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Honors & Other Things |
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July 17, 2012,
Volume 59, No. 01 |
PSOM Alumni Award: Dr. Asch
Dr. David Asch, executive director of the Leonard Davis Institute, has been named a recipient of the 2012 Distinguished Graduate Award from Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine Alumni. Established in 1982, the award honors alumni for outstanding service to society and the profession of medicine. Dr. Asch is also the Robert D. Eilers Professor of Health Care Management and Operations and Information Management at the Wharton School. |
Medtronic Prize: Dr. Bale
Dr. Tracy L. Bale is the recipient of the Society for Women’s Health Research Medtronic Prize for Scientific Contributions to Women’s Health. Dr. Bale is an associate professor of neuroscience in the School of Veterinary Medicine’s department of animal biology and in the Perelman School of Medicine’s department of psychiatry. Her research focuses on how and why certain individuals are predisposed to developing neuropsychiatric diseases such as autism as well as affective and eating disorders. |
Honorary Degree: Dr. Beck
Dr. Aaron T. Beck, professor emeritus of psychiatry in the Perelman School of Medicine, received an honorary doctorate in medical science from Yale University. This is his second degree from Yale, earning the first from Yale Medical School in 1946. |
Wright State University Dean: Dr. Bowman
Dr. Marjorie Bowman, professor and founding chair of the department of family medicine and community health in the Perelman School of Medicine and HUP, has been named dean of the Boonshoft School of Medicine at Wright State University in Ohio. She will begin October 1. |
Honorary Degree & Medal: Dr. Cohen
Dr. D. Walter Cohen, dean emeritus of the School of Dental Medicine, was honored by Philadelphia University with an honorary doctorate of humane letters on May 13. He also received a medal in April from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Science for his service to the organization. |
Royal Society: Dr. FitzGerald
Dr. Garret FitzGerald, chair of the department of pharmacology and director of the Institute for Translational Medicine & Therapeutics, Perelman School of Medicine, is among the 44 newly elected Fellows and eight newly elected Foreign Members to the Royal Society. Dr. FitzGerald is also professor of medicine and pharmacology and the McNeil Professor in Translational Medicine and Therapeutics. The Royal Society is a self-governing fellowship of many of the world’s most distinguished scientists drawn from all areas of science, engineering and medicine. |
DOE Early Career: Dr. Gianola
Dr. Daniel Gianola, Skirkanich Assistant Professor in the department of materials science and engineering in SEAS, is the recipient of a 2012 Department of Energy (DOE) Early Career Award. His proposal entitled, “Modulating Thermal Transport Phenomena in Nanostructures via Elastic Strain at Extreme Limits of Strength,” was one of the very few selected for the award and will receive five years of funding from DOE. |
Law Paper Award: Mr. Grunwald
Ben Grunwald, C’08, L’13, Gr’13, a second-year student at the Law School who is pursuing a joint degree in law and criminology, has won the 2012 Student Paper Award from the Law and Society Association (LSA) for his study of sentencing guidelines. Mr. Grunwald wrote the paper, “Questioning Blackmun’s Thesis: Does uniformity in sentencing entail unfairness?,” as an independent study under the supervision of Penn Law Professor Jonathan Klick. |
CEOSE Committee: Dr. Harkavy
Dr. Ira Harkavy, director of the Netter Center for Community Partnerships, has been invited to serve a three-year term as a member of the Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and Engineering (CEOSE). As an advisory committee, CEOSE advises the National Science Foundation on broadening participation issues, specifically as they relate to the full participation of woman, underrepresented minorities and persons with disabilities in scientific, engineering and related fields. |
AHA President-Elect: Dr. Jessup
Dr. Mariell Jessup, associate chief-Clinical Affairs, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine and medical director of the Penn Medicine Heart and Vascular Center, has been named president-elect of the American Heart Association (AHA). Dr. Jessup began her term on July 1. She will officially become the president of the AHA on July 1, 2013. |
IADR Distinguished Scientist Award
For their outstanding research achievements, Dr. Denis Kinane and Dr. George Hajishengallis of the School of Dental Medicine have received 2012 International Association for Dental Research Distinguished Scientist Awards.
Dr. Kinane, the Morton Amsterdam Dean of Penn Dental and professor of pathology and periodontics, is the recipient of the 2012 IADR Basic Research in Periodontal Disease Award. The award recognizes outstanding contributions to basic research in periodontal disease.
Dr. Hajishengallis, professor in the department of microbiology, is the recipient of the 2012 IADR Research in Oral Biology Award. The award recognizes outstanding research in the field of oral biology. |
Honorary Degree: Dr. Labov
Dr. William Labov, professor of linguistics in SAS, was made doctor honorios causa by Pompeu Fabra University in Spain. Dr. Labov was praised for his “brilliant teaching and research track record” and for being “one of the leading figures in the field of linguistics and founder of variationist and quantitative linguistics.” |
Webby: FactCheck.org
FactCheck.org, a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at Penn has been awarded a 2012 Webby for best politics website by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. Known as “the Oscars of the Internet,” this is its fourth Webby. |
NIH Committee: Dr. Meleis
Dr. Afaf Meleis, the Margaret Bond Simon Dean of Penn Nursing, has been named to the National Institutes of Health Advisory Committee on Research on Women’s Health for a four-year term. The committee helps guide the director of the NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health, which ensures that women’s health and sex differences research is part of the NIH scientific framework and that women and minorities are included in clinical research.
Dr. Meleis also directs Penn Nursing’s World Health Organization. |
Lifetime Achievement: Dr. Pauly
Dr. Mark Pauly, Bendheim Professor and professor of health care management in the Wharton School, has been named a recipient of the American Society of Health Economists’ (ASHEcon) 2012 Victor R. Fuchs Lifetime Achievement Award. Dr. Pauly is also a fellow of the Leonard Davis Institute. |
Young Investigator: Dr. Ricklin
Dr. Daniel Ricklin, research assistant professor in the department of pathology and laboratory medicine of the Perelman School of Medicine, is the recipient of the inaugural Young Investigator Award for Research in Complement from the International Complement Society. The award includes a honorarium and the opportunity to present at the XXIV Complement Workshop in Crete, Greece, in October 2012, where the award will be officially presented.
Dr. Ricklin is honored for his outstanding and promising work in complement research, which is focused on the investigation of molecular aspects of innate immune pathway in health and disease and on the development of complement-targeted therapeutics in close collaboration with Dr. John D. Lambris, the Dr. Ralph and Sallie Weaver Professor of Research Medicine in PSOM. |
Great Leader: Dr. Scheib
Dr. Garry Scheib, COO of the University of Pennsylvania Health System and executive director of HUP, is included in the Becker’s Hospital Review’s “100 Leaders of Great Hospitals.” The list recognizes the top executives at each of the hospitals in Becker’s “100 Great Hospitals List,” of which HUP was included. |
Foreign Visiting Chair: Dr. Sharkey
Dr. Heather Sharkey, associate professor in the department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations in SAS, is one of 12 foreign visiting researchers chosen for the 2012-2013 academic year by the Institut d’études de l’islam et des sociétés du monde musulman (IISMM) of the École des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) in Paris. There, she will deliver four lectures at various French institutions throughout a one-month period.
The IISMM seeks to create a space for the collaborative study of the Muslim world by offering support to young researchers and contributing to the dissemination of scientific knowledge on Islam through publications, lectures and training activities.
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Major League Baseball: Mr. Voiro
For the second time in two years, Vince Voiro, C’12, was picked during the Major League Baseball First-Year Draft, this time by the Oakland Athletics in the 15th round. Mr. Voiro is the ninth Penn selection by a Major League Baseball organization since 1991, and he becomes the first player since Ben Krantz, C’03, to be chosen as high as the 15th round. |
National Science Foundation Recognition for Penn Team
Penn researchers were recognized by the National Science Foundation for the development of computer models that will be instrumental in improving the designs of pharmaceuticals on an atomic scale. The team received a “Research Highlight” from the National Science Foundation’s Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental & Transport Systems.
Led by Dr. Ravi Radhakrishnan, associate professor in the departments of bioengineering and chemical and biomolecular engineering in SEAS, the team also included Dr. Portonovo Ayyaswamy, Asa Whitney Professor of Dynamical Engineering in SEAS; as well as Dr. David Eckmann, Horatio C. Wood Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care; and Dr. Vladimir Muzykantov, professor of pharmacology, of Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine.
The work for which they were honored was published in the Biophysical Journal. |
Keyes Medal: Dr. Wein
Dr. Alan J. Wein received the Keyes Medal from the American Association of Genitourinary Surgeons (AAGUS) for his contributions to the field of urology. Dr. Wein is professor and chief of the division of urology at the Perelman School of Medicine and director of the Urology Residency Program at HUP.
“The Keyes Medal is not given on a regular basis and awarded only when there is a deserving candidate. In Alan’s case, he exemplified excellence in practice, education and research. He should be looked upon as a role model for all young aspiring urologists. This is the most prestigious award given by the American Association of GU Surgeons,” said Dr. David M. Barrett, chair of the awards committee. |
Lifetime Achievement: Dr. Wiener
Dr. Evelyn Wiener, Penn’s Student Health Services director, is the recipient of the American College Health Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award. She is a past president of the Mid-Atlantic College Health Association.
“Evelyn Wiener is a world-class executive health leader and an extraordinarily passionate physician,” said VPUL Valarie Swain-Cade McCoullum. “She is ‘best in class’ as an exemplary partner to countless Penn students and families who thrive through her superb, and nurturing care.” |
MyHeartMap Challenge Winners
Two Philadelphia-area residents have been named the winners of Penn Medicine’s MyHeartMap Challenge, the city-wide crowdsourcing contest aimed at locating and mapping all of the lifesaving automated external defibrillators in Philadelphia. The winners: Jennifer Yuan, IT communications analyst in ISC at Penn, and Jack Creighton, an athletic director at Frankford High School, were each awarded $9,000. Each of the winning competitors located more than 400 AEDs during the eight-week contest in February and March.
In addition, three Philadelphia schools—McCall Elementary, Frankford High School, and Douglas High School—will be awarded an AED by the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Youth Heart Watch for being the top three schools to find AEDs. |
APPC Honors the 'Sesame Process'
Sesame Street, the long-running and award-winning children's television program that airs on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), is the recipient of the 2012 Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) Award for Excellence in Children and Media.
The honor was presented in April and was accepted by Dr. Rosemarie Truglio, senior vice president of education and research at Sesame Workshop.
"While we have, in the past, honored individuals, this year we cite the 'Sesame Process,' which represents a unique collaboration between the many individuals who create characters, storylines, and episodes and which underscores the importance of research in ensuring that all Sesame Workshop properties are educationally beneficial," wrote Dr. Amy Jordan, director of the media and the developing child sector of the APPC and Dr. Dan Romer, director of the Adolescent Communication Institute of the APPC, in the letter to Dr. Truglio, notifying Sesame Street of the honor. |
Penn Libraries Seltzer Family Digital Media Award Winners 2012
Thanks to the generosity of alumnus Jeff Seltzer, W’78, and his wife Annie, the University of Pennsylvania Libraries is proud to announce the five winners of the 2012 Seltzer Family Digital Media Awards: Blanca Abramek, Davis Butner, William Gilbert, James Lee and Juan Carlos Melendez-Torres. Each student will have exclusive use of $1,000 of technology for one year. Proposed technology items include an iPad, video cameras, audio recorders and still cameras.
This is the fifth year that the Seltzer Family Digital Media Awards have supported specific student projects. The awards are administrated and managed through the Penn Libraries in partnership with the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships (CURF). The five funded projects are:
Under the guidance of Dr. Mark Stern, professor of the School of Social Policy & Practice, Blanca Abramek, C’13, will create a blog to provide context for interviews with public interest design professionals. She plans to interview representatives of not-for-profit organizations, architects, designers and community members. She will use an Apple iPad to capture multimedia content for her blog. She expects her summer research work to lead into her senior fine arts thesis project.
Under the guidance of Richard Wesley, undergraduate chair and adjunct professor of architec- ture, and Dr. James Primosch, undergraduate chair and professor of music, Davis Butner, C’14, will use 3D computer modeling and music composition software to explore the life and works of Iannis Xenakis. Drawing connections between music and architectural design, Mr. Butner will utilize Xenakis’ compositional techniques in order to develop a new form of musical notation which will serve as an idiom for a proposed structural model. In particular, he plans to examine the influence of Le Corbusier on Xenakis’ work. He writes, “I am eager to apply techniques of structural analysis and composition acquired from my studio and musical coursework in an effort to expand techniques of the design process.”
Under the guidance of Dr. Jacqui Sadashige, faculty at the Center for Programs in Contempo- rary Writing (CPCW), James Lee, C’13, plans to make a short documentary video on personal experiences with dance. He plans to interview five professional dancers as well as amateur dancers in several countries as part of his senior thesis for his major in East Asian Area Studies. He describes his questions, “How did you start dancing? What do you feel like when you are dancing? What does dance mean to you?”
Under the guidance of Dr. Robert J. Sharer, Sally & Alvin V. Shoemaker Professor of Anthropol- ogy, William Gilbert, C’13, plans the creation of a digital reconstruction of the site of Quirigua, Guatemala circa the year 800AD. He plans to use a self-made Google Street View-like camera to capture sets of 360-degree images along pre-determined paths throughout the site. Mr. Gilbert writes, “Combining these images with aerial photography of Quirigua would create an interactive map.”
Under the guidance of Dr. Marton T. Markovits, postdoctoral researcher at the Lauder Institute and faculty in Political Science, Juan Carlos Melendez-Torres HISB (C/W’13), plans a documentary film to complement his research on cultural and legal dynamics of hip hop in West Africa. Mr. Melendez-Torres started this project in Senegal, and writes, “The urgency and excitement of hip hop is easy to lose on paper, and I hope that this documentary can help bring my subject alive.”
Mr. Seltzer serves on the Libraries’ Board of Overseers, the Advisory Board of the Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business, and the Alumni Advisory Committee for the Wharton Sports Business Initiative. |
Penn Named One of the Top Universities for Food Lovers
The Daily Meal, a culinary content website, recently conducted a ranking of the nation’s top colleges and universities (according to US News & World Report) based solely on their food options. This year, Penn was ranked five out of a list of 20 institutions. Bon Appétit was recognized for embracing the University’s farm-to-fork philosophy and creating events to emphasize this value. The entire list is at www.thedailymeal.com/Americas-Top-Universities-for-Food-Lovers |
Annual PennMOVES Community Sale a Success
On Saturday, June 2, Business Services held its annual PennMOVES Community Sale. In collaboration with Goodwill, the University sold thousands of items students couldn’t take with them when they left campus. Rather than throwing these items in the trash, students donated them for the sale. The event was a great success and raised a record of almost $42,000. A special thank you goes to PennMOVES’ sponsors and to the volunteers who dedicated their time. To see pictures of this year’s sale, visit http://cms.business-services.upenn.edu/sale-information.html |
Schweitzer Fellows
Two University of Pennsylvania graduate students are among 16 selected as Greater Philadelphia Schweitzer Fellows for 2012-2013. They will spend the next year partnering with local community-based organizations to develop and implement year-long, mentored service projects.
Kara Cohen from the School of Nursing plans to address the podiatric concerns of homeless individuals in Philadelphia. She will provide foot soaks and evaluations at the Ridge Avenue Men’s Shelter and, through targeted health information, empower participants to take an active role in their health. She plans to use participant feedback to tailor her services in addition to creating a holistic and restorative experience for the participants.
Katie Murphy of the Interdisciplinary Studies in Human Development and Public Health program hopes to help undocumented Mexican immigrant mothers in South Philadelphia learn more about child development and how to navigate the health-care system by working with community members, including Puentes De Salud’s women’s groups. |
Game Solutions for Healthcare Awards
Last fall, the School of Nursing offered its students the opportunity to mix with engineering, computer science, and Wharton undergraduates to design a game or application that addressed a healthcare problem. The winners were announced at the Inaugural Game and Technology Symposium at the School of Nursing in April. The winning teams are below.
First Place—MyDiaText: a smart phone and web-based application for kids with diabetes to send and receive information from providers about their blood sugar status and health goals.
Second Place—Trigger Busters: a phone game for children that teaches about asthma triggers and daily medication management.
Third Place—Healthy Cities, Healthy Women: a game that raises awareness around urban women’s health issues and the cultural and social determinants that affect their health.
Social Impact Award—Mission Reintegration: soldiers report that one of the most difficult aspects of combat is the return to civilian life. The goal of this game is to begin ‘reintegration education’ from the very start of a soldier’s deployment. |
$375,000 to UCD for The Porch
The University City District received a $375,000 grant to support urban design upgrades and art installations at The Porch, a new half-acre public space at 30th Street Station (Almanac November 15, 2011). An artist will be part of a planning process for the redevelopment of the site and will create art to enliven the plaza. The Porch will create a new town square for a rapidly expanding neighborhood around the site. |
Historic Registry: The Rotunda
The Rotunda has been added to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places by the Philadelphia Historical Commission. Collette Kinane, a graduate student in historical preservation, prepared the submission as part of PennDesign’s 2011 Preservation Studio. The building, at 4014 Walnut St., is owned by Penn and is part of its Facilities and Real Estate Services arts portfolio and offers cultural programming for the community. See The Rotunda Turns 100 (Almanac May 3, 2011). |
President Gutmann Leadership Award—Spring 2012
President Amy Gutmann, using the proceeds of her 2009 Carnegie Corporation Academic Leadership Award, has generously provided additional funding to GAPSA to augment GAPSA's funding for graduate and professional student travel. The Carnegie Award funds are a one-time award that will be dispersed to students over the next few years. The President's Award will be given as a travel grant to students presenting at either an international conference, or a conference within the US. The awardees are listed below.
Name |
School |
Conference |
Location |
Title |
Brian Bauman |
Medicine |
ASCO GU Cancers Symposium |
San Francisco, CA |
A novel risk stratification to predict local-regional failures in urothelial carcinoma of the bladder after radical cystectomy |
Laura Colket |
GSE |
American Educational Research Association |
Vancouver, BC, Canada |
Haiti, Education Reform and International Aid: Perspectives from within the Haitian State |
Alexander Frey |
Medicine |
G Protein Coupled Receptors: Molecular Mechanisms and Novel Functional Insights |
Banff, Alberta, Canada |
Novel Approaches to modifying Thromboxane Receptor Function Through Interruption of Receptor Dimerization |
Caitlin Gillespie |
SAS |
Classical Association Annual Conference |
University of Exeter |
Poppaea Venus in Tacitus’ Annals |
Erin Graf |
Medicine |
Clinical Virology Symposium |
Daytona, FL |
Both Primer Sequence and DNA Purification Method Significantly Affect Quantification of HIV Reservoirs in Clinical Samples |
Heather Hughes |
SAS |
Fashioning Opera and Musical Theatre: Stage Costumes in Europe from Late Renaissance to 1900 |
Venice, Italy |
“Masqued” Identity at the Stuart Court: Issac Oliver’s Portrait of Anne of Denmark in Masque Costume |
Kathleen Lee |
GSE |
American Association for Applied Linguistics |
Boston, MA |
English Fever or English Fatigue: The “Teaching English in English” Policy in Korean Elementary Schools |
Ali Michael |
GSE |
American Educational Research Association |
Vancouver, BC, Canada |
Raising Race Questions: Whiteness, Inquiry and Education in Seven Teacher Case Studies |
Miroslav Pajic |
SEAS |
Cyber-Physical Systems Week |
Beijing, China |
Presenting three first authored papers in electrical engineering |
Hilary Prichard |
SAS |
The 5th Northern English Workshop |
Nottingham, UK |
Northern England and the Great Vowel Shift: A dialect geographical approach |
Zeljko Rezek |
SAS |
Middle Paleolithic in the Desert |
University of Oxford, UK |
Some aspects of technological organization in lithic assemblages with stemmed tools from the Middle Paleolithic of North Africa; a regional synthesis. |
Jennifer Rodgers |
SAS |
Beyond Campus and Forced Labor: Current International Research on Survivors of Nazi Persecution |
London, England |
Strictly Neutral? The International Tracing Service and the Victims of National Socialism in the Cold War |
Rachel Skrlac Lo |
GSE |
Non Statis Scire: To Know is Not Enough |
Vancouver, BC, Canada |
Is Nurturing Necessary? A Feminist Post-Structuralist Exploration of Gender In Margaret Atwood’s Picture Books |
Mar Yee |
GSE |
American Educational Research Association |
Vancouver, BC, Canada |
Immigrant Youth Activism and Literacies of Agency |
Jose Zubizarreta |
Wharton |
Time for Casuality Research Workshop |
Bristol, UK |
Quadratic Programming for Weight Adjustment in Longitudinal Studies of Treatment Effects |
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Almanac -
July 17, 2012, Volume 59, No. 01
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