Honors & Other Things |
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September 10, 2013, Volume 60, No. 4 |
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Library Company of Philadelphia Board: Dr. Bushnell
The Library Company of Philadelphia, a nonprofit research library founded by Benjamin Franklin, has elected Dr. Rebecca W. Bushnell, School of Arts & Sciences Board of Overseers Professor of English, to its board of trustees. The Library Company of Philadelphia is an independent research library specializing in American history and culture from the 17th through the 19th centuries.
Straus Institute Fellow: Dr. Charles
Dr. Camille Z. Charles, Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Term Professor in the Social Sciences at the School of Arts & Sciences, has been selected as a 2013-14 fellow by The Straus Institute for the Advanced Study of Law & Justice at New York University, where fellows will address the topic “Racial, Ethnic and Economic Segregation.”
During her fellowship, Dr. Charles will complete a book-length manuscript on the diversity of black students at selective colleges and universities in the United States. She will also work to develop a longer-term project that explores racial inequality in Philadelphia, modeled theoretically and methodologically after Du Bois’s classic study, The Philadelphia Negro. An important component of this project will be the use of mapping and spatial statistics, as well as the production of policy-relevant scholarship and the training of undergraduate and graduate students in the social sciences.
Dr. Charles is a professor of sociology and Africana studies at SAS, director of Penn’s Center for Africana Studies, and holds an appointment at Penn’s Graduate School of Education.
Strittmatter Award: Dr. Evans
Dr. Audrey E. Evans, professor emerita of pediatrics, received the Strittmatter Award of the Philadelphia County Medical Society at the meeting of the Society this summer. The award is presented to “a physician who has made the most valuable contribution to the healing arts, surgical or medical.”
AIChE Fellow: Dr. Fabiano
Dr. Leonard Fabiano, adjunct professor in the department of chemical and biomolecular engineering, has been named Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). Fellows are elite members of AIChE who have been practicing chemical engineering for 25 years or more and have been a member for at least ten years.
Dr. Fabiano has over 35 years of experience in the process engineering and development field and has played a key role in the detailed design effort in existing and new technology development.
Outstanding Clinical Research: Gene Therapy Study
A gene therapy study focused on finding a cure for a rare congenital blinding disease has been recognized as one of the ten most outstanding clinical research projects of the year by the Clinical Research Forum (CRF). The study, led by Dr. Jean Bennett, F.M. Kirby Professor of Ophthalmology at the Perelman School of Medicine, and carried out in collaboration with Penn Medicine’s Dr. Albert M. Maguire, and Dr. Katherine A. High, at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), has been presented with the Distinguished Clinical Research Achievement Award, the second highest given in the CRF’s Annual Top 10 Clinical Research Achievement Awards. CRF award winners are cited as the most compelling examples of scientific innovation that results from the nation’s investment in clinical research that can benefit human health and welfare.
LSE Honorary Fellow: Dr. Gutmann
President Amy Gutmann was made an honorary fellow of the London School of Economics and Political Science this summer. “Dr. Gutmann is an LSE graduate and an outstanding public intellectual whose elevation to the Honorary Fellowship will enrich the School community and recognize her great distinction over an extraordinary academic career,” said Dr. Craig Calhoun, LSE Director. She was praised for her success in increasing access to higher education and integrating knowledge across disciplines in order to maximize creativity and innovation and for creating Penn’s no-loan guarantee for undergraduates. |
NLP Honor: Dr. Joshi
The Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Penn Engineering communities celebrated Dr. Aravind Joshi, Henry Salvatori Professor of Computer and Cognitive Science, for his many years of achievements and contributions, at a symposium in his honor last fall. At the symposium, several scholars were given the chance to highlight Dr. Joshi’s insights and influence and convey their personal thanks.
In his 53rd year as a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, his service to the University includes being a founding member of the graduate group in computer and information science in the 1960s; co-founder of the computer and information science (CIS) department with Dr. Saul Gorn in 1972 and serving as its first chair.
Dr. Joshi co-founded and co-directed with Dr. Lila Gleitman the Cognitive Science Program at Penn, serving as co-directors until 2002. In 1990, with support from the National Science Foundation, Drs. Joshi and Gleitman co-founded the Institute for Research in Cognitive Science (IRCS), serving as co-directors until 2002.
Dr. Joshi is best known for his theory of prominence in discourse, which reflects the hierarchy of informational tasks in discourse, and for developing Tree-Adjoining Grammars (TAGs), which quantified the grammatical mechanisms available to human languages.
Achievement Award: Ms. Kinney
June Kinney, associate director and lecturer at the Wharton School’s health care management department and a Leonard Davis Institute (LDI) Senior Fellow, was chosen as the namesake and inaugural recipient for the Business School Alliance for Health Management June Kinney Achievement Award. The award is given for outstanding service in advancing health care-related education, research and practice.
ACS Fellow: Dr. Kozlowski
Dr. Marisa Kozlowski, professor of chemistry in the School of Arts & Sciences, is one of 96 distinguished members of the American Chemical Society named a 2013 ACS Fellow. The induction ceremony was held yesterday at the 246th ACS National Meeting in Indianapolis, IN.
Dr. Kozlowski was recognized for making “important advances in new chemical reaction methods” and for her “strong record of service in the organic chemistry community, serving on editorial boards, study sections and as an officer for the Division of Organic Chemistry.”
Magnus Gyan Board: Dr. Kurshan
Magnus Gyan LLC announced that Dr. Barbara “Bobbi” Kurshan, executive director of academic innovation for Penn’s Graduate School of Education, has joined its Board of Directors. In this role, Dr. Kurshan will work with other Board members from the fields of education, business, government and philanthropy to guide the Company in developing its strategic road map.
Magnus Gyan’s vision is to bridge the ‘Digital Divide’ by providing high-quality interactive and adaptive education through broadband mobile technology to students and young professionals, especially to the burgeoning middle class of developing economies.
ICA Benefit Honor: Mr. Lauder
Emeritus Trustee Leonard A. Lauder was honored at the Institute of Contemporary Art’s Annual Benefit, held in the spring. A celebrated business leader and philanthropist, Mr. Lauder is Chairman Emeritus of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. and the senior member of its Board of Directors. He is also Chairman Emeritus of the Whitney Museum of American Art. The ICA Whitney-Lauder program was highlighted with a special presentation recognizing Mr. Lauder’s contributions. |
Practitioner of the Year: Dr. Leone
Dr. Frank T. Leone, associate professor of medicine and director of the Comprehensive Smoking Treatment Program at the Perelman School of Medicine, has been named the 2013 “Practitioner of the Year” by the Philadelphia County Medical Society (PCMS).
Dr. Leone was presented the award in June for his excellence in patient care and community service.
ELAM Fellow: Dr. Millar
Dr. Sarah Millar, professor of dermatology in the Perelman School of Medicine, was accepted as a fellow in the 2013-2014 class of the Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine® (ELAM) Program at Drexel University College of Medicine.
This program is dedicated to preparing women for senior leadership roles in academic health science institutions, where they enhance institutional leadership diversity while contributing to organizational strategy and innovation.
WFUMB President-Elect: Dr. Nisenbaum
Dr. Harvey L. Nisenbaum, chairman of the department of medical imaging at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center was named president-elect (2013-2015) of the World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology at the WFUMB World Congress 2013 Meeting in the spring.
WFUMB has over 50,000 members, involves over 50 countries, and is dedicated to the advancement of ultrasound by encouraging research, promoting international cooperation, disseminating scientific information, and improving communication and understanding in the world community using ultrasound in medicine and biology.
National Presidential Innovation Lab: Provost Price
Provost Vincent Price, was named to the Presidential Innovation Lab, an effort by the American Council on Education (ACE) to examine possible models, inspired by changes from new educational technologies such as massive open online courses, or MOOCs, to boost the number of Americans able to earn a college degree.
Provost Price is among 14 college and university officials participating. The Lab will be an opportunity for higher-education leaders to engage in proactive thinking about this new learning space and to guide a national dialogue about potential new academic and financial models that can help close persistent attainment gaps, including those among low-income young adults.
The initial session was held July 21-23 at the Institute for the Future in Palo Alto, California, an independent, non-profit research organization that will help guide the work of the Lab. A second two-day meeting will take place in Washington, DC in October.
Also participating in the Presidential Innovation Lab are college and university officials from institutions in Arizona, California, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin.
Lab participants will consider questions such as how newer educational innovations could be used by students toward degree completion and the potential impact of such innovations on the fundamental design and delivery of instruction, institutions’ recognition of learning and the underlying financing models for all of higher education.
The Presidential Innovation Lab is part of a wide-ranging research and evaluation effort examining the academic potential of MOOCs announced by ACE in November. |
Patient’s Advocate Award: Dr. Ramogola-Masire
Dr. Doreen Ramogola-Masire, Botswana-UPenn Partnership Country Director and clinical associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology, has been selected by the American Society for Clinical Pathology as the recipient of the 2013 ASCP Patient’s Advocate Award. She is recognized for her distinguished contributions in the area of preventing cervical cancer and improving patient care in Botswana and will be honored during the ASCP Annual Meeting in Chicago next week. |
Nichols Medal: Dr. Smith
Dr. Amos B. Smith III, Rhodes-Thompson Professor of Chemistry in the School of Arts & Sciences, has been selected to receive the 2014 William H. Nichols Medal by the New York Section of the American Chemical Society. This distinguished award, established in 1902 by Dr. William H. Nichols, for the purpose of encouraging original research in chemistry, is the first award authorized by the American Chemical Society. It is presented annually in recognition of an outstanding contribution in the field of chemistry.
Young Investigator Award: Dr. Yehia
Dr. Baligh Yehia, a clinical instructor in the division of infectious diseases at Penn Medicine and the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion (CHERP), has received a 2013 ICAAC Young Investigator Award from the American Society for Microbiology for his innovative work and leadership in the field of HIV health services and quality research.
In addition to the award, Dr. Yehia was also named chair of the American Medical Associations of the GLBT Advisory Committee.
His teaching and scholarship focus on health outcomes of individuals living with chronic viral diseases and policies that affect those outcomes.
GSE & the Milken Family Foundation Winners of
Education Business Plan Competition
The University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education (Penn GSE) and the Milken Family Foundation announced the winners of the 2013 Milken-Penn GSE Education Business Plan Competition (EBPC), held on May 7-8 on the Penn campus.
Raise Labs was the big winner of the day, earning the most prize money ever at the Competition with three $25,000 prizes—the Milken Family Foundation First Prize, the Startl Prize for Open Educational Resources and the K12 Prize for Online Learning in Grades K-12. Education entrepreneurs from 10 early-stage start-ups competed in the final phase of the competition, which features seven prizes totaling $145,000 in funding. In addition to the prizes, all of this year's Competition finalists will be invited to participate in the Education Design Studio Fund (EDSF), a newly-announced fund initiative created in collaboration with Penn GSE.
In its fourth year, the EBPC attracts innovative ideas from around the world—with three previous finalists landing spots on Forbes Magazine's "30 Under 30" list of Gen-Y thought leaders who are reinventing education in 2013. Additionally, 2012 winner Jason Young of Mindblown Labs was named by American Express and Ashoka Changemakers as a top innovator in the US, Canada and Mexico while attending the Competition.
This year's finalists were chosen from a total of 250 applications from 17 countries. The competition stimulates cutting-edge ideas—whether local or global, profit or non-profit, or preschool through adult learning—that serve the world's educational needs.
The winning entrepreneurs are:
Raise Labs (Preston Silverman and George Kirkland/San Francisco) won the Milken Family Foundation First Prize ($25,000), the Startl Prize for Open Educational Resources ($25,000) and the K12 Prize for Online Learning in Grades K-12 ($25,000).
Persistence Plus (Jill Frankfort and Dr. Kenny Salim/Boston) won both the Milken Family Foundation Second Prize ($15,000) as well as the American Public University System Prize for Innovation in Online Education ($25,000).
Autism Expressed (Michele McKeone/Philadelphia) garnered the Educational Services of America Prize for Innovation in the Fields of Special Education and At-Risk Students ($20,000)
BiblioNasium (Marjan Ghara and Adele Schwartz/New York) earned the Erudient Education Prize for Innovation in Borderless Education ($10,000)
The new Education Design Studio Fund (EDSF) is a new ecosystem of entrepreneurs, investors, practitioners, and researchers dedicated to accelerating the rate of innovation in global education. EDSF, in collaboration with Penn GSE, will work with stakeholders in the investment and publishing communities and with the best providers of curriculum and programs to incubate edtech entrepreneurs. The EDSF will also further Penn GSE's mission to bring education research to practice and involve students and faculty with innovation in action.
The Milken Family Foundation was established by Lowell and Michael Milken in 1982 with the mission to discover and advance inventive and effective ways of helping people help themselves and those around them lead productive and satisfying lives. The Foundation advances this mission principally through the various programs it initiates and carries out in the areas of education and medical research.
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