Honors & Other Things

School of Medicine's 1999-2000 Awards

(continued from cover story)

The Dean's Award for Excellence in Clinical Teaching at an Affiliated Hospital was established in 1987 to honor commitment to medical education and excellence in clinical teaching by recognizing outstanding faculty members from affiliated hospitals. Two recipients were chosen this year: Dr. Julie Low and Dr. Bret Rudy.

Dr. Low is director of Medical Student Education in Psychiatry at Pennsylvania Hospital, where she conducts an interviewing seminar for the Psychiatry 200 students and is involved in the bedside teaching of clinical psychiatry to medical students and psychiatry residents. She also supervises psychiatry residents and medical students in the Evaluation Service at Pennsylvania Hospital's Hall Mercer Clinic. For the last two years she has been a preceptor in the Doctoring (Professionalism and Humanism) course. 

Dr. Rudy completed his undergraduate work at Lafayette College. He then went to the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine where he graduated junior AOA and cum laude. From there, Dr. Rudy came to CHOP, where he completed his internship and residency in pediatrics. Dr. Rudy completed a year of fellowship training in hematology/oncology and then did a general medicine fellowship focused on HIV care. In 1993, Dr. Rudy became the medical director of the Adolescent HIV initiative at CHOP establishing the first dedicated program in Philadelphia for HIV-infected adolescents. The program has become nationally recognized as a leading program in care, research and advocacy. He serves as the Principal Investigator of the REACH Project, the only federally-funded research study of HIV infection in adolescents. He is considered to be an excellent clinical teacher by both students and his peers. 

The Dean's Award for Excellence in Basic Science Teaching was established in 1987, and honors exemplary teaching and commitment to medical education specifically in the basic sciences. There are two recipients this year: Dr. Paul Teresi and Dr. James White.

Dr. Teresi is a laboratory section leader in anatomy, histology and neuroscience. In addition, he codirects the anatomy and advanced anatomy courses and serves as liaison between the department of cell and developmental biology and the School with respect to curriculum development and implementation. He has played an extremely important role in integrating anatomy into Curriculum 2000. One of the many improvements he has made for this difficult course is the implementation of videotaped prosections for the medical students. The students consider this innovation to be one of the most successful to date. He received his B.S. degree in biology from the University of Santa Clara and earned his Ph.D. in anatomy from the University of California, San Francisco. He was an instructor at UCSF for nine years prior to his arrival at Penn in 1995. 

Dr. White has a B.A. in history from Lynchburg College, 1973, and a Ph.D. in anatomy, 1979, from Penn State. Dr. White has been an adjunct assistant professor of cell and developmental biology at Penn since 1995 and currently teaches gross anatomy, neuroscience or embryology at four Philadelphia area medical schools. Dr. White has won five AMSA Golden Apple Awards and five Excellence in Teaching Awards at various institutions. He consistently scores at the highest level in student evaluations and is considered by many to be one of the best educators in the first year of medical school. 

This year there are four Special Dean's Awards which honor special achievements by Penn faculty members, particularly in the development of new and innovative educational programs.
Dr. Scott E. Kasner, assistant professor of neurology, and interim director, Comprehensive Stroke Center, HUP, is the recipient of the Special Dean's Award for Clinical Teaching. Dr. Kasner received his M.D. from Yale University School of Medicine. He was an intern in internal medicine and a resident in neurology at Penn. After his residency, he completed a fellowship in stroke and neurocritical care at the University of Texas Houston Health Science Center. He specializes in the management of acute stroke and intracerebral hemorrhage. His research interests are related to the study of new methods for the evaluation and treatment of acute stroke, as well as the identification and management of stroke risk factors and the prevention of stroke. He is considered to be an excellent clinical teacher and devotes much time to insuring that students receive a first-rate education at all levels. 

Dr. Paul N. Lanken, a professor of medicine at HUP in the Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Division, Department of Medicine, is the recipient of the Special Dean's Award for Development and Direction of the Bioethics/Humanism and Professionalism Curriculum. Since 1989, he has been providing important leadership in promoting the teaching of bioethics, humanism and professionalism in the Penn Med curriculum. For the past four years, he has served a pivotal role in this endeavor as leader of the Bioethics, Humanism and Professionalism Module of Curriculum 2000, the recently completed major overhaul of the medical school curriculum. As a result, a new curriculum in bioethics, humanism and professionalism has been developed and successfully integrated throughout the four years of medical school education. One such change is a new course, Doctoring. In this, small groups of the first year students and faculty meet regularly over a two-year period. These longitudinal groups provide a structured and unstructured educational format for exploring many complexities that medical students may encounter, particularly in their clinical clerkships. These include issues related to the students' professional development, issues of professionalism and bioethics and skill-building exercises to improve communication in the doctor-patient relationship. The following comparison illustrates the impact of Dr. Lanken's leadership over the past 11 years on the curriculum: in 1989, the curriculum had zero hours of required classes related to bioethics, humanism and professionalism. Today, Curriculum 2000 has over 100 hours of required classes in these fields. 

The Special Dean's Award for Clerkship Direction goes to Dr. Kathleen Zsolway, assistant professor of pediatrics. As the assistant director of the Pediatric 200 course she worked with Dr. Christian developing a challenging and rewarding experience for the students. The clerkship has evolved into a series of problem-based learning sessions through actual clinical cases. The development of the role of "Teaching Senior" has allowed direct clinical observation for physical exam competence. Computer-simulated cases are now being introduced to the students to further the development of clinical skills in a "safe" setting. As the director of the Faculty Practice at CHOP, an active and busy clinical rotation has been established for the students combined with an active topic discussion with an attending required each day. Having just completed the National Faculty Development Scholar Program by the APA she has been working with Dr. Angelo Giardino to create a series of Faculty Development workshops. It is their goal that these workshops will offer formal faculty development to further improve the education currently occurring in the clinical setting. 

Dr. Mark A. Kelley, professor of medicine, and vice chair, department of medicine, is the recipient of the Special Dean's Award for Distinguished Service. He is the chief of medicine at the VA Medical Center. From 1990 to 1999, he was the Medical Center's vice dean for clinical affairs with responsibilities for physician and hospital network development and for the coordination of clinical practice integration across UPHS. Previously, he served for six years as vice chairman of the department of medicine and directed the Internal Medicine Training Program as well as the department's physician practice. Dr. Kelley completed both his bachelor's and his M.D. degrees at Harvard and then served as resident, chief medical resident and fellow at HUP He is listed in Best Doctors of America and Who's Who in America. His research interests include, the cost-effective use of technology, health care economics, and medical education. 

Medical Student Government Awards

The graduating class selects annual recipients of these two awards.

The Clinical Medical Teaching Award

Dr. Robert Gaiser, assistant professor of anesthesia, was the recipient of the 1999 Medical Student Government Award for Clinical Teaching and a 1999 Lindback Award winner. 

The Basic Science Teaching Award

Dr. Helen Davies, professor of microbiology, received the Medical Student Government Award for Basic Science for the tenth time in a dozen years. Dr. Davies received a Lindback Award in 1977. 

 Penn Prize for Excellence in Teaching by Graduate Students

In the fall, Eric Eisenstein, doctoral student in marketing and the President of GSAC, proposed to University President Judith Rodin the creation of a new University-wide award to honor teaching by graduate students. President Rodin responded by agreeing to personally fund ten awards this year. "Through our graduate students, we are creating the academic community of tomorrow," President Rodin said. "Acknowledging extraordinary teaching is a natural and important way to engage and entice our graduate students to strive for excellence."

An award selection committee consisting of faculty and students from multiple schools solicited nominations from undergraduates through e-mail, the DP and a new web page. More than 230 nominations were received recommending more than 130 graduate students. Thirty-three of the top candidates were invited to submit a statement of their teaching philosophy and a letter of support from a faculty member who had supervised their teaching. From those, ten were chosen as this year's awardees:

Aaron Bloomfield Computer and Information Science
Christopher Burrows Mathematics
Jeffrey Casello Systems Engineering
Gregory Flaxman Comparative Literature and Theory
Tamar Kaplan History
Eric Kondratieff Ancient History
Jason Parsley Mathematics
Stacey Philbrick Political Science
Edward Weinstein Pharmacological Sciences
Gordon Wong Chemical Engineering

Dr. Walter Licht, who chaired the selection committee said, "It was exciting to see the response from the undergraduate community and to read the inspiring statements by the graduate students. It was very difficult to narrow the field to ten. We are delighted to have this opportunity to honor some of the University's most outstanding graduate student teachers and to publicly recognize the valuable contributions these budding scholars make to our undergraduate programs." The ten awardees were honored by a reception last Thursday.

Friars Awards

The Friars Senior Society, is Penn's 99 year-old honorary society whose annual awards were presented at a banquet held in mid-April. This year's award winners are:

Karen Gaines, retired editor of Almanac, was presented the "Bo Brown" Honorary Friar award in recognition of her loyal service to Penn.

Bruce Montgomery received the "Rex Morgan" Friar of the Year award in recognition of his retirement and the musical legacy he has contributed as director of the Penn Glee Club and Penn Singers, and as associate director of Musical Activities.

Dr. Walter A. McDougall, the Alloy-Ansin Professor of International Relations History and director of International Relations, was presented the Faculty Award by the Friars undergraduates.

 Four to AAAS

Four members of the faculty have been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The Academy was founded by John Adams and is known principally for the publication of the journal Daedalus.

The four new Penn fellows are:

  • Randall Collins, professor of sociology
  • Richard Slator Dunn, professor emeritus of history; director MCEAS
  • Charles Kahn, professor of philosophy
  • Paul Rozin, professor of psychology; Edmund J. & Louise W. Kahn Professor for Faculty Excellence.

Dr. Joel Conarroe, the first Penn Ombudsman and former dean of SAS from 1983-85, now president at the Guggenheim Foundation, was also elected to AAAS.

Fulbright Fellows

Six graduate and seven undergraduate students have been chosen as Fulbright Fellows from Penn. The students, their area of study and the country in which they will be studying are:

Graduate Students

  • David Haney, Architecture: "Leberecht Migge and the Modern Landscape in Weimar Germany," Germany.
  • Bruce Baird, East Asian Languages & Literature: "Butoh, Philosophy and the Burden of History," Japan.
  • Jeanne Nugent, History of Art: "Photographic Memory: History and Identity in Gerhard Richter's Photo-Paintings, 1961-1989," Germany.
  • Solimar Otero, Folklore & Folklife: "Rethinking the Diaspora: the Cuban and Brazilian Yoruba Community in Lago, Nigeria," Nigeria.
  • Nicholas Sawicki, History of Art: "Czech Art Exhibitions and the Search for a Modern Identity in Central Europe, 1910-1914," Czech Republic.
  • Jennifer Sessions, History: "Making Colonial France: the Cultural Origins of French Empire in Africa 1830-1870," France.

 Undergraduate Students

  • Katrin Fraser, AMES (concentration: Japanese)/IR: "Teaching English as A Foreign Language," Korea.
  • Kristina Herbert, Biochemistry/Biophysics: "Force Measurements of Nucleosome DNA using Atomic Force Microscopy," Germany.
  • Miriam Joffe-Block, Anthropology: "Migrant Labor and Civil Society in Bangkok and Northeastern Thailand," Thailand.
  • Alyson Lease, Biomedical Engineering/English: "Research in Low Dose Digital X-rays for Primary Health Care in South Africa," South Africa.
  • Laura E. Robbins, History (American)/Economics, minor in Jewish Studies: "Spanish Views on Race in Colonial Alta California, 1769-1821," Spain.
  • Adam Kaufman, Management and Technology Program: "Information Systems in Mexico," Mexico.
  • Christopher Murray, Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business: "Binational Business Grant," Mexico.

Honor Dental Society

Dr. Joseph Dietz, clinical professor of restorative dentistry, and Dr. Sara Simpser-Rafalin, clinical assistant professor of restorative dentistry, were awarded faculty membership in the Omicron Kappa Upsilon Honor Dental Society. 

Park Fellowship in Korean Studies

Juyeong Joanne Cho, a doctoral student in political science, has been named the 2000-01 Y.H. Park Fellow in Korean Studies. Ms. Cho's dissertation topic is the politics of attempted economic reform in Korea, particularly as it is reflected in the banking sector. Ms. Cho writes, "Existing paradigms of financial reform do not adequately explain the failure of deep reform in the wake of the Asian financial crisis and the persistence of government domination of the national economy. My hypothesis concerning the underlying dynamics of the reform process may not only provide a more accurate picture of the situation, bit it many also serve to redirect the energies and resources of reformers into more productive directions...An accurate understanding of the problems underlying the Korean financial system is the first step toward a lasting solution. Moreover, the broad principles and remedies elucidated by the Korean model may be applicable to the cases of other nations experiencing similar difficulties."

Ms. Cho completed her undergraduate studies at Princeton University and received her Master of Arts degree in International Affairs from Columbia University. She has been an adjunct professor in political science at Loyola College, research analyst at the United Nations Development Program, "Emerging Markets Project Director for Chemical Bank, research analyst for the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and for the Japan Securities Research Institute. A native speaker of Korean and English, she is fluent in Japanese and French and has been an assistant producer and reporter for CNN Business News in Tokyo.

The Y.H. Park Fellowship in Korean Studies was established in 1994 by agreement between Mr. Yong-Hak Park, chairman of the Yangback Foundation and Chairman Emeritus of Dainong Group in Seoul, and President Judith Rodin, on behalf of Penn. Mr. Park contributed funds to create a permanent endowment for the operation of a fellowship program in Korean Studies. Nominations of dissertation level students are solicited annually from among the graduate group chairs. According to the terms of the agreement, favorable consideration is given to applicants pursuing Ph.D.s in humanities, social sciences, international management, international studies or fine arts. Fellows must be outstanding students whose primary interest is focused on Korea and who will continue their scholarly activities outside of Korea after completion of their graduate degrees. Students are required to be proficient in the Korean language in order to use Korean-language source materials in carrying out their research.

 Call for Honors/Awards

Almanac appreciates being informed of honors, including honorary degrees and other awards that faculty, staff and students receive. Please submit information by fax, (215) 898-9137, or by e-mail, almanac@pobox.upenn.edu.

Almanac, Vol. 46, No. 31, May 2, 2000

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