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Honors & Other Things |
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February 24, 2015, Volume 61, No. 24 |
Therese Flaherty: Export Committee
Therese Flaherty, the director of the Wharton SBDC, has been invited to serve on the Greater Philadelphia Metro Export Plan Steering Committee. She will join a a select group of leaders that will shape a plan to spur regional growth via expanded export activity. The Economy League and the World Trade Center of Greater Philadelpia are creating an action-oriented metro export plan that draws upon this region’s unique assets and capacities to advance Greater Philadelphia as a hub for global business.
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Daniel Lee: Faculty Award of Merit
Daniel D. Lee, the Evan C Thompson Term Chair, Raymond S. Markowitz Faculty Fellow, and professor in the School of Engineering & Applied Sciences, has been named the recipient of the Faculty Award of Merit presented by Penn Alumni. This annual award was established by Penn Alumni Relations and the Office of the Provost to recognize faculty members who have made an outstanding contribution to alumni education and engagement at Penn by sharing their unique scholarship work with the alumni community. Dr. Lee was nominated by alumni and fellow colleagues for his dedication to engaging Penn Engineering alumni and the larger Penn alumni community with the University as their intellectual home.
The award will be presented on February 27 at the Penn Alumni Volunteer Leadership Retreat Dinner.
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Gary Molander: Award for Synthetic Methods Research
Gary Molander, the Hirschmann-Makineni Professor of Chemistry,has been chosen to receive an American Chemical Society (ACS) national award, the Herbert C. Brown Award for Creative Research in Synthetic Methods. The Brown Award was created to recognize and encourage outstanding and creative contributions to research in synthetic methods.
Dr. Molander, who chairs the department of chemistry, focuses his research on the development of new ways to synthesize organic molecules. His lab is working to expand and improve the Suzuki coupling reaction for organoboron compounds, using robust, air- and water-stable potassium organotrifluoroborates (R-BF3K) to carry out couplings under relatively mild conditions using non-toxic components.
The world’s largest scientific society, ACS represents professionals at all degree levels and in all fields of chemistry and sciences that involve chemistry. Dr. Molander will be honored at an awards ceremony next month in conjunction with the 249th ACS national meeting in Denver.
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Working Dog Center Director Fund
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Cindy Otto |
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Penn Vet Dean Joan Hendricks announced the creation of the Working Dog Center Director Fund, in honor of Robin Rubenstein. Ms. Rubenstein served as a member of the Penn Vet Board of Overseers from 2007 to 2014. She has been an enthusiastic volunteer and supporter of the Penn Vet Working Dog Center since its creation in 2012.
This generous gift provides financial support for Cindy Otto to serve as full-time director of the Penn Vet Working Dog Center. Previously, Dr. Otto also served in the Emergency Service at Penn Vet’s Ryan Hospital, utilizing her skills as a board-certified emergency and critical care veterinarian. Through the Director Fund, Dr. Otto will have full-time oversight of the Working Dog Center, conducting research on the health and well-being of working dogs and producing an elite group of scent-detection canines for public safety and health.
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2015 Thouron Awards
Three University of Pennsylvania students have received Thouron Awards to pursue graduate studies in the United Kingdom. The scholarship recipients are: Rocky Diegmiller, Vinicius Ferreira and Kristina Pelekoudas.
Rocky Diegmiller of Wheeling, West Virginia, majoring in chemical and biomolecular engineering and mathematics, is applying to the University of Cambridge for a master’s degree in applied mathematics.
Vinicius Ferreira of Deerfield Beach, Florida, majoring in chemistry and a submatriculant in the chemistry master’s program, is applying to the University of Cambridge for a master’s degree in physics.
Kristina Pelekoudas of Irvine, California, majoring in communications and public service, is applying to the University of Oxford for a master’s degree in public policy.
The Thouron Award, a graduate exchange program between Penn and British universities, aims to improve relations between the United States and the United Kingdom. Winners receive tuition and stipends for one or two years depending on the time required to earn a graduate degree. The Thouron Award was established and is supported by gifts from Sir John Thouron and the late Esther du Pont, Lady Thouron, of Unionville, Pennsylvania.
Graduating Penn seniors, current Penn graduate or professional students and recent Penn graduates who are US citizens are eligible to apply. Additional information about the Thouron Award is at www.thouronaward.org/ |
Gates Cambridge Scholarships
Three University of Pennsylvania-affiliated people have won Gates Cambridge Scholarships to pursue graduate degrees at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.
They are Cassi Henderson and Jocelyn Perry, 2013 Penn graduates, and Nicolette Taku, a student at Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine.
Ms. Henderson, who graduated from the School of Engineering & Applied Science, will pursue a PhD in chemical engineering. Her research will focus on investigating the fabrication of medical diagnostic kits through additive manufacturing. Defining a platform for linking chemistry needs with ease of manufacture could ultimately enable affordable, rapid and point-of-care detection of diseases.
Ms. Perry, a graduate of the School of Arts & Sciences, will pursue an MPhil in international relations and politics, focusing on post-conflict reconstruction and governance arrangements in Africa’s Great Lakes region. She has worked as a disaster responder with the American Red Cross and as a fellow with the New Sector Alliance’s Residency in Social Enterprise program in Chicago. She hopes to continue working on the development of inclusive government systems and advocating for displaced and marginalized populations.
Ms. Taku plans to pursue an MPhil in oncology. Her first hands-on exposure to international health care came as an undergraduate when she researched Lassa fever in Sierra Leone. After working with a non-governmental organization in Colombia, Ms. Taku recognized the increasing burden of cancer in regions affected by infectious diseases. She plans to work on the development of cancer prevention and treatment infrastructures in low- and middle-income countries.
Ms. Henderson, Ms. Perry and Ms. Taku are among 40 US recipients of Gates Cambridge Scholarships this year and bring to 27 the number of Gates Cambridge Scholars from Penn since the inception of the program in 2001.
More information about fellowship and scholarship opportunities is available through Penn’s Center for Undergraduate Research & Fellowships, http://www.upenn.edu/curf/ |
Undefeated Ivy League Champions
The University of Pennsylvania Women’s Squash Team finished the regular season victoriously, claiming the Ivy League championship with a 7-0 record, after defeating Columbia 9-0.
With that win, Penn claimed its third Ivy championship in program history, previously winning in 2000 and 2008. The title is head coach Jack Wyant’s second Ivy League championship with the women’s team at Penn.
“It’s been an honor to work with and coach this group of exceptional young women,” said Coach Wyant. “They’ve come together so beautifully, and I couldn’t be happier for what they’ve accomplished.”
The Penn women’s squash Ivy League championship marks the first team title for new athletic director Grace Calhoun, who joined the athletic department in July of 2014.
The Quakers’ undefeated run through the league began in January with a 9-0 victory over Dartmouth, and a last-match 5-4 victory over then number 1 Harvard. They then won five straight matches to close the season, against Princeton, Yale, Brown, Cornell and Columbia.
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2014 SAS Dean’s Scholars
The School of Arts & Sciences has named 20 students from the College of Arts & Sciences, the College of Liberal & Professional Studies and the Graduate Division as 2014 Dean’s Scholars. This honor is presented annually to SAS students who exhibit exceptional academic performance and intellectual promise. These Scholars were recognized as part of the Levin Family Dean’s Forum earlier this month.
College of Arts & Sciences
Michael Boreen (biochemistry and chemistry) is a junior in the Roy and Diana Vagelos Program in the Molecular Life Sciences and a recipient of a Roy and Diana Vagelos Science Challenge Award. Faculty members describe his performance in both the laboratory and the classroom as outstanding and original. His research in Professor Eric Schelter’s lab includes synthesizing molecules for extracting rare earth elements essential to solar cells, batteries and other electronic items. He has co-authored an article in the Journal of Organic Chemistry and has many others in preparation for publication.
Christina Economy (international relations and economics) is a senior whose outstanding scholarly abilities have resulted in numerous awards, most recently as a Truman Scholar. As team leader for a Latin America research project in Dr. James McGann’s Think Tanks and Civil Societies program, she motivated her team to produce a report of professional quality. She developed briefings on the political situation in Cuba and Venezuela as a research intern at the Center for Democracy in the Americas and completed an internship at the US Embassy in Bolivia.
Rachel Eisenberg (religious studies), a junior, is a Benjamin Franklin Scholar who has excelled in the College’s Integrated Studies Program. She combines her interests in religion, philosophy and psychology to pursue her ambitious cross-disciplinary studies. She is known for being passionate, reasoned and thought-provoking. As one professor describes her, she is one of the “brightest and most interesting students” he has encountered. Her research includes work on medieval Buddhist philosophy and the ascetic traditions she encountered in Professor Justin McDaniel’s rigorous seminar on the contemplative life.
Vinicius Ferreira (chemistry) is a junior who is described by his research mentor, Professor Tobias Baumgart, as exceptionally “self-driven.” Other faculty credit his ability to do graduate-level work to his speed of learning, passion for trying new things and exceptional analytical and critical thinking skills. He has participated in several research endeavors including the Penn Undergraduate Research Mentoring program. A “rising star” in the chemistry department, his performance as the peer leader/house manager of the NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates program was characterized as “fantastic” and “inspiring.”
Ben Freedman (biological basis of behavior), a senior, is described by faculty as having a strong passion for the life sciences. He was first author on a poster presented to the American Academy of Ophthalmology on the quality of life repercussions of pediatric glaucoma. His work in the Behavioral Genetics Laboratory at Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine on sleep-like behavior in the model organism C. elegans resulted in his inclusion as third author of an article published in the peer-reviewed journal Sleep.
Aleksandra (Sasha) Igdalova (visual studies) is a senior who excels at integrating research in the sciences, arts and humanities. In her senior thesis, “Neural Mandalas: Why the Brain Uses Geometry to Order,” she combines cultural and philosophical studies with research in Jungian archetypes, neuroscience and brain imaging to examine the geometric patterns that appear in visionary art from many different periods and cultures. Instead of attributing the striking similarities to a collective unconscious as Jung did, she is seeking evidence of a neurobiological basis.
Dahlia Klein (biophysics, chemistry and physics), a junior in the Roy and Diana Vagelos Program in the Molecular Life Sciences, is well on her way to completing a triple major while submatriculating into the master’s program in chemistry. A recipient of a Roy and Diana Vagelos Science Challenge Award, she conducts research in the laboratory of Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor Chris Murray focused on nanocrystals. Professor Marsha Lester has described Dahlia as “the most amazing undergraduate I have taught in my 30+ years at Penn.”
Ting Cho Lau (philosophy and political science) is a senior who has worked as a research assistant for faculty in two departments while also pursuing his own multiple research interests. He has presented a critical discussion of Sandel’s critique of Rawls’ liberalism at a research conference at the University of North Carolina and is completing his senior thesis on moral philosophy with Professor Jeffrey Green in political science as well as an honors thesis with Professor Adrienne Martin of philosophy on the evaluative presuppositions of meta-ethical inquiry.
Rosaline Zhang (biology and urban studies) is a senior and a Benjamin Franklin Scholar with a passionate commitment to the Netter Center for Community Partnership’s model for civic engagement and scholarly work. Described by one of her faculty mentors as a “remarkable citizen scholar,” she is recognized as the driving force, both intellectually and organizationally, behind an innovative program to involve the College, Nursing and Perelman School of Medicine students in supporting West Philadelphia high schoolers in learning the skills necessary to become medical technicians, thereby increasing access to career ladders in health and medicine.
College of Liberal & Professional Studies–
Undergraduate Program
Darren Finn (biology) conducts cancer research at Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine. Under the mentorship of Dr. Eric Brown, he is leading a study to investigate specific mechanisms that maintain genome integrity/stability during DNA replication, focusing on how suppression of signaling pathways in tumor cells could inhibit cancer development. Although further testing is required, preliminary findings reveal significant reductions in the tumors of post-treatment test-group subjects.
Professional Master’s Programs
Jenna Shweitzer (master of environmental studies) is pursuing dual graduate degrees in law and environmental studies. She co-chairs the student-run Environmental Law Project and is senior editor of the Journal of Law and Social Change. In internships at the Environmental Protection Agency and a leading environmental and energy law firm, she drafted memoranda on environmental and criminal law, analyzed regulatory documents and wrote client alerts. Her capstone examines liability of local governments failing to adapt adequately to climate change as individuals seek to recover costs after storms like Hurricane Sandy.
Graduate Division—Doctoral Programs
Margaret (Meg) Andrews (art and archaeology in the Mediterranean World) is already regarded both nationally and internationally as a rising star in archaeology. Her research focuses on the slums of Rome during the first millennium of the current era. Her early achievements—including conference presentations, publications and the receipt of prestigious international honors—led Professor C. Brian Rose to note that “she has already accomplished more as a graduate student than many professors have achieved at the tenure stage.”
Guzmán Castro (political science) has been described by faculty as a careful and original thinker whose scholarship is marked by energetic attention to empirical detail. He studies the regulation of “vice” by the state and its significance for state-society relations, social practices and the changing nature of governmental techniques. In his dissertation research, he explores these topics through a study of the transformation of drug policies in Latin America in the last 50 years.
Allegra Giovine (history and sociology of science) possesses what faculty describe as “all the best qualities of a young and rising scholar” in her research and teaching. She draws on and contributes to the discourse in economic history, area studies and imperial and post-colonial studies in her research on the use of economic geography in early 20th century England and Burma. Her dissertation is expected to add crucial analysis to both Southeast Asian history and to broader questions of modern nations, economies and the systems that link them.
Adam Goodman (history) has mined archives in the United States and Mexico, conducted oral interviews and gained access to crucial documents in pursuit of his research on the deportation of Mexicans from the United States from the 1940s to the early 21st century. “The result,” according to Professor Ben Nathans, “is an extraordinary series of publications in academic and popular journals and online platforms.” He is also recognized for his teaching, and he is making a name for himself as a public intellectual both in the US and in Mexico, where he has been interviewed on national television.
Alessandra Mirra (Romance languages) has what Professor Fabio Finotti describes as a “truly exceptional” record of research and publication. She has published two books, one on the 19th-century Italian poet Giacomo Leopardi and the other an annotated edition of short stories by 20th-century Italian author Bruno Cicognani. She has been invited to present her research at an international conference and to participate in a related lexicographic project, and her outstanding teaching has been recognized with a departmental Excellence in Teaching award.
Jill Portnoy (criminology) is on an academic career path that Professor Adrian Raine describes as taking “an upward trajectory.” Expanding on work she began at Cambridge University, she is filling a critical gap in criminology research by investigating a mechanism that could underlie the association between low heart rate and high levels of antisocial behavior. She is also studying the biological correlates of psychopathic personality, crime and cheating. By integrating biological and social perspectives, she is among those taking the next step in advancing the study of crime.
Jerome Robinson (chemistry) works on aspects of rare earth chemistry as well as asymmetric catalysis. From his years as an undergraduate, he brought with him a successful record of publication, which he continues at Penn, with over a dozen publications in leading journals. In addition to his strong scholarly production, he is recognized by faculty and students alike for his outstanding teaching—for which he has received the Penn Prize for Excellence in Teaching by Graduate Students, among many other awards—and his service to the department of chemistry.
Madeleine (Maddie) Stone (earth and environmental science) has published her research on the response of soil enzymes to warming and nitrogen addition to hardwood forests, as well as her investigation into linkages between microbial communities and biogeochemical cycling of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in tropical soils at the Luquillo Critical Zone Observatory in Puerto Rico. She has also worked to integrate science education and outreach into her graduate career, leading children’s workshops on soils and microbes at the Philadelphia Waterworks Museum and helping local residents test their soil for heavy metals.
Dmytro Yeroshkin (mathematics) focuses his research on topological spaces known as positively curved symmetric orbit manifolds, or orbifolds, an example of which is the surface of a football, which is smooth except at its two end-points. In two research papers, he makes significant contributions to the study of geometry by examining four- and five-dimensional aspects of orbifolds. In his department, he is known as an excellent motivator for his fellow graduate students and an outstanding calculus teacher among undergraduates.
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Forbes’ 2015 “30 Under 30”
Penn is well represented on Forbes’ ‘30 Under 30’ list which features seven alumni, an adjunct professor and Elizabeth Beattie, a PhD candidate in Penn’s School of Engineering & Applied Sciences. Ms. Beattie has been named to the prestigious ‘30 Under 30’ list for 2015 under Science. The 24-year-old designed the Titan Arm, an exoskeleton that gives the wearer an extra 40 pounds of bicep strength. She is currently working on tiny robots, propelled by organisms like E. Coli that would be able to sense toxins, chemicals or light in order to diagnose disease or deliver drugs.
David Fajgenbaum, adjunct assistant professor of medicine in hematology/oncology in the Perelman School of Medicine, is the cofounder of Castleman Disease Collaborative Network. He is listed under Healthcare. He is completing an MBA at Wharton, WG’15. Dr. Fajgenbaum, 29, has a laser focus on accelerating research and treatments for multicentric Castleman disease, a deadly hematologic illness, and applying this systematic approach to other deadly diseases. He himself had developed multicentric Castleman Disease, a rare disorder of the immune system. He survived even after chemo failed and returned to complete medical school, M’13. He published research that changed the way doctors think about the biology of the disease and has created a global network to try to cure the disease that almost killed him.
Joshua Matz, 29, Penn alumnus, C’08, and Oxford grad, is a law clerk for the US Supreme Court, president of the American Constitution Society, coauthored “Uncertain Justice: The Roberts Court and the Constitution,” and was articles and book review chair for the Harvard Law Review. He is listed under Law & Policy.
Marissa Vosper, 29, lingerie designer, along with her partner, Lauren Schwab, 30, both Penn grads, C’06, founded Negative Underwear, an e-commerce site that combines simplicity with comfort and sexiness. They are listed under Style. They launched in February 2014 and sold their first collection in two and a half weeks. With no debt, they already have revenues of more than $100,000 and a Soho showroom.
Stephanie Weiner, 22, W’14, GEng’15, analyst for Bain Capital Ventures, began investing while at Penn at the age of 19 by founding the student-to-student firm Dorm Room Fund. She is listed under Venture Capital and she now looks at financial technology, retail technology and compliance startups for Bain Capital Ventures. She founded an e-commerce site in middle school and has tried her hand at founding several startups.
Three Penn alumnae were listed under the Education section of Forbes’ list:
Jessica Gartner, 28, C’09,a former Baltimore teacher, has founded an app, Balance, that offers simple financial data visualizations and analysis to help K-12 administrators connect education spending to student outcomes.
Stephanie Shyu, 26 and Lydia Fayal, 28, met at Penn Law, L’14, and founded AdmitSee, a social media e-commerce hybrid that has verified undergrad and grad students who want to pay it forward (and get paid) by sharing their college application materials, including personal statements, test scores and high school resumes.
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2015 MLK, Jr. Community Involvement Awards
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(left to right) The 2015 Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Involvement Award recipients: Reuben Jones, Rawlin Rosario, Tiffany Dominique, Keith Weigelt and Tyrone Smith. |
The University of Pennsylvania 2015 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Symposium on Social Change honored members of the community, Penn faculty, staff and students with the Community Involvement Awards at the MLK, Jr. Interfaith Program on January 22 in Irvine Auditorium. This year’s award recipients are as follows:
Community Award: Tyrone Smith, activist and advocate for LGBT rights in the City and Reuben Jones, executive director of Frontline Dads.
Student Award: Rawlin Rosario, Penn senior and community volunteer who inspires young men to pursue higher education.
Faculty/Staff Award: Tiffany Dominique, administrative coordinator of Behavioral & Social Science Core in the CFAR Social and Behavioral Sciences Research Network, works to help community-based organizations strategize and remain sustainable and relevant.
Rodin Education Award: Keith Weigelt, the Marks-Darivoff Family Professor in the management department at Wharton, is the founder of the free adult financial literacy program, “Building Bridges to Wealth.” |
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Almanac -
February 24, 2015, Volume 61, No. 24
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