America,” said Dr. Kourelis. 

Dr. Striker and his wife, Ute, a professor at Haverford College, hosted gatherings with other professors and intellectuals, and their home was known by friends as the local “Byzantine Bed and Breakfast.” He played guitar in a jazz combo at Oberlin and enjoyed classical music by Johannes Brahms.

He is survived by his wife, Ute Striker; his sister-in-law, Carol Striker; his nephew, Robert L. Striker; and his niece, Laura Striker.

Donations in Dr. Striker’s memory may be made to the American Research Institute in Turkey or to the the University of Pennsylvania department of history of art.

Wednesday, February 21, 2024

Hall of Flags, Houston Hall
4-6 p.m.

1. Welcome
2. Approval of the minutes of January 31, 2024
3. Follow up comments or questions on Status Reports
4. Responses to the New Business topics raised at the January 31, 2024 University Council meeting
5. Focus Issue: The Arts at Penn
6. Open Forum
7. New Business
8. Adjournment

Meetings of the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania will be held in-person on Thursday, February 29 and Friday, March 1. All meetings will be held at the Inn at Penn.

Thursday, February 29

8:30-10 a.m.—Local, National, & Global Engagement Committee, Woodlands AB
10:15-11:45 a.m.—Facilities & Campus Planning Committee, Woodlands AB
1:45-3:15 p.m.—Student Life Committee, Woodlands AB
3:45-5 p.m.—Academic Policy Committee, Woodlands CD
3:30-5 p.m.—Budget & Finance Committee, Woodlands AB

Friday, March 1

11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.—Stated Meeting of the Trustees, Woodlands Ballrooms

The agenda will be posted at https://secretary.upenn.edu/trustees-governance/open-trustee-meeting. Please contact the Office of the University Secretary at (215) 898-7005 or ofcsec@pobox.upenn.edu with questions regarding Trustee meetings.

Miles Gray and Ethan Swift, both L’24, are this year’s Edwin R. Keedy Cup winners of the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School’s annual internal moot court competition. Mr. Gray and Mr. Swift argued for the respondents in the competition’s case, SEC v. Jarkesy, and were awarded Best Brief. Mr. Gray was also named Best Oralist.

“The Keedy Cup was an incredible opportunity,” said Mr. Gray. “Over several months, I learned to write a better brief, give a better argument, and—above all—work on a very fun team. I am very grateful to the judges, the moot court board, Professor [and mentor Gayle] Gowen, and everyone else at Penn who helped run the competition.”

Mr. Swift called the Keedy Cup “one of the highlights” of his time at Penn Carey Law, specifically praising the collegial, cooperative atmosphere of the school.

“Briefing a legal issue and then defending that position before an auditorium of your professors and peers was a daunting task,” Mr. Swift said. “However, I feel incredibly fortunate that I was able to build on all I’ve learnt throughout law school—every cold call (successful or disastrous) as well as the foundational lessons I picked up in Legal Practice Skills helped make me a better advocate.”

Weitzman School professor of fine arts Sharon Hayes and Weitzman School alum Carolyn Lazard, MFA’19, are among the artists to be exhibited in Whitney Biennial 2024: Even Better Than the Real Thing. The roster of 71 participating artists and collectives was announced on January 25.

One of the most anticipated exhibitions of contemporary art in the world, the Biennial is the longest-running survey of American art, having been initiated by the founder of the Whitney Museum of American Art, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, in 1931.

Ms. Hayes’ work develops new representational strategies that capture the present political moment and beckon both to the future and the past. From this ground, Ms. Hayes often addresses political events or movements from the 1960s through the 1990s. In addition to the Whitney, she has had solo exhibitions at Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York; the Tanya Leighton Gallery, Berlin; and the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid. Her work has been shown at La Biennale di Venezia; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Guggenheim Museum; and numerous other museums and venues in Europe and the Americas.

Self-identified as living with multiple autoimmune diseases, Mx. Lazard uses video, sculpture, text, and performance to explore issues of care and dependency. They first came to prominence in the 2019 Whitney Biennial. Their exhibited work, Extended Stay, featured a bench and wall-mounted monitor tuned to cable television, establishing a connection between the experience of museum visitors and hospital patients. Mx. Lazard’s first U.S. solo exhibition, Long Take, was on view at the ICA at Penn from March 10 to July 9, 2023.

“It is striking how many artists are contending with relationships between the psyche and the body, and the precarity of the past few years,” said Whitney curators Chrissie Iles and Meg Onli in the museum’s announcement. “Artists are continuing to grapple with history and identity.” 

Whitney Biennial 2024 will be on view to the public starting on March 20. 

Renowned immunologist E. John Wherry and distinguished pediatric oncologist John M. Maris have been named as members of the 2024 class of fellows of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Academy. Each year, the AACR Academy recognizes and honors esteemed scientists whose major contributions have propelled significant innovation and progress against cancer. Dr. Wherry, the Richard and Barbara Schiffrin President’s Distinguished Professor and chair of systems pharmacology and translational therapeutics in the Perelman School of Medicine, was acknowledged for groundbreaking research discoveries. These findings have defined the genetic and epigenetic control mechanisms governing T-cell exhaustion. Additionally, he was recognized for elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying PD-1 pathway blockade. This work has led to the clinical development of various immunotherapies, including several FDA-approved immune checkpoint inhibitor therapies for multiple cancer indications. 

Dr. Maris, the Giulio D’Angio Endowed Chair in Neuroblastoma Research at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and a professor of pediatrics in the Perelman School of Medicine, was recognized for paramount pediatric cancer research resulting in the discovery of the genetic basis of neuroblastoma, explanation of its molecular pathogenesis, development of novel methods for immunotherapy target discovery, and establishment of anti-tumor peptide-centric chimeric antigen receptors across multiple human leukocyte antigen alleles in neuroblastoma, overcoming the challenge of targeting intracellular proteins.

The mission of the AACR Academy is to recognize and honor distinguished scientists whose scientific contributions have propelled significant innovation and progress against cancer. Fellows of the AACR Academy serve as a global brain trust of top contributors to cancer science and medicine who help advance the mission of the AACR to prevent and cure all cancers through research, education, communication, collaboration, science policy and advocacy, and funding for cancer research.

Dr. Wherry is the co-leader of the immunobiology program at Penn Medicine’s Abramson Cancer Center and is internationally recognized for his groundbreaking achievements in basic, translational, and clinical immunology that have influenced and changed the field’s understanding of cancer immunobiology and immunotherapy. His work defined the concept of T-cell exhaustion, a hallmark of the biology of cancer and chronic infections, and found that exhausted T-cells are a key target of PD-1 checkpoint blockade in cancer. These discoveries have provided insight into which patients will most likely respond to cancer immunotherapy.

Dr. Maris is a world-renowned expert in the field of childhood cancer who has made significant contributions towards both fundamental pathogenesis and innovative new treatments. He is a practicing pediatric oncologist who consults on children from around the world after standard treatments have failed them, and leads several international consortia focused on improving outcomes for children with cancer. These include the Stand-Up-to Cancer-St. Baldrick’s Foundation “Dream Team” that received the prestigious 2021 AACR Team Science Award and one of the two Beau Biden Cancer Moonshot efforts focused on childhood cancers.

All fellows are nominated and elected through an annual, multi-step peer-review process that involves a rigorous assessment of each candidate’s scientific accomplishments in cancer research and cancer-related sciences. The AACR will formally induct Drs. Wherry and Maris and other fellows during its annual meeting, to be held from April 5-10 in San Diego, California.

George Pappas, the UPS Foundation Professor of Transportation in the department of electrical and systems engineering in Penn Engineering, has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) for his significant “contributions in analysis, synthesis, and control of safety-critical cyber-physical systems.” Dr. Pappas joins a distinguished group of 114 new members and 21 international members who comprise the NAE Class of 2024.

Election to the NAE is one of the highest professional honors for an engineer, and Dr. Pappas’ induction places him among esteemed company. The 2024 class brings the total U.S. membership to 2,310 and the number of international members to 332.

The NAE recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to engineering research, practice or education, including significant contributions to the engineering literature. It also honors those who have pioneered new and developing fields of technology, made major advancements in traditional engineering fields, or implemented innovative approaches to engineering education.

Throughout his career, Dr. Pappas has been at the forefront of analyzing and designing safety-critical cyber-physical systems, such as modern avionics, self-driving vehicles and autonomous robots. His groundbreaking work has helped lay the scientific foundations for these systems, ensuring their reliability and safety.

In addition to his research, Dr. Pappas most recently served as chair of Penn Engineering’s department of electrical and systems engineering for nearly 12 years. He also holds appointments in Penn Engineering’s departments of computer & information science and mechanical engineering & applied mechanics.

Daniel Wodak, an associate professor of philosophy in the School of Arts & Sciences and an assistant professor of law in the Carey Law School, is the 2023 recipient of the Marc Sanders Foundation’s Political Philosophy Prize.

Dr. Wodak won the essay competition for his paper, “One Person, One Vote,” in which he argues that, despite the slogan’s ubiquity, there exists little consensus about what it means—or even a healthy debate among the competing definitions that people use.

Dr. Wodak’s goal in his prize-winning paper, he writes, is “to convince you that an urgent problem in democratic theory is to determine what it should mean to have ‘an equal say’ or ‘an equal vote.’”

The prize committee wrote that Dr. Wodak’s paper about the slogan is a “defensible account of the requirement [that] … pushes us toward radical conclusions, such as the possibility that all district-based voting systems including those used in the U.S. House of Representatives, Senate, and Electoral College, violate this minimal demand of political equality.”

The award for the competition is $5,000 and the essay will be published in Oxford Studies in Political Philosophy.

Dr. Wodak’s work broadly encompasses moral, legal, social, and political philosophy. He also won the Marc Sanders Prize for Metaethics in 2019, the same year he joined the Penn faculty.

The Burrison Gallery, located in the University Club at the Inn at Penn, has reopened with an exhibit called Compositions, Music, Jazz by Sherman Aronson, C’71, GAR’73. Mr. Aronson is a practicing architect in Philadelphia who has worked with digital and analog media since 1990. Comprised of works of ink and watercolor on paper (above), the works in Compositions, Music, Jazz represent Mr. Aronson’s worldview. “I have always made drawings, sketches and designs—it is part of how I look at the world, think about my work, and dream,” said Mr. Aronson. “As an architect, I work in historic preservation and adaptive reuse, transportation renovations, green design and sustainable building. My art is an extension of that interest and passion.”

The exhibition will run until March 14. An artist’s reception will be held on Friday, February 23 from 5-7 p.m.

Conferences

16        Motion, Medium, Message; asks what dialogues are produced in the conduit of movement, medium, and message in diverse Hispanic-Lusophone-Caribbean theories and cultural products in a global context; 1-5 p.m.; room 108, ARCH; info: https://spanish.sas.upenn.edu/events/motion-medium-message (Spanish and Portuguese). Also February 17.

Exhibits

Now

            Sherman Aronson with Compositions, Music & Jazz: Ink and Watercolor on Paper; exhibit of works by Mr. Sherman, a visual artist who works with drawing, sketching, watercolor and digital tools, and who is a practicing architect in Philadelphia; Burrison Gallery, The Inn At Penn. Through March 14. Reception: February 23, 5-7 p.m.

Upcoming

19        The Story of Philadelphia's Black Hospitals and Nurse Training Schools; explore the history of Mercy-Douglass Hospital and the Nurse Training school in Philadelphia through the lens of the Black community's struggle against segregation and healthcare inequality; Holman Biotech Commons. Through March 29.

Fitness & Learning

14        Russian Tea; join Penn’s Russian-speaking community for a weekly conversation hour; 5 p.m.; room 440, Williams Hall (Russian & East European Studies). Also February 20, 1:30 p.m.; February 28, 5 p.m.

15        Scientific Publishing & Editing; Amelia Glazier, Journal of Cell Science; 10 a.m.; room 252, BRB; RSVP: http://tinyurl.com/bgs-workshop-feb-15 (Biomedical Graduate Studies).

Center for Undergraduate Research & Fellowships

Info: https://curf.upenn.edu/events.

16        Summer Humanities Internship Program (SHIP) Info Session; 3 p.m.; room 242, Van Pelt Library.

19        Getting Started with Python for Data Science; 6:30 p.m.; Wu & Chen Auditorium, Levine Hall.

20        Grant-Writing Workshop; 4 p.m.; room 202, 3539 Locust Walk.

Graduate School of Education

Online webinars. Info and to register: https://www.gse.upenn.edu/news/events-calendar?date=2024-02.

20        Top of Mind — Responding to the Israel–Hamas War: Dealing with the Complexity of the Crisis; 7 p.m.

Morris Arboretum & Gardens

In-person events at Morris Arboretum & Gardens. Info: https://www.morrisarboretum.org/.

14        Valentine's Day Craft; show how much you love your friends and family by painting a mini terracotta pot; 11 a.m.

Readings & Signings

Kelly Writers House

In-person events at Arts Café, Kelly Writers House. Info and to register: https://writing.upenn.edu/wh/calendar/0224.php/

15        A Conversation; Brian Hiatt, Rolling Stone; 5:30 p.m.

20        A Reading and Conversation; Eugene Ostashevsky, New York University; 6 p.m.

Talks

13        Redox Behavior and Reactivity of Porphyrin-Walled Nanocages and Other Molecular Materials; Mark Lipke, Rutgers University; noon; Carolyn Hoff Lynch Lecture Hall, Chemistry Complex (Chemistry).

            Violent Schools: Addressing the Barriers to Racial, Gender, and Class Justice; Ranita Ray, University of New Mexico; 4 p.m.; room 264, Stiteler Hall (GSE).

            Tales of Unsettlement: The Global Novel in an Age of Refugees; B. Venkat Mani, University of Wisconsin, Madison; 5:15 p.m.; room 543, Williams Hall (Germanic Languages & Literatures).

            Last Gathering in Haigerloch: Jewish Survivors Return to their Swabian Hometowns, 1945-1949; Helmut Walser Smith, Vanderbilt University; 5:15 p.m.; room 209, College Hall (History).

14        Marginated Neutrophils in the Lungs Effectively Compete for Nanoparticles Targeted to the Endothelium; Eno-Obong Essien, medicine; noon; room 213, Stemmler Hall (Penn-CHOP Lung Biology Institute).

            The Merits and Demerits of Progressive Prosecution; Bill McSwain, attorney; Sandra Mayson, Carey Law School; noon; room 214, Gittis Hall; register: https://forms.gle/14Nt5GLkhGycPW7g7 (Federalist Society).

            Notes Toward Naked Agency as Open Reading; Naminata Diabate, Cornell University; 5 p.m.; room 330A, 3401 Walnut Street (Africana Studies).

15        White-Box Computational Imaging: Measurements to Images to Insights; Sara Fridovich-Keil, Stanford University; 11 a.m.; room 225, Towne Building (Electrical & Systems Engineering).

            Age Against the Machine: How the Aging Microenvironment Drives Tumor Progression; Ashani Weeraratna, Johns Hopkins University; noon; room 8-146, Smilow Center (Radiation Oncology).

            The Functional Form of the Relationship Between Arrest Rate and Perceptions of Risk and Rewards of Crime; Sultan Altikriti; noon; 4^th floor library, McNeil Building; info: breyanam@sas.upenn.edu (Criminology).

            Nanozyme: A Promising Approach for Precision Biofilm Control; Yuan Liu, Penn Dental Medicine; noon; Zoom webinar; info: http://tinyurl.com/liu-talk-feb-15 (Penn Dental Medicine).

            Repurposed Energy; Alexandra Klass, University of Michigan; noon; room 213, Gittis Hall, and Zoom webinar; register: http://tinyurl.com/klass-talk-feb-15 (Penn Program on Regulation).

            Sexual Violence as a Weapon of War and Lessons in PTSD in War; Cochav Elkayam-Levy, Dvora Institute for Gender and Sustainability Studies; Diane Orentlicher, American University; noon; online webinar; register: http://tinyurl.com/cerl-talk-feb-15 (Center for Ethics & the Rule of Law).

            Black Holes as the 21st century laboratory: New Tools and Prospects; Alfredo Guevara González, Harvard University; 2 p.m.; room 4N12, DRL (Physics & Astronomy).

            Unveiling the Mysteries of Vascular Development and Regeneration with Advanced Human Organoid Models; Mingxia Gu, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital; 4 p.m.; room TBA, Smilow Center (Penn-CHOP Lung Biology Institute). 

            To Sing the Truth and Name the Liars: Bearing Witness Under Erasure; Abdelrahman ElGendy, Egyptian writer and activist; Abdulrahman Atta, Near Eastern languages & civilizations; 5 p.m.; Humanities Conference Room, Williams Hall; register: http://tinyurl.com/elgendy-atta-feb-15 (Wolf Humanities Center).

16        Tangled Histories of Israel and Latin America; Gavriel Cutipa-Zorn, Perry World House fellow; noon; room 403, McNeil Building; register: http://tinyurl.com/cutipa-zorn-feb-16 (Center for Latin American & Latinx Studies).

            Panel Discussion on Supporting Survivors of Violence; Maija Anderson, Morgan State University; Adara Combs, City of Philadelphia Office of the Victim Advocate; Natasha Danielá de Lima McGlynn, Anti-Violence Partnership of Philadelphia; 6 p.m.; forum, PCPSE; register: http://tinyurl.com/fels-talk-feb-16 (Fels Institute of Government).

20        An Other: A Black Feminist Consideration of Animal Life Meets Octavia E. Butler: H is for Horse; Chi-Ming Yang, English; 5 p.m.; room 401, Fisher-Bennett Hall (English)

Asian American Studies

Various locations. Info: https://asam.sas.upenn.edu/events.

14        Asian America Across the Disciplines; Mary Yee, Asian Americans United and Yellow Seeds; 5 p.m.; room 473, McNeil Building.

15        Asian America Across the Disciplines; Eleni Kyrkopoulou, Yale University; noon; Zoom webinar.

16        Food for Thought; Tahseen Shams, sociology; noon; room 473, McNeil Building.

Center for the Study of Contemporary China

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

16        Outsourcing Repression: Everyday State Power in Contemporary China; Lynette Ong, University of Toronto; 12:30 p.m.

Economics

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

13        Renting the American Dream: Institutional Investors and Market Power in Single-Family Housing; Felipe Barbieri, economics; noon; room 100, PCPSE.

19        Commitment and Randomization in Communication; Xiao Lin, economics; noon; room 100, PCPSE.

Mathematics

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

13        The Spherical Mixed P-Spin Glass at Zero Temperature; Yuxin Zhou, University of Chicago; 3:30 p.m.; room 4C8, DRL.

15        Some Structure of Kakeya Sets in R^3; Hong Wang, New York University-Courant; 3:30 p.m.; room 4E19, DRL.

            Moduli Spaces of Bad Theories; Julius Grimminger, University of Oxford; 3:45 p.m.; room 3C6, DRL.

Sociology

In-person events. Info: https://sociology.sas.upenn.edu/events.

16        Structural Power, Associational Power, and Income Inequality; Masoud Movahed, sociology; noon; room 367, McNeil Building.

This is an update to the February AT PENN calendar. To submit an event for a future calendar or weekly update, email almanac@upenn.edu.

Division of Public Safety

University of Pennsylvania Police Department Crime Report

About the Crime Report: Below are the Crimes Against Persons and/or Crimes Against Property from the campus report for January 29-February 2, 2024. The Crime Reports are available at: https://almanac.upenn.edu/sections/crimes. Prior weeks’ reports are also online. –Eds.

This summary is prepared by the Division of Public Safety (DPS) and contains all criminal incidents reported and made known to the Penn Police, including those reported to the Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) that occurred within our patrol zone, for the dates of January 29-February 2, 2024. The Penn Police actively patrol from Market Street to Baltimore Avenue and from 30^th Street to 43^rd Street 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 DPS at (215) 898-7297. You may view the daily crime log on the DPS website.

Penn Police Patrol Zone

Market Street to Baltimore Avenue and from 30^th Street to 43^rd Street

Philadelphia Police 18th District

Schuylkill River to 49th Street & Market Street to Woodland Avenue

Below are the Crimes Against Persons from the 18th District: 3 incidents with 0 arrests were reported for January 29-February 2, 2024 by the 18^th District, covering the Schuylkill River to 49th Street & Market Street to Woodland Avenue.

The Division of Public Safety offers resources and support to the Penn community. DPS developed a few helpful risk reduction strategies outlined below. Know that it is never the fault of the person impacted (victim/survivor) by crime.

• See something concerning? Connect with Penn Public Safety 24/7 at (215) -573-3333.
• Worried about a friend’s or colleague’s mental or physical health? Get 24/7 connection to appropriate resources at (215) 898-HELP (4357).
• Seeking support after experiencing a crime? Call Special Services - Support and Advocacy resources at (215) 898-4481 or email an advocate at specialservices@publicsafety.upenn.edu
• Use the Walking Escort and Riding services available to you free of charge.
• Take a moment to update your cellphone information for the UPennAlert Emergency Notification System
• Download the Penn Guardian App which can help Police better find your location when you call in an emergency.
• Access free self-empowerment and defense courses through Penn DPS.
• Stay alert and reduce distractions; using cellphones, ear buds, etc. may limit your awareness.
• Orient yourself to your surroundings. (Identify your location, nearby exits, etc.)
• Keep your valuables out of sight and only carry necessary documents.

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

Scenario

Lara is a Penn employee working in one of the school’s administrative offices. She accesses work-related systems online using a browser. She installed several plugins, sometimes referred to as extensions, for easy access to online applications like Adobe, Zoom, and a password manager.

Lara often receives notifications to run browser and extension updates. She ignores them during the busy work season. A month before sending out annual letters, Lara could not access one of the systems essential to completing her tasks.

She called her IT (information technology) support staff for help. They reset the system and cleaned the device of potential malware. Lara lost a significant amount of data. Unfortunately, she did not maintain a regular backup of the data she handles.

What to Do

Software companies issue updates, referred to as patches, when system vulnerabilities or exploits are discovered. The vulnerability may enable a hacker to compromise the system by accessing users’ credentials and information.

To avoid data loss and the inability to access essential systems at work, take the following weekly steps:

1. Back up your data.
2. Run software and extension updates when notified.
3. Run anti-virus software.
4. Use software supported by your school/center IT staff.
5. Consult with IT support staff before installing an extension or software on the device.
6. Ask for IT assistance when your device is malfunctioning.
7. Follow Penn’s Data Risk Classification guidelines.

For additional information:

• CrowdStrike (a computer security program used by Penn to offer enhanced protection to some Penn-owned and -managed computers): https://www.isc.upenn.edu/security/crowdStrike
• Sophos Home (antivirus/anti-malware for personal use): https://almanac.upenn.edu/articles/one-step-ahead-sophos-home-antivirus-antimalware-antispyware-software-available
• Data Risk Classification, visit https://www.isc.upenn.edu/security/data-classification

The McCabe Fund Advisory Committee is calling for applications from junior faculty in the Perelman School of Medicine (PSOM) and the School of Veterinary Medicine for the annual Thomas B. and Jeannette E. Laws McCabe Fund Fellow and Pilot awards. The McCabe awards were established in 1969 by a gift from Thomas B. McCabe and Jeannette E. Laws McCabe to the Perelman School of Medicine. The gift supports junior faculty (assistant professors) who initiate fresh and innovative biomedical, clinical, and surgical research projects. This opportunity is open to clinical (CE and AC) track faculty. Tenure and research track faculty are not eligible to apply.

Eligible faculty are those who have received either limited or no external research funding while in their first through third years on the faculty at the PSOM or the School of Veterinary Medicine at Penn. Junior faculty in these schools should contact their department chair for information and application forms. The guidelines and instructions to determine eligibility are also available on the PSOM website: https://www.med.upenn.edu/evdresearch/mccabe-fund.html

The deadline for submission is Friday, May 10, 2024. The McCabe Fund Advisory Committee will select the winners at its annual meeting in June.

Last year there were five fellow award winners of $50,000 each: Ryan Carey, Otorhinolaryngology; Daniel Hashimoto, Surgery; Christina Jackson, Neurosurgery; Ioannis Verginadis, Radiation Oncology; and Mahesh Vidula, Medicine.

There were seventeen Pilot Award winners who received $29,326 each: Jason Ackrivo, Medicine; Lorraine Boakye, Orthopaedic Surgery; Quy Cao, Biostatistics & Epidemiology; Jennifer Douglas, Otorhinolaryngology; Alexander Fairman, Surgery; Victoria Gershuni, Surgery; Arun Goel, Radiation Oncology; Thea Golden, Obstetrics & Gynecology; Wenbo Gu, Radiation Oncology; Tiffany Peng Hwa, Otorhinolaryngology; Tiffanie Jones, Medicine/Epidemiology; Austin Kilaru, Emergency Medicine; Michael LaRiviere, Radiation Oncology; Galen Leung, Medicine; Jennifer McCoy, Obstetrics & Gynecology; Todd Miano, Biostatistics & Epidemiology; Andrew Sobel, Orthopaedic Surgery; and Srijan Tandukar, Medicine.