Honors & Other Things
April 24, 2007, Volume 53, No. 31	Print Issue

Dr. Aiken: Distinguished Researcher Dr. Linda H. Aiken, the Claire M. Fagin Leadership Professor in Nursing, professor of sociology, and director of the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research, received the Fifth Annual Claire M. Fagin Distinguished Research Award. The award honors Dr. Claire M. Fagin, dean emeritaof the Nursing School and former interim president of Penn. Dr. Aiken was honored for her internationally renowned work in health workforce and outcomes research. “Dr. Aiken’s research has brought the global nursing shortage to the forefront,” said Dr. Afaf I. Meleis, the Margaret Bond Simon Dean of Nursing. “Her work has had and continues to have a major impact on healthcare policies and the delivery of care not only in the U.S., but all over the world.  The Penn Nursing community and I are fortunate to have Dr. Aiken as a colleague and the School is proud to honor her with this distinguished award.”

Drs. Bradlow and Werner: SGIM Award

Dr. Eric Bradlow, K.P. Chao Professor of Marketing and Dr. Rachel Werner, assistant professor of medicine, are recipients of the Society for General Internal Medicine’s Best Published Research Paper of the Year award. Their paper, “Relationship Between Medicare’s Hospital Compare Performance Measures and Mortality Rates,” appeared in the December 13, 2006 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.  

Mr. Buley: Bartley Fellow

Taylor W. Buley, a senior majoring in politics, philosophy and economics, was selected as a 2007 Robert L. Bartley Fellow. Fellows receive paid internships to work at the Wall Street Journal editorial page worldwide and the Far Eastern Economic Review. The program is named in honor of the late editor of the Journal, Robert L. Bartley, who directed editorial and leisure & arts coverage from 1972 to 2002.

Mr. Greenwald: Emerging Scholar

Elliot Greenwald, a senior majoring in history, was selected as the 2007 Emerging Scholar by Penn’s Communication Within the Curriculum program. He was chosen for his outstanding research and his capacity to present it to a diverse audience. He presented his senior thesis, “Race and the Roundball: Ivy League Basketball and the Struggle for Racial Equality, 1962-1972,” at the Emerging Scholar Talks showcase.

Dr. Jaffee: Early Scientific Award

Dr. Sara Jaffee, assistant professor of psychology, is the 2007 recipient of the Early Scientific Achievement Award presented by the Society for Research in Child Development. Dr. Jaffee uses longitudinal, epidemiological methods to better understand how genes and environments work together to influence children’s physiological and behavioral development. She is particularly interested in the association between extreme adversities, like family violence and children’s disruptive behavior problems.

Dr. Holod: Research Grant

Dr. Renata Holod, professor of the history of art and curator, Near East Section, Penn Museum and Warren Woodfin, Visiting Scholar in the History of Art Department, along with partners Oleksander Halenko, Vitaly Otroshchenko and Yuri Rassamakin, have been awarded a Collaborative Research Grant from the Gerry Foundation for the Study of a Medieval Kurgan. The team plans to study the burial and artifacts of Qipchak khan in southern Ukraine.

Dr. Petryna: Millennium Book Award

Dr. Adriana Petryna, associate professor of anthropology, has been chosen as the inaugural recipient of the New Millennium Book Award for her book, Life Exposed: Biological Citizens after Chernobyl. The award was established by the Society for Medical Anthropology to recognize and promote excellence in medical anthropology.

Dr. Wind: MIT’s Buck Weaver Award Dr. Yoram (Jerry) Wind, Lauder Professor and professor of marketing, is the 2007 winner of MIT’s Buck Weaver Award. The award recognizes the person who best combines theory and practice in marketing. This award was established by General Motors in honor of its first director of marketing research, Henry Grady “Buck” Weaver, a pioneer in marketing research and market-based decision-making.

RAVI-Bot: 2007 Gemmill Award

The William K. Gemmill Award, given annually for the most creative mechanical engineering senior design project, has been awarded to RAVI-Bot, a robotic sitar. The robot, which mimics the techniques and improvisational style of the classical North Indian stringed instrument, was designed and built by Peter Bruekner, Michael Dugan, Kristin Condello, and Will Jelliffe, all seniors in SEAS. As part of Artbots 2007, an international robot talent show held in Philadelphia this year, RAVI-Bot is on display at the Esther M. Klein Gallery.

PAS Students Honored

Students at the Penn Alexander School (PAS) have received honors for two citywide academic competitions—the Scripps Regional Spelling Bee Championship and the George Washington Carver Science Fair.  Fahmida Sarmin—2007 Scripps Regional Spelling Bee Champion, first-place honors in seventh-grade psychology; Keaton Naff—first-place in seventh-grade physics; Sujatha Changolkar—first-place in fifth-grade physical science; Doug Warnock—second in fifth-grade physical science; Fathema Ibrahim—third-place in eighth-grade chemistry; Norr Jemy—third-place in seventh-grade earth science; Maxwell Gontarek—third-place in sixth-grade life science and the Naval Science Award; Naimah Hares, Helen Beyene, and Giulia Perry—Math and Science Partnership Award; Loma Perry and Farzana Rahman—Clara Tolbert Award for Teamwork.

2007 Penn ProWomen Awards The Penn Professional Women’s Network hosted their annual Alice Paul Awards Breakfast honoring the achievements of women students, faculty and staff at Penn. The recipients are: Alice Paul Awards: Gabrielle Genauer, Law ’07, has directed a women’s violence resource center for women and children, worked with Legal Aid on family law issues and designed a country-wide assessment of domestic violence services. Recently, she has been an intern at the Women’s Law Project. Kimberly Hsu, C ’07, worked with The Daily Pennsylvanian to be more inclusive to women and minorities as Production Manager.  She has also worked with Dr. Ira Harkavy and Idealist.org. Kristin Williams, C ’08, is Editor-in-Chief of the Penn literary magazine The F-Word: A Collection of Feminist Voices. Eileen Wu, C ’07, currently serving as chair of the Penn Consortium of Undergraduate Women, she planned the 2007 Women’s Week. As Events Coordinator of Amnesty International, she joined the two projects for increased participation. Women’s Healthcare Nurse Practitioner and Midwifery Program participants, all NUG  ’07, include Alexis Bartley, Tiffany Dovydaitis, Amy Harding, Tamara Herold, Paige McDaniel, Christina Pherson, Katrina Rodies, Tracey Streiff, Jewell Whitmer and Amanda Youngers; recognized for collaborating with women of Webster County, VA to address reproductive healthcare disparities. Lynda Hart Award: Kim Rust, C ’07, was recognized for her contributions to the Penn performing arts community. She has played many complex female roles and most recently coordinated Penn’s 2007 V-Day events and directed “The Vagina Monologues.” Judith Seitz Rodin Prize for Innovative Leadership: Elaine Khoong, SEAS ’07, W ’07. This award is given to a junior or senior woman who has demonstrated innovative leadership through a program, service, or scholarly activity. Lenore Rowe Williams Award: Dr. Joan Hendricks, Gilbert S. Khan Dean of the School of Veterinary Medicine, was recognized for being the first woman dean of the Veterinary School, her establishment of the Veterinary Clinical Investigation Center, and her ongoing commitment to innovation in her field. Robert E. Davies Award: Dr. Sherrill Adams, professor and chair of the biochemistry department, School of Dental Medicine, was recognized for her "passionate commitment to enhancing the success of women faculty and students by addressing areas of institutional culture, support structures, mentoring and work-life balance." She was also nominated to attend the HERS Bryn Mawr Summer Institute for Women in Higher Education in 2003.

The third annual PennVention Invention Fair took place last month at the Weiss Tech House.  The competition is for student inventors looking to create, develop and legitimize their inventions, and provides students with tools and resources, mentoring opportunities and feedback from experts. This year’s winners include:

Grand Prize: Radiosonde Recovery, an autonomous GPS-based robot that recovers instruments sent to near-orbit altitudes; developed by Warren Jackson, SEAS BSE ’08 MSE ’08, Kevin Galloway, SEAS Ph.D. ’09, Bill Mather, SEAS Ph.D. ’10, and Chris Thorne, SEAS Ph.D. ’10.  In addition to the $5,000 grand prize, the team also won the Lowenstein Sandler Legal Award (5 hours of legal services and advice) and a Bresslergroup Best Product Concept Award.

Second Place: Innovative Protein Technologies, created by Pravien Abeywickrema, SEAS MBiot ’08, and Noel Byrne, SEAS MBiot ’06  received $2,500. The team provides a fully automated solution to western blot protein analysis.

Third Place: The Quicker Kicker, created by Derek Zoch, W ’08, and Steve Jones, SEAS ’08, received $1,000 for its mechanical football holder for field goal kickers that replicates a holder catching the ball and placing it down in one smooth motion. The Quicker Kicker also won the Lowenstein Sandler Legal Award and a Bresslergroup Best Product Concept Award.

Another Lowenstein Sandler Legal Award was given to Fodius, a beneficiary-notification service technology that alerts people to their entitled financial assents upon someone’s death, created by Armen Karamania, Pharmacology Ph.D. ’08, and Ben Adams, SEAS (Executive Master’s in Technology Management).  The team also won the Tierney Communications Strategy, Positioning & Branding Prize.

The Paramount Rapid Prototype Award, consisting of $1,000 worth of selective Laser Sintering Prototype Services, was given to Ultra Slim Key Card Holder, created by Alexander Furmansky, SEAS/W ’07, Atish Davda, SEAS/W ’08, Ken Morgan, W ’08, and Vasudev Kulkarni, SEAS ’08.  The team was also awarded the QVC Consumer Innovation Award ($2,500 and a one-hour meeting with a QVC buyer).