Tuesday,
December 14, 1999
Volume 46
Number 15
www.upenn.edu/almanac/


 Leaving: Kathryn Engebretson

Dr. Kathryn Engebretson, Vice President for Finance since September 1997, will resign as of the end of the month. Dr. Engebretson is leaving Penn "to pursue an extraordinary opportunity with an internet start-up venture in Washington, DC. She is leaving Penn to assume the post of Chief Financial Officer of BET.com, a portal aimed at attracting African Americans to the Internet," said Executive Vice President John Fry in announcing Dr. Engebretson's resignation. BET.com is a joint venture between BET (Black Entertainment Television), Microsoft, News Corporation, USA Networks and AT&T Liberty Digital, with $35 million in start-up funding. "We wish Kathy well in this new and exciting role," Mr. Fry added.

 Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration

January 16 through 27 the University will sponsor the MLK Jr. Celebration and Symposium on Social Change. This year's theme is "The Importance of King's Philosophy and Action for the 21st Century." The goal is to bring members of the Penn, West and Southwest Philadelphia communities together to celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. See January AT PENN for a schedule of events.

 Racing Towards the Millennium

Are you having a baby in 2000? If so, register now for Penn Special Delivery for perks and benefits throughout your pregnancy. Penn Special Delivery is a free maternity membership program for employees and spouses of the University of Pennsylvania and related institutions. If you're expecting, call program director, Sue Stabene, at (215) 662-3243, or visit our website at www.obgyn.upenn.edu/psd/psd_plus.html.

--Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology

VP for Research

Vice Provost for Research, Dr. Ralph Amado will step down at the end of this academic year to resume full-time teaching and research as professor of physics. Dr. Robert Barchi said, "He has done a fantastic job for us. We are all very grateful to Ralph for his contributions to Penn as the VP for Research," continued Provost Barchi. "He led the office during a time of enormous change and growth and did a terrific job as an administrator and as a wise guiding force."

A leading scholar of nuclear theory who has been on the faculty here since 1959, Dr. Amado was named acting vice provost for research in 1995 and was then selected to fill the permanent post July 1996. He will complete a five-year term in the spring.

Penn has become one of the largest research institutions in the world. The externally funded research budget totals nearly half a billion dollars and has been increasing significantly in recent years.

The vice provost for research is responsible for pre- and post-grant awards; regulatory and compliance areas, technology transfer, strategic planning and research. The position, which has been a part-time one, is being reconfigured as a full-time position. This is part of Dr. Barchi's strategic plan to reorganize and strengthen Provost's office. A national search is expected to begin shortly.

 Academic Integrity TaskForce

Provost Robert Barchi has asked Deputy Provost Peter Conn to convene a Task Force on Academic Integrity, the purpose of which is to review the present work of all the interested parties on this subject and to recommend new or revised ways to emphasize academic integrity at Penn. The Task Force grew, in part, out of several conversations between members of the Honor Council, the Council of Undergraduate Deans and senior members of the Provost's staff.

Among other specific tasks, the Task Force will develop approaches that could present academic integrity in a positive light to current and prospective students; evaluate and expand the role of faculty in addressing matters of academic integrity; propose appropriate models for integrating academic integrity into the curriculum; and outline concrete measures to combat dishonesty. Its focus will be restricted to the four undergraduate schools but this does not preclude a further inquiry into the graduate/professional schools, either by this or a subsequent committee.

This group has met several times this semester, and will conclude its deliberations early in the next semester. Its report will be shared with the University community, and specific recommendations will be placed before the Council of Undergraduate Deans and other relevant bodies.

The Task Force on Academic Integrity:

Peter Conn, Deputy Provost, Chair
Andrew Abel, Professor, Finance
Rick Beeman, Dean of the College,
Professor, History
Larry Gladney, Professor, Physics
Michele Goldfarb, Director, Student Conduct
Kathleen McCauley, Professor, Nursing
Mark Metzel, Chair, IFC
David Pope, Professor, Engineering
Patricia Rose, Director, Career Services
Rikki Tanenbaum, Co-Chair, Honor Council
Cam Winton, SCUE
Evan Thomas, NEC Representative
Gaurab Bansal, NEC Representative

 100 and Still Growing: As a new millennium rapidly approaches, the University Museum approaches its own building centennial, even as it makes plans for a new collections storage and study wing ground-breaking in the year 2000. Founded in 1887, it wasn't until December 20, 1899 that the Museum building--the University of Pennsylvania's Free Museum of Science and Art, as it was first named--formally opened to the public at 33rd and Spruce Streets. The building, which has since had four additions, boasted the garden entrance and two floors of exhibition space featuring diverse materials from Mesopotamia, Egypt, Borneo, Italy and the Mediterranean region, Asia, Polynesia and the Americas. The cost of the first building, furnished, was $385,000.


Almanac, Vol. 46, No. 15, December 14, 1999

| FRONT PAGE | CONTENTS | JOB-OPS | CRIMESTATS | Holiday Shopping 1999, Part Two | Y2K Update: "We Will Have Succeeded" (Beck) | TALK ABOUT TEACHING ARCHIVE | BETWEEN ISSUES | JANUARY at PENN |