Honors & Other Things
May 13, 2008, Volume 54, No. 33	Print Issue

Ivy Day Award Recipients

The 2008 Ivy Stone was designed by two seniors in the College, Clara Bracke and Alexandra Lapinsky. Made of Impala black granite, the stone will be located on the northeast corner of 37th & Locust Walk. A photographic archive of Ivy Stones from 1873 to 2004 is online at www.library.upenn.edu/exhibits/pennhistory/ivystones/ivystones.html.

Senior Honor Awards
Althea K. Hottel Award: Sarah R. Abroms, C ’08

Gaylord P. Harnwell Award: Colleen E. Donovan, C ’08

David R. Goddard Award: Beth Newton, C ’08

R. Jean Brownlee Award: Shirley Liang, C ’08

Spoon Award: Puneet Singh, W ’08

Bowl Award: Jason A. Karsh, C ’08

Cane Award: David P. Helfenbein, C ’08

Spade Award: Matthew R. Levin, C ’08

Leadership Awards

Association of Alumnae Fathers’ Trophy: Jesse Lea Carlin, C ’08

Class of 1915 Award: Timothy J. Kaijala, C ’08

James Howard Weiss Memorial Award: Joyce S. Meng, C ’08

Penn Student Agencies Award: Heather L. Cunningham, N ’08

Penn Alumni Student Awards of Merit:

Carrie L. Alexander, C ’08
Robert Medina, C ’08
Julie G. Perilstein, C ’08
Stacie N. Smith, C ’08
Jessica B. Trief, W ’08

James Brister Society Student Leadership Award: Pheobe N. Askie, N ’08

Association of Latino Alumni Student Award: Jasmine Perez, N ’08

Black Alumni Society Student Award: Davianne C. Toomer, C ’08

University of Pennsylvania Asian Alumni Network Award: Jun Li, C ’08

Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Alumni Association Award: KeAndra Dodds, C ’08

Trustees’ Council of Penn Women Leadership Award:

Arushi Sharma, C ’08
Stacie N. Smith, C ’08

William A. Levi Kite & Key Society Award for Service & Scholarship: Matthew R. Levin, C ’08

Sol Feinstone Undergraduate Awards:

KeAndra Dodds, C ’08
Malek H. Lewis, C ’08
Samir M. Malik, C ’08
Kevin M. Rurak, C ’08
Jonathan Z. Weiner, C’08

Dr. Brennan: Temple Alumni Award

Dr. Patrick J. Brennan, chief medical officer and senior vice president for the University of Pennsylvania Health System, has received the Alumni Achievement Award from Temple University School of Medicine. Dr. Brennan, who is also a professor of medicine at Penn, was recognized for his expertise in infection control and his contributions to policy and procedure at institutional, regional, and federal levels.

Dr. Gutmann: Community Leadership

President Amy Gutmann was awarded the Distinguished Community Leadership Award from Operation Understanding for her  commitment to youth in the city. The non-profit organization focuses on developing leaders in the African-American and Jewish communities, and educating the community at large on issues relating to diversity, cross-cultural understanding and tolerance.

Dr. Rivlin: Moynihan Prize
In addition, President Gutmann presented the inaugural Daniel Patrick Moynihan Prize to Dr. Alice M. Rivlin, founding director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), and former director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, at a dinner last week at the Penn Museum. The award was created by the American Academy of Political and Social Science to recognize “the use of informed judgment to advance the public good.” The Moynihan Prize is intended to encourage both social scientists and public officials to continue the US Senator’s legacy; it comes with a $20,000 award.

Dr. Preston: Political and Social Science Fellow

Dr. Samuel Preston, professor of demography and former SAS dean, was one of six scholars inducted as a fellow of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. The Academy was founded in 1884 in Philadelphia with the objective of promoting the progress of the social sciences and using social science knowledge in the development of public policy.

Dr. Jemmott: NIH Grant for HIV/AIDS
The University of Botswana (UB) recently launched an Adolescent Research and Capacity Building on HIV/AIDS Program, a partnership between UB, Penn, and the US government. The project is led by Professor Bagele Chilisa of UB and Dr. John B. Jemmott III, the Kenneth B. Clark Professor of Communication and director of the Center for Health Behavior and Communication Research, Annenberg School. Dr. Jemmott and Professor Chilisa led a multidisciplinary team of researchers to win a $1.8 million NIH research grant to develop research capacity for the intervention of HIV/AIDS issues pertaining to adolescents.

Dr. Mehta: John Border Memorial European Trauma Fellow
Dr. Samir Mehta, assistant professor of orthopaedic surgery at HUP and chief of the Orthopaedic Trauma Service, received the John Border Memorial European Trauma Fellowship, presented by AO North America, a non-profit organization for the advancement of patient care. Dr. Mehta took the fellowship in the fall semester at a 1,200-bed trauma hospital in the Saar region in Germany.

“Top Docs” at Penn
Philadelphia Magazine has recognized 134 of Penn’s physicians on its “Top Docs” in the region list. The list features more Penn doctors than any other hospital or health system. These doctors were judged on various criteria, including education, experience, disciplinary history and professional reputation. For the complete list of Penn’s 2008 Top Doctors, visit www.uphs.upenn.edu/about_uphs/topdocs.html.

Dr. Pyeritz: Shallenberger Lecture

Dr. Reed E. Pyeritz, professor of medicine & genetics, delivered the annual Shallenberger Lecture in Medical Ethics at Johns Hopkins Hospital. His lecture was Close Encounters with the Human Genome. Dr. Pyeritz is chief of the division of medical genetics and director of the Penn Center for the Integration of Genetic Healthcare Technology.

Dr. Ruderman: Teaching Award
Dr. David B. Ruderman, the Joseph Meyerhoff Professor of Modern Jewish History, has been honored with the Charles Ludwig Distinguished Teaching Award. Dr. Ruderman is also the Ella Darivoff Director of the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies. A widely published author, he presently serves as a member of the academic advisory board of the Mandel Center for Advanced Judaic Studies of the Hebrew University. The Charles Ludwig Distinguished Teaching Award was established by the College Alumni Society in memory of its long-time president, Charles Ludwig, and is given to recognize a School of Arts and Sciences’ standing faculty member who has demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to the engagement of students as active and interactive participants in the learning process.

Dr. Winston: Patient Safety Award

Dr. Flaura Koplin Winston, associate professor of pediatrics in the School of Medicine, has been awarded a 2007 John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Award by the National Quality Forum and the Joint Commission. Dr. Winston is being honored for her commitment to combining biomechanical engineering, public health, and psychologic methodologies to promote safety and prevent injury among children from motor vehicle crashes.

2008 Thouron Scholars

The Thouron Award is a graduate exchange program between British universities and Penn created to reinforce the “special relationship” between the US and the UK. The six 2008 Thouron Scholars from Penn are:

Kim Hsu, C ’07—King’s College London, MA in international peace and security

Jin Lee, C ’08—Oxford, MS in neuroscience

Ruth Masterson, N ’05—London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, MSc in public health

Jason Nagata, C ’08—Oxford or London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, MSc in global health science

Aaron Rock, C ’07—Oxford, MPhil in modern Middle East studies

Melissa Teixeira, C ’08—Cambridge, MPhil in social and economic history

Senior Student-Athlete Awards

The Division of Recreation and Intercollegiate Athletics (DRIA) handed out its major intercollegiate senior student-athlete awards last month. The awardees are:

Class of 1915 Award: Tim Kaijala, C ’08, Men’s Track & Field

Fathers’ Award: Jesse Carlin, C ’08, Women’s Track & Field

Goldring Award (Male): Mike Hall, C ’08, Men’s Track & Field

Goldring Award (Female): Carolyn Auwaerter, C ’08, Women’s Track & Field

Frazier Award: Austin McDaniel, C ’08, Men’s Track & Field

Dr. Stineman: Drexel Alumni Award
Dr. Margaret Stineman, professor, vice chair and director for research in the department of physical medicine and rehabilitation in the School of Medicine, was honored by Drexel University with the Outstanding Alumni Researcher Award. Dr. Stineman’s area of interest includes disability in regards to aging and evaluation.  She “hopes to improve the lives of people with disabilities by facilitating collaborative research training programs and research across all professional disciplines involved in their care.” Dr. Stineman is also a senior fellow with the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics and with the Institute on Aging.

Ms. Vedantham: Nobel Peace Prize Certificate

Ms. Anu Vedantham, Penn Libraries’ director of the Weigle Information Commons, received a 2007 Nobel Peace Prize Certificate for her contribution to the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Prior to coming to Penn, Ms. Vedantham served as a lead author for the IPCC special report, Aviation and the Global Atmosphere, published in 1999 by Cambridge University Press. Her research, guided by Dr. Michael Oppenheimer, professor of geosciences and international affairs at Princeton University, and sponsored by the non-profit organization Environmental Defense, focused on projections of aircraft emissions of NOx and CO2 that contribute to climate change.  From 1997 to 1999, she collaborated with an international group of scholars to write the IPCC report’s ninth chapter, Aircraft Emissions: Current Inventories and Future Scenarios. Ms. Vedantham is currently pursuing her doctorate in higher education management at Penn’s Graduate School of Education.

Penn Museum’s Krogman Award

World renowned paleoanthropologist Dr. Donald Johanson received the Penn Museum’s Wilton Krogman Award for Distinguished Achievement in Biological Anthropology. Dr. Johanson is best known as the discoverer of “Lucy,” the 3.2 million year-old Australopithecus afarensis skeleton, whose species had previously been unknown. Following his recent illustrated talk, The Importance of Lucy, Dr. Johanson signed copies of his most recent book, From Lucy to Language, and the revised edition of his early publication Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankind. The lecture was part of the Penn Museum’s Year of Evolution programming. Since his groundbreaking discovery of Lucy, Dr. Johanson has become one of the most visible and effective spokespersons for the scientific view of human origins. He has led field explorations in Ethiopia, Tanzania, and the Middle East, hosted and narrated the Emmy nominated PBS/NOVA series In Search of Human Origins, authored six books, and developed the award-winning science website becominghuman.org. Currently, he is the director of the Institute of Human Origins at Arizona State University. The Krogman Award, developed to recognize scientists in the field of biological anthropology, was created to honor the memory of Dr. Wilton M. Krogman, former professor of physical anthropology at Penn (1947-1971), and founder  of the Philadelphia Center for Research in Child Growth (now the W. M. Krogman Center for Research in Child Growth and Development). Dr. Krogman was an internationally-recognized authority in child development whose additional achievements ranged from paleoanthropological studies, to developing the “Philadelphia Growth Standards” used in evaluating the growth status of children and youths. Dr. Johanson is the third recipient of the award. A bronze plaque recognizing the Krogman awardees is outside the Biological Anthropology Laboratory in the department of anthropology.

GSE: Race in Education Grants
For a third consecutive year, the Graduate School of Education is sponsoring faculty research that focuses on the intersection of race and education through the GSE Faculty Research Fund for the Study of Race in Education. The Fund aims to seed faculty research on teaching, learning and the context of schooling for African-American and Latino students in American urban schools or institutions of higher education. Three projects were awarded funding this year:

Effectively Recruiting Faculty of Color at Highly Selective Institutions: The Case of Penn GSE (co-PIs: Assistant Professor Marybeth Gasman and Professor Margaret Beale Spencer) will study faculty hiring practices at GSE itself with a specific focus on institutional and school policies on faculty recruitment, job descriptions, search committee make-up, position advertising, applicant pools, and the decision-making processes used by faculty members to make candidate selection. The study will use qualitative methods and descriptive statistics, and situate findings within the larger context of faculty of color recruitment at highly selective institutions. 

Early Transitions & Youthful Engagements: Mexican Migrant Children and Youth in the New Latino Diaspora (co-PIs: Assistant Professor Kathy Howard, Associate Professor Betsy Rymes, Research Assistant Professor Leslie Nabors Oláh, Assistant Professor Ritty Lukose, and Associate Professor Kathy Hall) is an ethnographic, discourse analytic study of Mexican migrant children and youth in Norristown, Pennsylvania. This study will investigate these children’s experiences in schooling starting from kindergarten and extending into middle school when they are more deeply enmeshed in peer cultures. In particular, this project will document children’s linguistic and communicative practices—practices that are inextricably intertwined with their identities and social affiliations—in school and other settings.

Achievement Gaps in Public Education: An Investigation of Race and Risk in Early Childhood (co-PIs: Research Associate Heather L. Rouse, Professor John Fantuzzo, and Professor Paul McDermott) will examine the reading achievement gap for African-American, Latino, and White students enrolled in third grade during the first mandated state proficiency assessment for No Child Left Behind in Philadelphia (April 2006). Using the Kids Integrated Data System (KIDS) to integrate administrative records from public health, child welfare, and education, researchers will examine the relationship between race and achievement over time while controlling for biological birth risks, family poverty, maternal education, homelessness, and child maltreatment experiences.